Psycho - shower scene

The iconic shower scene present in Hitchcock's Oscar nominated  'Psycho', presents key examples of Hitchcock's theories and ideas in action. The scene involves a rather dramatic shower, upon which actress Janet Leigh, has a very distressing experience which eventually ends in her gory death.


For example, he incorporates his idea of suspense vs. surprise, that's key in this particular scene.

For the audience, the fact that the female character in the scene is unaware of the approaching danger, it creates significant tension as the viewers know that something awful is going to happen, in this particular scene, the tense music incorporated also adds to the ever growing tension. Hitchcock also believes that "music can not stand apart from the movie", meaning that the function is to set the mood in the scene; in this case, the function is to create significant tension. The distortion of the figure behind the shower curtain, also contributes to the rising tension for the audience, as it promotes confusion and unawareness off who the mysterious character is and of what exactly is going to happen next. This relates to the unrestricted narrative adopted by Hitchcock, upon which the audience are aware of approaching events and the characters themselves aren't.

The 'Ticking Time Bomb' theory explored and developed by Hitchcock, is also apparent in this

particular scene. Upon the arrival of the mysterious character into the bathroom, and the fact the Leigh's character is so oblivious adds to the tension amongst the viewers as it means that they are left wondering what is going to happen next, its the threat of the danger that is more suspenseful than the danger itself.