What Makes Psycho Scary

Alfred Hitchcock's famed horror film, Psycho, created new boundaries for the horror genre. Filmed in 1960, this the techniques and methods used in its creation were new and innovative in its time. But the elements that truly made Psycho a horror film, is the camera angles. The camera angles are mainly what contributed to the uncomfortable creepiness of the film, especially when coupled with the sometimes vague dialogue. The parlor scene is a great example of this. Throughout the scene, the noticeable camera angles are high angles, low angles, and close ups. The close up shot is particularly disturbing, as it gives the audience a sense of having their space invaded as he talks about how people often give unhelpful advice. It is uncomfortable, how close to the camera and in your face he is, and the intensity in the way that he delivered his lines that adds to this strange scene.

The high angles also gives sight to the stuffed birds hanging around the room. These birds aren't small parakeets or swallows, but large, imposing birds instead. The main birds shown are owls with their wings outspread, which is pretty striking, and ravens, which are birds that are commonly associated with death. These are eerie objects to add to the background, and along with the music, make for an uncomfortable atmosphere as well. High angles are also used very noticeably in the scenes where Norman's 'mother' comes out the room and stabs Detective Arborgast as he walks up the stairs, and in another scene where Norman takes his mother out of her room and carries her down the stairs and into the basement. These high angle shots are purposely used with the intention of keeping the mother's identity a secret until the very end, and this was probably the most effective way to show the scene without giving away the big reveal.

The low angle shot on Norman in the parlor scene is another noticeable shot. Whereas there had been standard shots and a few close ups and high angles throughout the scene, the low angle shot appears near the end, when Marian decides to go back home and right her wrongs. At this point, the conversation has steered back to Marian and her situation. When she gets up, she is filmed at a high angle, and Norman at a low one. This immediately changes a viewer's outlook on Norman. In the low angle shot, Norman instantly becomes a seemingly harmless, socially awkward guy that just wants a little company. His creepy attitude disappears altogether and paints him as a meek person once again, which contribute's to the audience's believing in the fact that Norman doesn't seem like the type of person to be capable of committing murder.