Psycho: Red Herrings

      Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho, is a very enticing horror film that surprises the audience around ever corner. Alfred’s use of ‘red herrings’ create a great sense of mystery in the film, misleading the audience on to many leads of who the main character is as well as the murderer and plot. The first red herring of this film was when the main character, Marion Crane has the decision to deposit the $40,000, a client has given her boss, into the bank. Marion seems like a very trust worthy character up until she leaves work early to go 'deposit' the money, but instead she turns to the dark side by putting on black undergarments, shedding her pure white ones, and stealing the money to runaway to her married boyfriend. Once on her way, she runs into trouble on the road with weather, causing her to stop on the side of the road at the Bates Motel. There she is met by Norman Bates, care taker of this rundown motel, who gives her a room. The next red herring is when all of a sudden after dinner Marion takes a shower and is stabbed to death by what looked to be Norman's mom. This was especially confusing considering the main character was just killed off, where does the story go from there? Anyways the plot goes on until the end of the movie where Marion's sister and boyfriend go on sleuthing for evidence of Marion's disappearance at the motel. Up until this point, the audience is certain of who the murder may be, Norman's Mom. But, the local sherif explains to the two that she is in fact dead. In disbelief the two carry on their mission in search of his mother. Not until one of the last scenes does Marion's sister sneak into the house and into the cellar to find Norman's mom's skeleton dressed up in a chair. Shocked, Norman runs in with a knife dressed up like his mom, which is the last red herring. All along the murderer was Norman's 'mom', but just Norman dressed up and acting like her. This surely caught every audience member off guard and was an incredible turn in the story. Leaving everyone in disbelief, Alfred Hitchcock completely changed the game in plot twists, and did it beautifully. With his use of red herrings, he also utilized intense screechy string music to catch the audience off guard, adding suspense, and as well give the film a scary vibe.