Alfred Hitchcock's name is synonymous with suspense. He has produced many films and short television serials that go down in history as the bench mark for directors since his time that have used him as an example. To many he is the master of suspense, no one before or after him has been able to weave intricate plots using dramatic lighting, music full of dynamics, long pauses, unexpected events that have made generations of viewers so convinced of his talent. Psycho is considered by many to be his masterpiece, this along with 'The Birds' have established him as master of his profession. The terrifying simplicity of the story and compelling visuals are enough to jolt any viewer unaware of the malicious goings-on beyond the surface of the story.
             At the beginning of Psycho we are shown the precise location, date and time as Hitchcock's mischievous camera work places the viewer at the voyeur end of the action from the first shot which enters a lover's mid-afternoon tryst in a hotel room through an open window. The implicating camera later witnesses Janet Leigh's undressing through a peephole and the violent and ultra-voyeuristic shower scene which compels viewers to intently watch for any glimpse of nudity that the quick editing might provide. This shower scene rivets the viewer with guilty glimpses (that reveal nothing, though many viewers may recall differently, further exemplifying Hitchcock's brilliance for audience manipulation), but this scene also horrifies with its brutal stabbing which is seemingly viewed from the killer's point-of-view. The vulnerability and nakedness of a common shower as a murder scene is a mischievously calculated event meant to involve and effect the viewer to full capacity.
             Hitchcock goes beyond a common suspense story to implicate the viewer in the action by making the audience sympathise with the crimes of the characters. For instance, Janet Leigh's theft and subsequent flee is not m
             ...