The movie Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, contains perhaps one of the most famous scenes in film history. Janet Leigh, the protagonist of the picture, is seen undressing and getting in the shower. The film shows images of the shower, the water running through the drain and Janet Leigh behind the shower curtain. A dark figure is seen creeping towards her, and as the shower curtains are ripped open, we hear Janet Leigh scream, the stalker produce a knife, and the sounds of screeching violins is heard as the unfortunate heroine meets her doom.

There are a number of reasons why this scene is so well regarded. The controversial nature of the moment and the effect this had on straight-laced viewers in 1960 is perhaps the greatest reason for this scene’s fame. To give you an idea of how this culture looked at film, consider that this was the first mainstream movie to contain a shot of a toilet! You can then get an idea of how viewers would have felt seeing a woman wearing a bra, undressing and getting into a shower in a Hollywood film. Then include with that the shock of watching her murder!

Hitchcock created the film with the aim of making something that looked a lot rawer than the films his fans was used to seeing. The movie was in black and white which was uncommon in the 60’s. The edited version had a much faster pace than what was considered normal.

The creation of this scene took Hitchcock a long time to complete, and he would work for hours on each shot and how the shots would be cut together before shooting a single foot of film. This allowed him to edit in such a way that the section is thought of as far more explicit in the audiences memory than it actually is if you slow the film down to watch each moment frame-by-frame.

But what perhaps caused audiences to be shocked the most seeing the film for the first time was the way Hitchcock had developed Janet Leigh’s character up until that time. Janet Leigh was sold as the star of this movie, and was treated as the main character until the shower scene. But this moment occurs only halfway through the film! So along with the shock of seeing a death happen onscreen, the audience is shocked that the hero of the film has been murdered before the story had found any kind of resolution.

While Hitchcock’s films always represent a somewhat odd view of reality, there can be no questioning that he was a masterful technician at manipulating the audiences emotions. The famous shower scene of this film is testament to this fact, and it is no surprise it Is become one of the most well-known, often-parodied and often-taught scenes in filmdom. Though many today are reluctant to see old films, especially those in black and white, Psycho warrants a watch just so you can find out about this milestone in cinema.

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