Psycho

Even before I knew anything about film music, I knew about the music in "Psycho". As a young child, it was not uncommon for my sister to sneak up on my in the shower wielding an imaginary knife and shrieking "EE EE EE EE." Other than the iconic "chee chee chee aw aw aw" from "Friday the 13th" no other film music so distinctly dominates my childhood nightmares.

Upon re-watching "Psycho" listening specifically for the music, what struck me the most was not the music, but instead the long silences. During most dialogue scenes there is absolutely no music at all. I noticed that also within Film Noir, the silences serve as a sharp contrast against the intense fast-paced music that occurs during the high drama scenes. Obviously being a horror film, the music has a lot of dischord. The music is not pleasing to the ear and it makes the listener sort of cringe upon hearing it, heightening the sense of fear. The music is often dominated by strings but it sounds at times as if they're being plucked rather than played with a bow. The sound produced is more violent and abrasive and less melodious.

Obviously one cannot talk about the music within Psycho without talking about the iconic shower scene. After a completely music free conversation with Norman Bates, the unsuspecting Marion takes a shower. There is silence as she lets the water run and relaxes, until suddenly the silence is broken as we see a knife wielding mother and hear the ear drum shattering, EE EE EE EE. Again, the contrast between the silence and then the dischord laden murder theme heightens the sense of fear. All the music within Psycho, or absence there of, contributes to the terror of the audience so much so that it has become cliche in slasher films--the villain has his own killing leitmotif, for example, as I mentioned earlier, Jason in "Friday the 13th".