Genre: Horror- conventions practise

1. Describe: Convention: Morality

 In both Psycho and Halloween the females are extremely sexualised. They are naked when they are murdered, and oftentimes they are murdered after they have recently had sex. This is evident in Psycho, when Marion is slaughtered in the shower; naked and vulnerable, a weak female.The shower has been interpreted in various ways; as a cleansing of her sins of stealing $40,000, or of sexual enjoyment because of her ecstatic facial expression. In these examples, the audience is provided with contrasting ideals; of Marion repenting over her stealing or once again reinforcing the sexual element of the film. Both of these things fall into the morality category.  At the beginning of the film we are introduced to Marion just moments after she and Sam have had sex in a cheap motel that she feels uncomfortable in. She wishes to have a "respectable" family dinner, and not to be in the "hotel of this sort, interested in you only when your time is up.." We see Marion wear her underwear often, or figure-fitting clothing when she is fully dressed. This is another way in which she is sexualised and made to appear promiscuous or inappropriate for the time.

Marion and Sam, note: she is in her underwear.

Similarly, in Halloween, the victims are killed when they have had sex and are naked. Judith Myers is stabbed to death when she is sitting naked at her mirror, brushing her hair, having recently had sex with her boyfriend. Annie and Lynda are also targeted. Annie, wearing only a top and underwear as she is on the way to see her boyfriend, Paul, and subsequently to have sex with him, has her throat slit in the car. Lynda is strangled with the telephone cord after she has had sex with her boyfriend Bob Simms. Bob is also killed, impaled by a knife onto the wall. Perhaps only as he is in the way of Michael getting Lynda. Lynda exposes her breasts to who she thinks is Bob, actually Michael, and this reinforces the idea of sexuality and nudity in the film. She is killed not long after this. Laurie Strode is the real target, but she doesn't get killed in the film. She does not appear naked, and has not had sex, she is focussed and the opposite of her friends. She does, however, smoke marijuana with Annie.

The shape watching Annie, in her underwear.

2. Explain:

Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was made in 1960 at a time when social morality was changing dramatically. In the 1950's teenagers became more rebellious, breaking away from the conservative values of the early 1900's. Along with this, attitudes to sex before or outside of marriage began to change. Sexuality was viewed as a threat to society and this film was one of the first horror films to consistently push the boundaries of what was acceptable in the 1960's.

The heavy use of nudity and violence in Psycho was shocking to the spectators of the 1960's and the reason Hitchcock chose to portray such visual elements was that his demographic was changing. Younger people were watching Horror films and he wished to appeal to the younger audience that was becoming more predominant. He said " that nowadays you have to show them the way they themselves behave most of the time." The two prominent topics in Psycho that revolve around morality are sex, the consequences of this, and stealing, which in this case, culminate in an unhappy demise for the central character, Marion.

Similarly, in Halloween, which was made in 1978; ideals based on morality were made present. Tony Williams said that the film " slaughtered the children of the 1960's" because of their engagement in illicit activities of sexual contact, drugs, drinking and Halloween also displayed copious amounts of nudity. In the end of the films, the people who engaged in such acts met violent and gory deaths.The directors in choosing to do this were reflecting on society and exploring all of the things that seemed frightening to society as teenagers became more adventurous in regard to sex and parted from the conservative values of the time. However, the director, John Carpenter, stated that Halloween was not a movie based on morals, and simply a horror that reflected the repressed, sexually uptight girl. The use of phallic symbols in this film is reminiscent of Psycho, which also drew on the use of such symbols in a most prominent fashion. The idea that if you had sex, you would be murdered, but if you didn't you may become a murderer, or want to stab out the built up sexual tension is evident in both of these films and once again reflects the consequences of sexual actions.

 3. Analyse:

The "shape" and Lynda just before he strangles her

In both of the films, the motivation for killing can be seen as a provocation from the women; they indulge in sex, they situate themselves to be naked and vulnerable when the killer can strike, they do drugs, drink and are unaware of the danger that they are faced with. The idea of morality and immorality is very much explored in both of these films, what was acceptable at the time? What was right and wrong? The idea that the behaviour of the teenagers was wrong is very strongly portrayed: in the 1960's as attitudes to drugs,sex and teenage life were changing. If the films were to appeal to an audience who smoked, drank, had sex and could relate to the characters the films would be successful. In this way, the teenagers were faced with what they were doing. The end result being death and violence may have startled them and changed the way they conducted themselves, or to have made them more aware of the danger in society.Carpenter stated that Halloween wasn't a morality play, but was simply a horror that showed Laurie to have killed Michael: " She's the one that killed him. She uses all those phallic symbols on the guy". In contrast, Alfred Hitchcock wanted to challenge the censors, to have sex, violence and nudity in his film in order to comment on the present issues and to push the boundaries of what was acceptable in the cinema at the time; some of these being the unrest that wasn't always apparent, like the problems of war, segregation and the change in social morality is what fueled Hitchcock's intention of shocking his audience.

The audience was very much shocked by both of these films. They were seen as explicit and direct. They pushed the conventional boundaries of film and society.  The audiences were probably not expecting such films, they were used to the "safer" horrors, and Hitchcock's Psycho was different from his other films; he used some of the conventions of previous horrors, but wanted to be innovative with his film. His killer is still recognizably human, the victim is a beautiful woman, the attack is registered by the victim's point of view and these things made Psycho the first modern Horror and" mother of the slasher". The lead female dies early on in the film, the idea of a cross-dressing killer with a tortured mind is explored and nothing ever becomes of the stolen money or the police man from the beginning of the film. Audiences did not expect these things.

Norman and Marion

 Psycho made $11,200,000 and was the highest grossing film of Hitchcock's career. The public loved the film and in many countries; Japan, China, Asia, France, Britain, South America, the United States, and Canada all broke box-office records. Halloween grossed $47.3 million in the United States and $60 million worldwide. This is equivalent to over $203 million as of 2010 and the film was said to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library Of Congress in the USA. Both of these films did well commercially, and they both inspired many imitations that used similar conventions and styles in the Horror Genre. 

These quotes show the feeling of some critics toward the film.Carol J Clover said that Halloween turned women into heroines,and introduced the first " final girl" who triumphs in the end. Roger Ebert said that " It's easy to create violence on the screen, but it's hard to do it well. Carpenter is uncannily skilled.."