Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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The visual design of Psycho is itself centred on voyeurism, which narratively
exemplifies Robert B. Ray’s analysis of Hitchcock’s entire style as “duplicitous and
voyeuristic.” (1985; 156) Kenneth Johnson analyses the opening shot of the film,
which entails an aerial shot of Phoenix, Arizona as initially establishing location, but
through movement and dissolves brings the camera through the window of the hotel
room where Marion and her boyfriend are engaging in post-coital banter (1993; 49).
Johnson borrows the term “wandering camera” from Seymour Chatman to describe a
camera that moves of its own volition, seeming to have a personality of its own.
This is exemplary of the voyeuristic design of Psycho, of which the eye/camera is a
significant and notable extension.
Although this film provides a strong template for the modern slasher film, a
different genre is responsible for many of the aesthetic qualities of the slasher,
particularly those of the late 1970s and early 1980s. These films owe a debt to the
Italian giallo film, particularly those of Mario Bava and Dario Argento as well as
some of their gothic horror films. In general, Italian giallo films are murder
mysteries that feature a series of graphic, brutally violent death sequences. “Giallo”
is the Italian word for yellow, which refers to the colour of the pulp novels that
frequently featured this type of narrative. 3
Bava and Argento are widely regarded as
two of the great masters of the Italian giallo film, and both directors tell mystery
stories which include inventive set pieces that involve gruesome and creative death
sequences. The early films of each director, The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963;
dir. Bava) and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970; dir. Argento), are examples
of the standard giallo narrative conventions of murder mysteries with sometimes
elaborate and often graphically violent death sequences, and retain a more
3 See Mikel Koven (2006; 2) for a more detailed explanation of the term “giallo”.