Tension In the Shower Scene in Hitchcock’s Film Psycho

Tension In the Shower Scene in Hitchcock’s Film Psycho

‘Psycho’ is a 1960’s thriller that has been voted as one of the top 15

scariest movies of all time. It was Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest work

and contains one of film histories nastiest killers, the infamous

Norman Bates, whom a lot of serial killers are now based upon.

The film is at first glance a story about a woman, Marion, on the run

with $40,000 of stolen money, but it soon develops into a heated

thriller during which Marion is killed and unexpected twists keep you

on the edge of your seat. The globally known Shower Scene is the most

memorable of the film, as it is then that Marion is killed and the

film takes a different route from the path everyone is expecting.

Tension is a type of atmosphere that makes you, the audience, nervous

and expectant of a tragedy. This essay will explain how camera shots,

sounds and monochrome make the film, particularly the shower scene,

full of tension and one of the greatest films of all time.

The shower scene in ‘Psycho’ was one that shocked and horrified

audiences, making some of them appalled that they fled from cinemas.

The tension in the scene is so nerve – wracking that when the attack

does actually come you are so worked up with anticipation yet are

still appalled by Bates’ brutal attack.

One of the main ways tension is created is by making the viewer so

calm and relaxed before the attack that although the fantastic score

does make you edgy you still feel an air of relaxation as Marion is

doing normal, everyday things.

[IMAGE] Marion starts the scene by working out some sums to calculate

how much money she has left of the $40,000 she has stolen. When

finished, she flushes the paper down the toilet so not to reveal who

she really is and begins to undress for her shower. The scene here

uses dramatic irony as, in the previous scene, we saw Norman Bates

looking through a peep hole at Marion, so we know something is wrong,