Psycho

Without a doubt, Alfred Hichcock's Psycho is a classic, iconic film that has had far-reaching influence on other films that followed. Today, the famous string-crescendo during the shower scene has been repeated and imitated into a cliche, but that does not lessen it's impact in the film itself.
Compared to the other films we have viewed during this course, I found the most striking thing about Psycho was the emphasis on suspense. In Double Indemnity, the scene leading up to the murder of Mr. Dietrichson had music that was full of brass and slowly swelled until it reached it's peak during the killing itself. Later, when Walter Neff is shot by Phyllis and then kills her with the same gun, the music is at first silent and then there is a soft love theme playing in the background which is cut off when Walter kills Phyllis.
Psycho is distinctly different in this respect. For instance, when Marion Crane is taking her shower, unaware that she is about to be butchered, there is no underscoring and all we hear are the diagetic sound of her taking a shower. The falling water, the sound of soap wrapper, the shower curtain scaping on the pole all combine to put the audience directly in the scene with no distractions except what we see. As viewers we expect there to be some kind of musical cue warning us that something is about happen, like when the door opens in the background. Normally, this would trigger some kind of low string accompaniment, possible with drums. Instead, there is nothing but silence until Norman Bates pulls back the shower curtain to attack Marion. This has the effect of putting the audience in great suspense as to what is going to happen. We see this again when Bates murders Arbogast on the stairs. While Arbogast is sneaking around the house, the audience knows something is going to happen, but we have no indication as to when the attack will occur. There is no rising underscore, no ominous strings to serve as a cue. In this way, Psycho is very different from the other niors that remain dark and brooding throughout.