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When his dead mother appears in the wheelchair and the viewer realizes he has been recreating her voice himself, and the sheriff confirms this as he relates Norman's story. While "The Birds" ends relatively happily, at least the main characters survive; "Psycho" ends with Norman in a jail cell. All the loose ends are wrapped up, but in one, the end is dark and disturbing, while in the other, there is hope.
Psycho," made in 1960, is shot in stark black and white, which somehow seems to enhance the feeling of terror, because Hitchcock is a master of setting, mood, and lighting, as well. "The Birds," made in 1963, is shot in color, making it seem more modern, and all the more terrifying because the blood from the bird attacks seems more real and menacing, somehow. Hitchcock uses actors who can seem like normal, everyday people with normal everyday feelings and emotions to make them seem real to the audience, and he builds tension by creating scenes where normal activities are intertwined with very abnormal ones. In one scene in "The Birds," Melanie sits outside the school...
The same is true of the shower scene in "Psycho." Taking a shower is a very normal activity, but the tension builds as the door opens and a knife appears, and then reaches through the shower curtain. The music in this scene punctuates the violence and the murder, and Hitchcock uses it well, it is as memorable as the scene itself.
In conclusion, these films have a lot in common, and some very specific differences. They both show the talent and imagination of Alfred Hitchcock, who may be one of the greatest horror directors ever in history.
References
Psycho. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. Paramount Pictures, 1960.
The Birds. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Tippi Hedren. Universal Pictures, 1963.
He consistently uses the technique of lifting the curtain to introduce scenes and essential actions. This kept his films rooted in the early traditions of theater but in a covert manner. Many of these theatrical illusions were portrayed using modern interpretations, such as his use of the curtain effect with the image of an opening door into a new environment. These traditions were at the very root of his
Psycho is a 1960 horror-thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that follows the demise of Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, at the hands of Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, after she embezzles $40,000 and attempts to leave her former life behind (Psycho). Through the unique use of editing techniques and ominous cinematography, Hitchcock is able to create a film that is visually alluring and draws its audience into
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45). There are also important racial issues that are examined throughout "A Touch of Evil"; these are accomplished through what Nerrico (1992) terms "visual representations of 'indeterminate' spaces, both physical and corporeal"; the "bordertown and the half-breed, la frontera y el mestizo: a space and a subject whose identities are not fractured but fracture itself, where hyphens, bridges, border stations, and schizophrenia are the rule rather than the exception" (Nericcio,