Alfred Hitchcock: In His Movies

The scene in Psycho, where Mr. Hitchcock is walking by Marion Crane's (Played by: Janet Leigh) office window in Phoenix AZ!

That's right folks, it looks like with at least some of his movies, that the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho), has been known to add a personal touch in his movies, that is when he is in them!

Now I haven't personally seen him in all of his movies, but, (and believe it or not, I have been kind of surprised about the fact that Mr. Hitchcock had cameo's in some of his movies as well,) besides having been the host of his anthology series, Alfred Hitchcock has been known to appear in some of his movies, but in the ones that I have seen anyway, it looks like Alfred Hitchcock will not only make an appearance, but I have found that unless you are looking for him, you probably won't find him!

What I mean by this... Well at least in the movies that I have seen of his, that his roles are usually just brief non-speaking cameo roles, doing stuff like, 'walking down the street', (as he did in both, Psycho (1960) and Vertigo (1958))!

Alfred Hitchcock's cameo in, 'Vertigo' (1959)!

The way I discovered this, was one day I happened to be watching a featurette about, 'Psycho', when they started talking about the scenes where Hitchcock appears in some of his movies... Well to say the least, I was a little surprised!

You see, they mentioned the scene that he is in, in Psycho, (you have to understand that I have probably seen Psycho dozens of times over the years,) with that said, I have seen the scene that Hitchcock is in, and in all of this, I honestly could not remember seeing him in that scene or in any other, through out the movie!

So if you are a fan of the master's work, and if you are like me, and don't remember seeing him in any of his movies, then go back through some of them... I think you might find a pleasant surprise!

For more information, please enjoy these scenes from some of the movies Alfred Hitchcock made that he has had a cameo in!

A Major Contribution To Horror And Science Fiction Movies: The Soundtrack

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] James Horner composing music for a soundtrack to a movie.[/caption]

You know I will be honest with you and say that one of the biggest contributions that the music industry has given to the world of film, rather it be on the big screen or on the small screen is the, 'Soundtrack'!

You might be asking yourself though... Well what about, 'Musicals'? Well the truth is, is that there are some great musicals out there, I am going to have to say though that Soundtracks really take the cake when it comes to the more important of contributions... There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Universally, rather it be on the big screen or on the small screen Soundtracks compliment the movies or TV series that they are supposed to go to pretty nicely!

2. Now this is just my opinion, but almost every musical TV episode, or music based TV show that I have ever scene has always and so far from what I can tell, will always universally suck!

And this is pretty universally true for the horror & science fiction genre as well!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Believe it or not, a truly fun soundtrack![/caption]

What I mean by this is that rather it be on the small screen or on the big screen, Soundtracks tend to play an extremely important role in the production they are connected to. A couple of great examples of this:

A: Psycho (1960): Universally, the arrangement that music composer, 'Bernard Hermann' put together for this classic horror/thriller by: Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo) was so well made that in a lot of respects, I think with out this maestro's work, this movie would never have become the insane cultural icon that it is today!

B: Star Trek... I know, I know, I do tend to use this example an awful lot, but it is true! I mean no matter who the composer or musicians are, who are associated with the latest movie or TV series, generally speaking truly help make the movie the historic epic that we all see on the big screen!

Now those are a couple of great examples of some soundtracks that have totally helped make these Horror or Science Fiction movies the true masterpieces that they were when they first came out, and the cultural icons they are today!

And there is another side of soundtracks that I thought that I would mention here that are really important... That is the talent they bring in to work on these movies!

Rather they be composers like, 'John Williams' (Jaws), or heavy metal super stars like, 'Rob Zombie' (Halloween), producers generally bring in some truly amazing talent! A couple of examples are as follows:

John Williams' score from, Star Wars - Episode 3: A New Hope (1977):

http://youtu.be/2Mo0dSHFGPg

Rob Zombie's 'House Of 1,000 Corpses' from the movie he directed with the same title:

http://youtu.be/WT_f2UFNj3U

Charles Bernstein's famous score from, A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984):

http://youtu.be/tn_DjzN8410

Scream 4 (2011) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

In 1996 there was a soon to be legendary teen slasher movie, that would go on to define the slasher movie horror sub genre for the 1990s with the movie, Scream (1996)!

Believe it or not this movie (which was made by Wes Craven), had actually meant to be a spoof of previous slasher movies... The only problem is that it wasn't funny... As a matter of fact, despite the fact that this movie was not really all that funny, it actually turned out to be a piece of cinematic genius that would define that type of horror movie for the rest of the 1990s!

Why was this movie so defining? Well simply put I think it was because it added an element of mystery to the movie... What I mean by this is that this movie had a certain style and panache that definitely defined the 90s (as opposed to your usual Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Friday The 13th, being more of a slash and grab!)

Now I do like both of those types of movies, but in this case, and I do think that this was largely due to the direction of Wes Craven (who helped define the mystery/slasher horror movie) and the writing of Kevin Williamson (who took it to a new level in the 1990).

