Psycho (1960) is the "mother" of all modern horror suspense films, excuse the pun - it single-handedly ushered in the era of the horror movie slasher, which would later develop a taste for gore drenched sequels, and graphic death scenes. Themes of voyeurism, vulnerability and victimisation due to deadly pasts are all vividly shown in this genuine article of a horror movie. This is where the meaning to �slash� came into play. The tale of a man, previously tormented by the over-bearing presence of his mother is taken directly from the then, recent occurrence of the Wisconsin based murderer and grave robber, Ed Gein, discovered as a killer in 1957, only three years prior to Psycho. The story inspired not only Psycho, but also Deranged, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. Psycho used the mother element of the Gein story while TCM used the ideas of grave robbing, cannibalism and craft making from people. Psycho, as a landmark in the horror genre, has been spoofed to death by such famous television shows such as The Simpson�s, but despite this, it still remains to this day as the reason for the birth of the modern slasher film. It was followed by three sequels in which Anthony Perkins starred in all of them as the main part of Norman Bates. The antics of this character have inspired a generation of filmmakers and is still recruiting many a film buff to become interested in the slasher genre. However, it is easy to say that the modern �trendy� slasher flick has not learnt anything from Psycho, but this is good, as if they did, Psycho would no longer hold the title of being an original masterpiece by one of the greatest film directors of all time, Alfred Hitchcock.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws