Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Infamous Shower Scene....

The mood is dark. It is storming outside, as Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) take to the parlor in the small Bates Motel. The parlor is not particularly well lit, but it seems inviting nonetheless. She enters without fear, until she notices the abrupt wall decorations; taxidermy birds hang from all angles. The decision to stay at this motel is solidified in this moment. She is unsuspecting, and because of this, she will lose her life…

            Psycho (1960) is the classic horror film by Alfred Hitchcock. In this horror film, Marion Crane decides to steal $40,000 that her boss had entrusted her to put in the bank. She plans to take the money and run to be with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Galvin). The money, she hoped, would be enough for them to start a life together. While on her way she has to take a night at the Bates Motel, a small motel off the beaten path and secluded from the normal highway. This is where she meets Norman Bates who is introverted and controlled by his mother. It is in this hotel that Marion gets murdered in the famous shower scene. Eventually her sister, her boyfriend, and a private detective come looking for her, only to lead to more murder and a shocking discovery. (I don’t want to give away any spoilers…)

            This classic horror film both attracts and repulses the audience. In the glorified shower scene, I saw the blood swirling down the drain and I heard the screams of Marion as she was stabbed; yet I couldn’t stop watching. Maybe I am a twisted person? No, it was because of my curiosity that I could not turn away. That shower scene in the movie is a pinnacle point that draws the audience in because there are so many uncertainties that need to be answered. Why did the mother hate Marion? Obviously this has happened before with other women, how does she get away with it??

            As Noel Carroll describes, the objects of horror are fundamentally linked with cognitive interests, specifically curiosity. I feel like this is true for almost every horror movie I have watched. Will the girl get away? Who is the killer? Why is that house made of wax (don’t watch that movie… it is horrible and Paris Hilton cannot act)? Etc. etc. etc. The curiosity behind the plot and characters in horror movies seem to keep the audience watching.

            Carroll also explains the paradox of horror, which is the question of how people can be attractive to what is repulsive. The blood in the drain and the audible screams should have been something I wanted to turn off and run away from, but instead it hooked me, giving me the insatiable thirst of curiosity. Not only did it give me a sense of curiosity, but it also gave me a surge in adrenaline. Although Carroll does not talk about adrenaline caused by horror movies, I think it is a valuable point in figuring out why people receive pleasure from horror. I know that I like the feeling of anticipation and adrenaline as I watch a scary movie because it makes me tingle with excitement. Horror films seem to be the easiest films to cause adrenaline surges, which are of course caused by fear (I feel like thriller movies would be next in line). Do you think that another reason why people have pleasure in watching revolting horror films could be because they like the adrenaline and the excitement that follows with fear?

        Overall, I tend to enjoy horror movies, well at least while I watch them. I can honestly say that I think it is both a curiosity and adrenaline that keeps me watching more and more movies that scare me. Although, I really don’t like movies that mess with your mind even after you watch them (made it 5 minutes into The Omen on 6/6/06 and literally ran out of the theater). Psycho, however, is a pleasant scary movie if you are looking for a gently thrill in the horror genre. I highly suggest taking a few hours to watch this film because it is so significant in film history, much like many of Alfred Hitchcock’s are. However, if horror isn’t your cup of tea I would suggest Hitchcock’s Rear Window for an entertaining thriller.  

1 comment:

  1. Great point! The adrenaline almost acts as the follow-up to the viewer's curiosity. Points in horror movies where I become most frightened, those "leap out of your chair" moments, happen at the very moments where I am paying closest attention. For a director making a horror film, it would seem to be one of the most common tactics to instill a curiosity in the viewer (perhaps the main character is wandering through a dark, haunted house) and then throw something at them that they were not expecting (floor falls out, axe-wielding villain shows up behind them, etc.). The chemicals that rush through your body after you are scared are the same ones that provoke extreme sports junkies to make careers out of going really fast, jumping out of very tall things, and generally going out of their way to endanger their own lives. I absolutely do believe that this adrenaline rush is what creates and holds many horror movie fanatics.

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