Horror

Mark pointed out a great article on the film Psycho which presented an analysis on how it changed cinema.  The film is brilliant and Alfred Hitchcock pushed film boundaries of the time.  It is now 50 years since the film was released to unsuspecting cinema-goers.  When you watch Psycho it is difficult to see the groundbreaking steps it took as films nowadays are so packed with sex, violence and everything in between.  In fact, I just saw the movie Kick Ass where an 11 year old girl uses the 'C' word and is battered by a middle aged man.  All in the name of comic book violence though.  Still the sort of things we're used to on screen in 2010 would have been alien to audiences in the 1960s.  

The shots in Psycho are chilling as is the use of music.  You spend the whole film in a state of tension eager to know what will happen next which is what a good horror does.  Hitchcock nailed it and set the bar for horror movies to this day.  The twist is chilling.

Edit:  I forgot to say that Psycho is showing at Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) from Friday 16th April until Thursday 22nd April. Who wants to see it on the big screen?  

Another nostalgic horror which is as gripping as Psycho is Roman Polanski's 1968 classic Rosemary's Baby.  Polanski, although a bit controversial (maybe an understatement), is a genius when he wants to be and this cinema great with a skeletal Mia Farrow as Rosemary is such a rollercoaster of a film.  Polanski sets you on every emotion possible as you try to figure out what the hell is going on.  It's so unbelievable it somehow works.  The black comedic value is integral to it because it doesn't take itself too seriously.  Nothing good comes of being vain and self centered.  

The clothes on film are very trendy of the time.  And Mia's pixie crop is still referenced constantly today.  

Perhaps the red jumpsuit she wears before being devoured by the cult group - or has a seriously creepy dream - depending on how you see it is a satanic deep red for a reason.  

The creepy couple next door, the Castevets, are trashy New Yorkers.  Look at those distasteful outfits.  They constantly provide the laughs in the films so it is hard to attach them to their real characters.  

At the start of the film Rosemary looks virginal all the time in loose fitting shift dresses, flat pumps and pretty fair hair - it's no wonder the devil wanted her.