Psycho

How this film uses it

Marion Crane is introduced as the main character of what looks like a crime film about stolen money. Her murder 47 minutes in is designed to shock, and it does. It breaks the most basic promise a story makes to its audience, which is that the main character survives.

Where to see it

The shower. The story you thought you were watching ends here and a different film begins.

How this film uses it

Editor George Tomasini and Hitchcock built the shower scene out of 78 camera setups and 52 cuts. You never actually see the knife go into flesh. All the violence comes from the editing, so the rapid cutting is the attack. As a matter of fact, this sequence proved that editing alone could make you feel physical horror.

Where to see it

The shower sequence. You get 78 setups and 52 cuts, and the knife is never shown touching her.

How this film uses it

The peephole shot is where the film says most clearly what it is about. You look through the hole at Marion undressing, and for a moment, you are Norman Bates. Hitchcock is saying that watching a film is itself a kind of peeping. You have been looking through Norman's eye since the first frame.

Where to see it

Norman at the peephole. The camera that has been watching Marion now shares Norman's view.

How this film uses it

Herrmann wrote the 'Psycho' cue (the 'eee-eee-eee' sound) for strings only, even though Hitchcock had asked for a jazz score. It was recorded to sound as aggressive as possible. It is a piece of music, and it also hits your nerves like a physical attack. It is still the most recognizable horror cue in cinema.

Where to see it

The shower sequence. The strings come in with the first movement of the knife.