"The Analogous Relationship Between The Crime/Noir Film & The Psychological Horror Genre"
Matthew Henninger
CCS 202: Blog Post #2
There is no doubt that, at the time of it's release, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) was THE horror film; the film that gave audiences the shiver down their spine, having them jump out of their seats, and also relating to a variety of characters throughout the films progression. Psycho is known for it's two famous plot twists that are centered around homicide (the death of Marion Crane in the shower) and psychological unraveling (Norman Bate's Dissociate Identity Disorder through the domination of his deceased mother). According to Rick Altman, "films must leave no doubt as to their generic identity; instant recognizability must be assumed" (Altman, 18). Psycho exemplifies this statement immensely, with character point-of-view shots, which gives off this idea of off-screen space and the fear of what the audience doesn't see, the diegetic world surrounding the characters, including the secluded and practically abandoned motel off the highway, and the non-diegetic world, where the killer's famous "psycho strings" are played as Marion is stabbed to death. These qualities clearly categorize Psycho in the Horror Film Genre, particularly the Psychological Horror Film. However, what has been ceased to be realized by audiences is that Psycho also exacerbates qualities of the Crime Genre.
Psycho begins it's Crime Genre theme through Marion Crane, who steals a large sum of cash from her employer and sets out for California, where she plans to marry her lover, Sam, and start a new life. This creates a Film Noir aspect of the Crime Genre, especially when the audience spends a substantial amount of screen time with Marion in the car as she is driving to California. In this set of scenes, the camera plays with light (as she's driving during the day) and long, deep shadows (which is evident when Marion is stopped by the cop, when she purchases a new car, and the enormous shadows cast on Norman Bates's stuffed birds which come later). Throughout this scene, the audience also catches glimpses of the psychological horror associated with this film, as Marion succumbs to delusions of persecution, if you will, as she vividly imagines conversations in her head of her boss and co-workers questioning where she could have gone with the money and why she stole it in the first place. This can be representative of Marion's own psychosis and her continuous battle between the normal (having a job, getting married, building a family) and the abnormal (stealing money, running away with a lost lover); a battle that Normal Bates also struggles to overcome.
The Noir aspect is additionally exaggerated through camera angles. This is evident during Marion's interaction with the policeman and Norman Bates, where the audience seems to be looking up at both characters, which is representative of a sense of power, control, and dominance these characters possess. This, as a result, heightens the viewers sense of uneasiness, adding to the horrific atmosphere of the film.
One final quality of the Film Noir is the low exposition to heightened tension, which keeps the audience guessing until the final unraveling. This is related to a Crime Film, when the protagonist reveals the true intentions of the criminal and answer any questions the supporting characters might have. For the Noir, the conclusion occurs within the final, closing moments of the film where all the loose ends are tied up (the Psychiatrist in Psycho explaining how Norman Bates is dominated by the his mother's persona) and the major questions in the film finally have answers (Norman Bates killed Marion due to sexual desire that his mother could not allow). The work is still kept in tact, as the audience worries as to what will happen to Norman Bates (now Mrs. Bates) and if this could happen to any one of them. Rick Altman enunciates that "individual films of any particular generic canon must clearly serve as examples of that genre" and Psycho, although industrially classified as a Horror Film, could never be subjected to that one facet (Altman, 18).
Psycho begins it's Crime Genre theme through Marion Crane, who steals a large sum of cash from her employer and sets out for California, where she plans to marry her lover, Sam, and start a new life. This creates a Film Noir aspect of the Crime Genre, especially when the audience spends a substantial amount of screen time with Marion in the car as she is driving to California. In this set of scenes, the camera plays with light (as she's driving during the day) and long, deep shadows (which is evident when Marion is stopped by the cop, when she purchases a new car, and the enormous shadows cast on Norman Bates's stuffed birds which come later). Throughout this scene, the audience also catches glimpses of the psychological horror associated with this film, as Marion succumbs to delusions of persecution, if you will, as she vividly imagines conversations in her head of her boss and co-workers questioning where she could have gone with the money and why she stole it in the first place. This can be representative of Marion's own psychosis and her continuous battle between the normal (having a job, getting married, building a family) and the abnormal (stealing money, running away with a lost lover); a battle that Normal Bates also struggles to overcome.
One final quality of the Film Noir is the low exposition to heightened tension, which keeps the audience guessing until the final unraveling. This is related to a Crime Film, when the protagonist reveals the true intentions of the criminal and answer any questions the supporting characters might have. For the Noir, the conclusion occurs within the final, closing moments of the film where all the loose ends are tied up (the Psychiatrist in Psycho explaining how Norman Bates is dominated by the his mother's persona) and the major questions in the film finally have answers (Norman Bates killed Marion due to sexual desire that his mother could not allow). The work is still kept in tact, as the audience worries as to what will happen to Norman Bates (now Mrs. Bates) and if this could happen to any one of them. Rick Altman enunciates that "individual films of any particular generic canon must clearly serve as examples of that genre" and Psycho, although industrially classified as a Horror Film, could never be subjected to that one facet (Altman, 18).
Works Cited
Altman, Rick. "What is Generally Understood by the Notion of Film Genre?" Film/Genre.
London: British Film Institute, 1999. 13-28. Print.
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