Post-Modern Horror Films

The handout “Modern (Classical) Horror and Post-modern Horror Film” discusses many differences between the two horror genres. The many differences are listed effectively and it shows that there is a giant leap, almost polar opposition, between modern horror films and post-modern horror films. The movie Psycho is considered to be a post-modern horror film, due to it many differences from that of a modern horror film.

The first difference discussed is the prominence of good and evil, normality and abnormality, and reality and illusion. Modern horror films have the good and the evil easily distinguishable, but in post-modern, just the opposite. In Psycho, the characters all have traits and flaws that make them both good and evil. For example, Norman Bates, through out the movie, is seen to be just another victim of his mother’s brutal killings, but later we see that Norman is the brutal killer and his evil is seen. Even the first victim of the killings, Marion Crane, is not completely good. In fact, she has stolen a large amount of money. The normality of Marion is paralleled to her abnormality. She seems like a meek woman who would never commit a crime, but she is thief who becomes paranoid that she is being followed by the police. She struggles with her decision to become abnormal and wonders what it would be like to just return the money and go back to being normal, but it is too late. Her normality and abnormality is melded into a paranoid mess of a person. Norman is also struggling with his issue. In his head, he can not look at beautiful women because he feels his mother is watching. He tries to live a normal life, but is pushed to kill when his natural desires flair up. The characters also struggle with reality and illusion as Norman Bates is unaware that he is taking on the persona of his murdered mother and Marion Crane is paranoid of people’s intentions.

Another element that makes Psycho a post-modern horror film is the lack of narrative closure at the end of the movie. The psychologist does explain why Norman killed all those people, but the last scene belongs to the mother side of Norman. Her monologue gives the feeling that her tirade is not completely over and that someone will die again. The fact that Norman is psychotic comes as a complete shock to the audience which makes the movie a post-modern film. The twist in the story kills the audience’s expectations of the horror genre and leaves them in shock. Psycho fits so perfectly in the post-modern horror film genre that one is left to speculate if Alfred Hitchcock invented the new genre.