Use Of Expressionism In Alfred Hitchcock's Film Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s utilizes elements of expressionism to suggest a brutal murder in his movie, Psycho. Revealing the perspectives of both the murderer and victim, Hitchcock’s use of exploitation, stylized acting, plot distortion, and symbolism evokes visceral emotions from audiences. As the scene opens, the audiences see the main actress writing on a newspaper, clearly trying to discern something. Turning away from the desk, the main actress decides to shower, firmly shuts the door behind her, and flushes paper down the toilet. The music cuts out as she turns the water on for her shower. The exploitation of the music and the paranoid actions of the actress create tension and suspense for the audience. As the actress showers, the audience sees the door open as a black silhouetted figure slowly enters. The black silhouette symbolizes the grim reaper and the audience can now predict that death is coming. The actor also uses stylization to build an eerie suspense before tearing open the shower curtain. …show more content…
The actress wraps her arms around her body not only to shield herself from the knife, but also to cover her nakedness. This stylization further demonstrates how the killer violates his victim in a very intimate way since he attacks her in the shower. The killer furthermore uses stylized acting when he robotically moves the knife up and down in a stabbing motion instead of using one, swift motion. His robotic movements dehumanizes him and makes the audience feel more sympathy for the victim, while also feeling uneasy about the killer’s lack of