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The Perfect Murder
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation.”
-Alfred Hitchcock
In today’s action and horror films, violence and murder are used in every possible way to get the smallest rise from an audience. ... The legendary filmmaker had a very unique portrait of violence and murder in his films. ... Only four of his movies include prolonged murder sequences: the shower scene in Psycho, the stabbing in Blackmail, the stabbing in Dial M for Murder, and the strangling in Stranger on a Train (Spoto 10). It is interesting that a filmmaker so fascinated by murder and death would only have four extended murder sequences during his career as a filmmaker. ... Whatever the explanation, through his films Hitchcock has been able to
create the perfect murder. In this paper, I will take a closer look at the four extended murder sequences in Hitchcock’s films, and explain how Hitchcock’s portrayal of murder builds through the movies, and results in the perfect murder found in Psycho (13).
A very important element of Hitchcock’s on screen murders is concealing the murder. ... In Blackmail, the murder takes place behind the curtains that surround Crewe’s bed. Out of all the on screen murder sequences, this is the most apparent case of concealment. The on screen portrayal of Crewe’s murder is virtually off screen. This leaves almost the entire murder up to the imagination. A very unique case of concealment comes in the murder of Miriam in Strangers on a Train. ... The sound of the murder is also hidden by the sound of carnival organs. ...
Another crucial element to Hitchcock’s perfect murder is the shock and the aftermath (Condon). ...
The last important element is the timing of the murder. The timing could make or break a murder scene. ... In Dial M for Murder, a man named Tony organizes the murder. ... Tony offers Swann a large amount of money in return for the murder. Swann accepts and plans to murder Margot while Mark and Tony are at a social function and she is at the house alone. ... Hitchcock is able to make the murder self-contained. ...
Through the murder scene, Hitchcock is able to send the audience on an emotional roller coaster in less than two minutes. ... After a minute, you might recall the reason why Swann was trying to murder her and get angry with her right after you felt relief. Everything in this murder is precisely and perfectly timed.
All the elements of a perfect murder come together in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Approximate Word count = 2083
Approximate Pages = 8.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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