CAST
Anthony Perkins...............Norman Bates
Janet Leigh........................Marion Crane
Vera Miles.........................Lila Crane
John Gavin..........................Sam Loomis

Runtime................................109 minutes
Country...................................USA
Language........... ...................English
Color......................................Blac k and White
Certificate...............................UK 15
Company...............................Shamley Productions

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock

Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Special Effects by
Clarence Champagne

Writer
Robert Bloch (novel)

The original film of Psycho was hugely popular. It made a lot of money at the box office and established Hitchcock's reputation as a director and particularly as a master of suspense. It changed the horror genre which became less about external mystical threats such as zombies and more about threats in their neighbourhood and the way you can be at risk even in your own home.

Hitchcock's Psycho also helped to establish the slasher sub-genre of horror films which continues to be popular today. Van Sant wanted to capitalise on the success of the original film and create almost a copy of it but in colour. Although the actors and the director are changed the dialogue, sound track and even the camera shots are almost exactly the same as in Hitchcock's version.

Van Sant has tried to gain attention of two types of audience. One is older people who have already seen the original film and the other one is teenagers who haven't seen the film.

Unfortunately Van Sant failed. If he had changed the film more then it might have proved more successful but it was not well received by either the audience or critics as they found the film boring and predictable.

The older audience had seen almost the same film before when it was considered ground-breaking but the tastes and expectations of the younger audience had moved on. Interestingly, although the film, Psycho, is most remembered for its infamous 'shower scene' the actual impact of the knife wounds is not shown in either film and the sense of fear and horror is created almost entirely by clever camera angles, editing and music.

Advertising has a big effect on the film's popularity and type. Both of the trailers of Psycho are very different to each other although the films were very similar. The aim of Psycho's trailer was to mislead the audience and to create mystery about the ending of the film which Hitchcock reinforced by refusing to allow late-comers in to see the film and asking the audience not to reveal the ending to others. Along the years trailers have become faster-paced and have added dramatic music to create tension and attract a particular type of audience.

The original trailer is roughly six minutes long and, in contrast, the newer one is only about half a minute long. The images, captions and music tracks used are very different for each. The newer trailer has very fast editing and distorted images and the sound track used is dramatic to create tension.

It starts off with the main character, Norman Bates, whereas the original version's trailer Hitchcock is describing the film by himself. Hitchcock introduces us to the murder places and the killer's room and describes the way the victims were murdered and the way they fell down. At the end of the trailer Hitchcock goes in to the guest room in which the girl was murdered and when he goes in the bath room and moves the curtain a woman screams and the trailer ends.

The music used in Hitchcock's trailer is very jolly but near the last scene it becomes fast and loud until the cast and release date is revealed. In Van Sant's version of Psycho there was an iris shot: the eye of Norman Bates turns in to a plug hole with the blood of the woman (Marion Crane) draining down it.

The first caption used is "This is the face of Norman Bates" followed by a shot of Norman Bates, in a white room and then the camera view from the top of his head. This is an actual scene from the film and it is used in the trailer to confuse and inform the audience who the real Psycho is. Then the next caption says "This is the mind of Norman Bates" and then we see what is inside his mind through the montage of flashing pictures of dead people and body parts. This is added because it gives a felling of what his character is like. The last caption says "Discover the world of Norman Bates" and this means that the audience have to see the film to discover what kind of a person Norman Bates is and solve the mystery of the film.

The structure of the captions is included to draw us in and make us watch the film. In contrast to this, in the original film's trailer the captions used are almost full sentences and are not about the film but instead they are about Hitchcock. The first one says "The fabulous Mr. Alfred Hitchcock is about to escort you……" and the second one says "on a tour of the location of his new motion picture, 'Psycho'.

At the end of the Hitchcock's version of the trailer the bathroom shot is included because it creates mystery and confuses the audience. This makes them want to watch the film and explore what happens next themselves to find the answers to the questions they had or simply to enjoy it. In Van Sant's version of the trailer the shot when Norman Bates is in a white room is added because it gives the audience some hint of what kind of a character he is. This creates a dramatic effect and attracts the audience's attention.

The sound of a heart beat has been used as the background music in Van Sant's version of the Psycho because it creates tension and excitement. Near the end of the trailer Marion screams when she is being killed, it creates a dramatic effect and gives the audience an idea of how terrifying the film is.

In Hitchcock's version of the trailer at the end Marion screams when he pulls the bathroom curtain and the trailer ends. This is used because it makes the audience feel the sense of horror and the type of fun they would have watching it.

In the original trailer Hitchcock points out the picture in Norman Bates office because it is very important and is the source from which he keeps an eye on his visitors or prey. In contrast to this in the newer version of the trailer Norman Bates is seeing Marion through the hole in the wall as she is getting ready for a bath. This scene is added because it tells the audience how he keeps an eye on his visitors and gives us a better idea of his character and motivation is. In the Van Sant's version of the trailer the murderer's face has not been shown when he is in the bathroom because it is one of the main confusing parts as well as the selling point of the film and revealing his face wouldn't make the film very popular and ruin he whole sense of mystery and the fun.

I think that both of the trailers were suitable for the audiences for which they were produced. The differences between the trailers shows how audiences and their tastes and expectations have changed over the years. The original trailer was long and black and white but it did attract a lot of attention from the audience of the 1960s and made the film one of the most popular horror films of that time although a contemporary audience would find it less appealing. However the trailer of the new version of Psycho is very fast and colourful because it had a very different type of audience to attract.

Thank you for reading my review which was also my GCSE coursework.