Psycho ranks highly on many Top Halloween Film lists. Considered to be Hitchcock’s greatest cinematic achievement the psychological slasher laid down some of the foundations for later Halloween movies. Many more modern horror films draw in some way upon Hitchcock’s cinematic genius.

Psycho broke all the movie-making rules when Hitchcock included graphic violence, sexual explicitness, a sparse and yet genius use of violin music, a villain with serious psychological issues who the audience cannot help feeling empathy for, and a shock twist within the first twenty minutes of the film. The acclaimed director took a great risk by including such controversial scenes, which lead to producers dramatically reducing the budget and forcing it to be made in black and white. However, Hitchcock’s risks paid off, with Psycho now considered as one of cinema’s greatest achievements.

Hitchcock starts the thriller with scenes following a young woman working in an office, who is clearly bored with her dull life in sleepy Philadelphia. She is given $40,000 in cash and is asked to take it to the bank. In a desperate attempt to change her life the woman decides to steal the money and run. She drives and drives until she is exhausted and pulls over into a motel. Here she encounters a strange and yet rather compelling young man who is clearly attracted to her. After having been told some odd stories about the man’s mother the woman goes to her room and one of the most iconic, and brutal, scenes ensues.

The scene is filled with Hitchcock’s trademark suspense. The simple sound of the water running off her body and hitting the floor of the bath. The figure appearing behind the shower curtain, slowly moving closer and closer before ripping the shower curtain back. The screeching violin music. The audience knows what is going to happen a few moments before the unfortunate women does. These seconds allow us to gasp and hold our breath in anticipation before the inevitable happens – also providing time for the more squeamish viewers to cover their faces with blankets and shove their fingers in their ears. Any film attempting to abide by the Halloween genre must have these moments when we know too much. Moments when the audience cannot bear the suspense and must wait with clasped hands as the tension reaches its climactic point.

All Halloween films owe something to this classic. Countless classic horror films draw heavily from Psycho, such as Carrie, Halloween, Saw, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Silence of the Lambs and so many others. Psycho changed the way in which scary films were made, breaking all the rules and allowing other ambitious filmmakers to follow suit. Hitchcock discovered the formula to make a truly terrifying film. For this reason Psycho simply has to be the quintessential Halloween film.

Olivia Howard