The film Psycho was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s. This black and white version was immensely popular when it was released back then and has been so well known that a colour version was made recently in the 1990s.
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Psycho takes place in Phoenix, Arizona and is the story of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her desperate attempt to save her husband-to-be, Sam Loomis (John Gavin) from debts that are preventing them from having a happy marriage. When Marion comes across $40,000 at her job at a real-estate office, she sees this as an opportunity to end all woes. She takes the money and leaves town without a trace. After a few days on the run, Marion ends up at an isolated motel which plays a major role in the scenes to come. Meanwhile, back in Phoenix, Sam grows worried about Marion after he learns that she has been missing for a few days. He, along with Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) set out to find Marion, with the help of Arbogast (Martin Balsam), a private investigator. These events eventually link to each other to form the shocking ending to this film.
Psycho was successful as it was able to manipulate the audience's response, thanks to Hitchcock's method of direction. His use of camera angles, lighting, music and sound editing was successful in provoking the reactions of the audience as well as creating and maintaining the tension in various scenes. At times, the audience would be at the edge of their seats while at other times they would be embraced, their eyes glued to the screen and their ears picking out the dialogue.
One such scene in which the audience's senses are played on by Hitchcock is the controversial shower murder scene. Hitchcock was able to shock the audiences of the 1960s by introducing elements that were not tolerated in that decade, such as graphic violence and nudity.
