Psycho (1960)

Psycho is possibly the most classic thriller one can watch, as well as one of the most famous ones. By director Alfred Hitchcock, writers Joseph Stefano (screenplay), Robert Bloch (novel), the film stars names such as Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh & Vera Miles.
In "Psycho", the audience sometimes initially think the film is about $40,000 & the murder becomes a total surprise. This shock causes the audience to become apprehensive for the rest of the film, as anything could happen & anyone could be the victim of a murder. The audience is now aware of the fact that there is a murderer in the house, & whilst not knowing who they are, nor when they may strike again, they know it could happen at any time. This adds to the suspense of the film. Hitchcock has stressed that as the apprehension increases there less & less violence on screen.
The film does follow some thriller conventions, such as an external threat which, in this case, is a mad man, a deranged mind! It also adopts the very common thriller convention of fast pacing & frequent action. Probably the best example of this is the film's shower scene. This the film's most famous scene, & possibly the most famous thriller scene in all of history. It depicts an unsuspecting woman taking a shower, as a murderer creeps up on her. We never actually see who the murder is, we merely see their silhouette approach the woman from behind the shower curtain, as sometime intense music plays, getting increasingly louder as the scene progresses. The closest we get to seeing this figure is when we see his hand pull back the shower curtain. We hear the victim shrieking, as we see the two figures shadows on the shower wall. The murders shadow appears to be repeatedly stabbing a knife into the back of the woman, as an incredibly disturbing & off-putting screeching plays over the scene. We don't see any the violence that is actually inflicted upon the woman, all we see are shadows reacting with eachother, as well as blood running down the drain within the water, & then the woman laying on the bath floor afterwards. Despite the fact that we do not actually see any of this action take place, the audience is tricked into thinking they have seen an incredibly gory & horrid scene, with some viewers fainting or throwing up, & some cinema's & companies even trying to ban the production.
Hitchcock stated that it is important to avoid cliche & repetition, especially in regards to character. For examples, heroes can be flawed, & murderers can be charming. Psycho's story is not extraordinary in terms of it's appeal, but Hitchcock uses devices such as characterisation to help improve this. This is because Psycho's true brilliance is in it's construction. Hitchcock developed the film in a way that ensures it takes what the audience expects, & completely floats those expectations. There are two major surprises within the film. The first of which is the aforementioned shower scene murder, which shocked audiences worldwide with it's seemingly gory content. The second of these being the final revelation about Norman Bate's & his mother. This ending was not at all what anyone expected, & was an extremely shocking ending to an equally shocking film.