I will also say that Hitchcock helped to trail blaze this type of movie, with that said though, Hitchcock's style vs what you would see in Scream are two different movies (i,e. with Hitchcock (as was the sign of the times) there was more mystery then horror, and with what you see in Scream, it is more of a balance of horror vs mystery!)

The reason that I mention all of this is that in 2011, Scream 4 was released in to theaters (unfortunately I did end up missing it then), but I recently saw it fresh... And I gotta say that this one is an interesting one...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="241"] A fun one![/caption]

You see, this movie (which would reunite Kevin Williamson, Wes Craven, and the original cast members that were in the first 3 movies) told the story of how after many years, Sidney Prescott (Played by: Neve Campbell), comes back to her home town of Woodsboro during the anniversary of the original Woodsboro massacre as part of her publicity tour for her self help book...

What she doesn't know though, is that she isn't the only one that has come home... You see, it turns out that Ghostface has decided to come home to remake the legendary original story line in ways that she, nor Dewey (Played by: David Arquette) or his wife and fellow survivor of the previous massacres Gale Weathers (Played: Courtney Cox) may not be ready to combat!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Ghostface and Gail Weathers are just two of the original party players that have come together to reunite for the anniversary of the original massacre![/caption]

Another thing that I thought was kind of cool was the introduction of some of the talent that has been making waves on both the big screen and the small screen, like Hayden Panettiere, (Heroes), Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew) & Rory Culkin (The Good Son) to name a few!

Also I thought it was cool how they have utilized talented veteran actors and actresses like Marley Shelton (Planet Terror), and Anthony Anderson (The Departed)!

Now the unfortunate side of this movie (and I hope this movie does properly put the Scream franchise to rest), is A: This movie was definitely dated, and all though it was quite cool to enjoy a classic 90s style teen slasher... In the end, this movie unfortunately tried to re-create that 90s magic, while incorporating elements to make it fresh and new, yet failing to do so! B: I mentioned above that I hope this movie effectively allows this franchise to Rest In Peace... Well that is because this movie has gone everywhere it could... I mean the only directions they can take that I could think of would be to either 1. would be to add the same elements that made the original 3 great (which has been played out), or 2. to have Ghostface go after some other group of teenagers... Although if they do that then it will probably end up being as horrible as the second sequel in the, 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' series.

In the end, I am a fan of the series, and I definitely think if you are a fan of the series that you might like it as well!

http://youtu.be/UlaZfOiGaCU

Psycho (1960) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="350"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

In the 1950s in Wisconsin there was a serial killer by the name of, 'Ed Gein' who lived alone on a huge farm, and was more or less obsessed with his mother to the point where he started tipping over the edge when she died.

Then a few years after Gein's arrest, author Robert Bloch would go on to write a novel that was loosely based on the, 'Gein' case called, 'Psycho'.

Then in 1960, the true master of suspense, 'Alfred Hitchcock' (Rear Window) went on to make a little movie for Universal Pictures that would go on the become one of the most prolific movies in both the thriller genre and the horror genre, and that was based on Bloch's novel called, Psycho (1960)!

Written by: Joseph Stefano (Psycho 4: The Beginning) and Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Anthony Perkins (The Black hole), Vera Miles (The Searchers), John Gavin (Spartacus), Janet Leigh (Halloween: H20) and Martin Balsam (Cape Fear).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="538"] One of the most famous shots in horror movie history... A shot with Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) as he looks up in to his mother's room![/caption]

Psycho tells the story of Marion Crane (Leigh) who comes across $40 thousand dollars one day when a person who is about to buy a house from the real estate company that she works for drops the cash on Marion's desk, and Marion's boss asks her to take it to the companies safety deposit box!

Now Marion has a boyfriend that she loves very much by the name of, 'Sam' who lives in Fairvale California (while Marion lives in Phoenix Arizona). Sam unfortunately due to his debts can't move in with Marion, and won't let Marion movie in with him (due to the fact that he more or less basically has a tiny room in the back of his shop!

So Marion decides to steal the $40 thousand and takes off for Fairvale to be with the man of her dreams and help pay off his debts!

After some fear of being caught by the California Highway Patrol, Marion decides to stop off at the local Bates Motel, where she meets the slightly odd but nice enough Motel Manager who lives with his mother, by the name of Norman Bates (Perkins).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) asking a cold and lonely Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) if she would have dinner with him.[/caption]

Now after some slightly weird but mostly genial conversation and a dinner of sandwiches, with Norman, and discovers that she may have made a mistake in stealing that money. Marion heads off to her own room to get ready for bed, in preparation for heading back to Phoenix to face the music!

While she is in the shower, 'Mrs. Bates' decides to show her dislike for Marion by barging in to her room and murdering her in what would become one of the most famous shower murder scenes in movie history!

Well with Marion and the $40 thousand dollars missing, a Private Detective by the name of, 'Milton Arbogast' (Martin Balsam) is hired to find Marion and retrieve the money. While Marion's sister, 'Lila' (Miles) just wants to find her sister!

Now this movie truly is not only an iconic movie in the horror and thriller genres! But this movie is one of the most recognizable movies in the history of Cinema!

http://youtu.be/y9klJA1JMbM