Pyscho: A Film for the Modern Audience

Pyscho: A Film for the Modern Audience

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 “Psycho is one of the most successful films

ever made, even to this very day. Part of its success is due to the

fact that it was one of the first films shown on screen that did not

follow the ordinary and almost bland sequence that so many films used

to portray. It was made to completely terrify and hold the audience

firmly in their seats, as well as to capture people all over the world

with its remarkably thrilling music, making hearts beat faster every

second. The film even managed to effect people in such drastic ways

that they actually suffered from heart attacks in the process of

watching this compelling masterpiece. There is no denying the effect

that Alfred Hitchcock was probing for. This effect might just have

been the cause of the different direction that films took immediately

after, which is not surprising when the film is considered as the

“Mother of modern suspense films”.

However, the effect that the film had on the 1960s audience is very

different to that of the audience of the “soap opera” generation. The

21st century audience are, in fact, not likely to react at all as we

are all so used to seeing such depressing, controversial and sickening

things in this day and age. It is also a film that does not really

catch our attention mainly because it is in black and white, meaning

that we don’t really take it seriously. The lack of special effects is

also something that almost makes the blasé audience of now cringe, as

we are all so used to such realistic responses. However, for the 1960s

audience the effects of the film would have petrified them and

compl...

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... actually left the

audience confused. At times he was shy, but other times he looked

intimidating and unapproachable. The fact that he had to play a

psychopath could not have really been an easy thing to live with, but

he gave a first class performance.

In my opinion, both of these actors took a major risk in actually

taking part in such a film (in the 1960s, of course), because this

film could have taken their careers in one of two ways: downhill or

up. However, they were such exceptional performers that it was

practically impossible to not find the film so fascinating to watch,

even if the genre isn’t your cup of tea. Both Janet Leigh and Anthony

Perkins gave unforgettable performances, both worthy of Oscars and all

credit to them for taking part in one of the greatest masterpieces in

the history of film.