Alfred Hitchcock's powerful, complex psychological thriller, Psycho (1960) is the "mother" of all modern horror suspense films It rewrote the book on a genre that was beginning to show some signs of age and was in dire need of a fresh infusion of cinematic blood. With one bold and bloody stroke, Ps

ycho revolutionized not only the horror genre but the world of film itself, ushering in a new style of filmmaking that would flourish over the next decade. The pre Psycho cinema of the fantastic had been chiefly concerned with imaginary monsters such as Frankenstein's Monster, Count Dracula, the Wolfman, et. al. But Hitchcock cleverly relocated the gothic into sunny Southern California and showed the audience that the face of the real monster is our own. Psycho also broke all of the rules about conventional commercial filmmaking by giving us the most shocking narrative disruption in the history of film and staging in it such an unforgettable manner that to this day, many people are still afraid to take a shower. During the famous shower scene, the spectator is no longer invited to identify with Marion. Instead they see through the eyes of the intruder making them an involuntary part in her slaughter. (show clip) (Unlike modern horror films, "Psycho" never shows the knife striking flesh. The

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