Suspense In Alfred Hitchcock's Film Psycho

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The shocking twisted ending in film Psycho (1960) was a most successful Hitchcock’s mystery. Owing to such unexpected finish, the film made a powerful impact on the audience. The whole movie was a build up of suspense with mystery resolution. The suspense is often weakened by the fact that the plot is not clear enough to the public. In the case of Psycho, all the details were shown to the audience, some shots even were played twice to achieve better understanding. A spectator was aware of the danger but not prepared for such resolution. “Don’t give away the ending, it is the only one we have!” was the slogan of the movie. (Robb, 2010) Everything was planned to penetrate the emotion of the audience. Music was a significant element in penetrating emotion. “Hitchcock himself admitted that at least a third of the movie's impact depended on the music”. (Nixon, n.d.) “The violins wailing away during Psycho's shower murder scene have achieved the status of cultural shorthand - denoting imminent violent insanity” (Robb, 2010) Hitchcock not only developed mystery and suspense in the movie, he also …show more content…

In suspense moments the viewer gets involved in what is happening on the screen, he feels as a direct participant in the events that unfold in the film. The most important thing is the ability of the director to suspense and mystery. Hitchcock had the ability to involve the viewer in a movie. The verdict of the three movies Sabotage, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock designed everything to achieve what he believe was the important distinction “mystery” vs. “suspense”. He has done it with great attention to the applicable musical accompaniment, delivery of information to the audience, and penetration of

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