History of Horror (with videos): Alfred Hitchcock

History of Horror

A dominant figure within the history of horror is Alfred Hitchcock who was a very famous film director and producer who was a pioneer of techniques within the horror and thriller genre. Using lots of techniques he took from watching films in the 1920s (particularly from Soviet Montage directors like Sergei Eisenstein and Lev Kuleshov) he was the master of using Kuleshov Effect and Collision Cutting to create maximum emotional effect. Because of all this, he became known as the "Master of Suspense."

 

He first began as a film director in the mid 1920’s, and his most famous early thriller is The Lodger (1927). His most notable films where in the 1940’s and in 50’s these were in his peak years and had a diverse range of films one of his darker ones from the 1940’s being Shadow of a Doubt (1943) this was one of his personal favourites. Some of his other films such as Stranger on a Train (1951) and Rear Window (1953) were increasingly thriller/horror based films, due to the inclusion of murderers. In the late 1950's Alfred Hitchcock's career was waining but he brought his career back to life with his most famous film Psycho (1960), a black and white film with his tv crew (from Alfred Hitchcock Presents) on a low budget.

This was Hitchcock's second chance and he changed drastically from thriller to horror films, following it up with gorier films such as the serial killer film Frenzy (1972). This film was considered one of the first horror films and was a big shock to the audience at the time. It made horror real by basing its story line on the historical context of the serial killer Ed Gein. It was there for very controversial for Hitchcock to base his film upon. This enabled him to maximise shock by the context of linking the film to real life events.

In Psycho, Hitchcock was able to demonstrate his mastery of montage which can be clearly seen within the famous shower scene where Marion entering into the shower is slow, the attack on her is quick and then it returns to being slow. Once again, there is a heavy influence here by Soviet montage films in the 20’s which relied largely on editing. This technique is also seen to be used within Hitchcock’s Odessa Steps Sequence from Battleship Potemkin (1924).  It is important to consider that at the time Psycho was being made Hitchcock was limited by the Hays Code and consequently restricted to the extent of gore, language and nudity within the film.

 

Hitchcock is considered to be the main auteur of films. As mentioned before one of his main influences is in the use of editing, he relied on techniques such as montage and collision cutting in order to create emotion. Within his real life Hitchcock was sexually repressed, often dominated by his wife however having a kinky side to him and a sick sense of humour. An example of this would be his amusement in placing the actress (who plays Marion in the film Psycho in a freezing cold shower). He had an obsession with young blonde women and almost tries to torment them in his films. This is also clear in the film The Birds which was made after the 1960’s. The last main influence is that he is highly considered as "The Master of Suspense"; he likes to drag out tension, making people tense and then eventually producing a shocking payoff. An example of this personal style of his can be seen in Sabotage (1936) where the tension is dragged out and then built up.

 Hitchcock’s last film was Family Plot (1976) which had a lighter more comical tone to it. But his main skill was the way he created suspense and shock, pushing the film industry forwards and still being remembered today because of that. It is clear to see that Alfred Hitchcock had a heavy influence on the horror genre and film industry and is widely credited on his unique methods used.