Psycho

  

Alford Hitchcock's Psycho is one of the most recognizable horror films of all time. Hitchcock's use of cinematography to generate fear has kept the film relevant today due to his mastery. The final scene of a deranged Norman Bates is fearful art, evoking a deep sense of terror. Cinematography combined with chilling dialog creates tension and uneasiness unrivaled by any iconic horror movie scene. 

  

The scene starts with a long shot where Bates is alone in an empty room with a blanket wrapped around himself. Norman is stage left and the only one in an otherwise empty and uneventful room. He looks skittish and anxious at first as if he is battling something. The isolation of Bates in the room, combined with the evident discomfort on his face, the scene's subject, makes us feel sympathy for him; it is a sympathy that remains despite the fact that the moviegoers already know about his unjustified brutal murders. 

Viewers have grappled with their conflicting thoughts about Bates's emotions throughout the picture. This time, however, viewers are the only ones in the room with Hitchcock's killer. To isolate Bates in an empty room viewer feel as though they are alone in the with him. It seems as though Bate's can pounce on us in any second like he did with those he murdered. The closer we move in, the farther away we want to be. 

 The long shot creeps into an MCU as the viewer hears a woman's voice presumed to be his mother. The camera continues zooming in on Norman to the pace of his mother's message, which gets more disturbing. It is then that we see a switch turned on a like a complete override. Suddenly, We are as close and as most uncomfortable as we have been in the whole film. It is as if her VO controls the thoughts, actions, and movements of Norman.

As we get our last look at Bates, the once-anxious man unveils a purely evil smile. One that looks into our soul. The actor is directed to stare into the camera while Hitchcock uses her VO to fully take over Norman's psychology, whether real or hallucinated. 

 Hitchcock makes a masterpiece with our final shot of the Bates as he puts an exclamation point on a film that already had us biting our fingernails and looking under our beds before we go to sleep.