Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Alfred Hitchcock Horror Films - 1,606 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... looks cheap not only by the plot but also by price. However, it doesnt look like other attempts to imitate the film. Alfred Hitchcock brings into the film a light vein of black humor. Moreover, the slightest gradations of the black humor are discovered when you re-view the film. No doubt, it is the film made by maestro, the incredibly talented producer.

Alfred Hitchcock made this film with the purpose of technical joke: he wanted to know what will be the reaction of the public, if he kills the main hero in the first part of the film. As a good example from the cinematographic book, Psycho illustrates how to manipulate the viewers. Alfred Hitchcock shows that, moving attention of the viewers from one hero to the other. He does that very skillfully with a jugglers art. The idea of the films was influenced by the case of Ed Hein. Ed Hein was a psychically abnormal murderer- cannibal from Wisconsin.

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of Psycho for the horror cinema industry. The influence is stipulated not only by the hero of Norman Bates (who further was reincarnated in various films and forms), but also by the fact that Alfred Hitchcock used various psychological tricks. For example, possible cause of the madness can be explained by perverted family or sexual story and not by the influence of superstitious force. The film is interesting by the famous musical accompaniment of Bernard Herrmann (his innovative screams of violins, grating on the viewers nerves), and by new standards of the violence. One of the main interesting differences between Psycho and other horror films is the age of the heroes.

Classical Hitchcock's film will never show you a teenager. Actually, it also tells about the further evolution of horror films as well as about the considerable rejuvenation of the audience. What concerns Psycho and The Birds, there are several similarities in the use of techniques, such as use of natural light in the daylight scenes, the use of subjective point-of-view shots, to mention a few. The producer accentuates the shock of the cuts using blaring horns and blinking neon lights. Yet, compared to The Birds, Psycho is more literary film. The feelings of split personality are delivered perfectly.

The ending, where the hero wouldn't hurt a fly is striking by its mastery. The Birds (1963) The film together with Psycho became the classic in its genre. Alfred Hitchcock masterly embodies the essence of suspense: his films leave the agonizing suspense of mounting alarm and subconscious fear. In a one word, it is an initiator. The second film after Psycho has become more substantial addition to the horror genre and more thoroughly discovered the dark sides of Hitchcock diabolism. The film is made under the novel of Daphne Du Married.

It takes place in Bodega Bay and tracks the life of a bored, spoilt woman of the world Melanie Daniels, who meets Mitch Brenner. As the film runs, there is a tension between a school teacher Annie Heyworth, a former Mitch's girlfriend and dominating mother of Mitch. Emotional interaction between the heroes is interrupted (and is reflected) by a sudden and unexplainable attack of the birds So, the daughter of newspaper magnate Melanie Daniels meets a lawyer Mitch in the bird shop and promises Mitch to deliver a pair of lovebirds he wanted to bring as a birthday present to his younger sister. To keep the promise, Melanie leaves for a coastal town Bodega Bay. When the girl brings the promised present, she meets Mitch's family and decides not to return to her native San Francisco but to spend a week-end with her new friend. She becomes a witness of a mysterious aggression from the side of the birds.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of birds start to terrorize the town. The birds attack and kill anybody on their path. The plotting of The Birds is as simple and unpretentious as in the majority of Hitchcock films. You can tell the whole story in one sentence, underlining the main motives and themes. However, the principal difference of the film is spotted in a different sense: the producer usually gives logical and truthful explanations as the curtain fell. Quote often the solution of detective story was unbelievable and unexpected.

Sometime it was quite shocking (for example, the MacHaffin). The Birds is not the rule but the exception. Alfred Hitchcock leaves the right of the final interpretation, conclusion and final answer to the viewer. Moreover, the producer doesnt answer the main question. He doesnt give the answer either in the film or in his numerous interviews. The question is: What was the reason of such behavior of the birds?

At the very beginning critics considered that The Birds belongs to a kind of so-called disaster films or other horror films of that kind. However, the film cannot solely be interpreted that way, because as the actors in the film discover in the long discussion scene in the Tides Restaurant, there is no solid, rational reason why the birds are attacking. They are not seeking revenge for nature's mistreatment, or foreshadowing doomsday, and they don't represent God's punishment for humankind's evil (Dirk n. p. ) Some critics consider that Alfred Hitchcock depicted senseless birds attacks on purpose. Some of them claim that they see almost haughtiness, superciliousness and even peculiar authors squeamishness (I made the film, now its your turn to find the explanation of the motives). Probably, the matter is in something else.

From the very beginning Alfred Hitchcock wasnt interested in the aspect of mysterious events in Bodega Bay. The producer focused his attention on the atmosphere of irrational fear, where the reason was usually harmless jackdaws, pigeons, crows, etc. Without any superfluous psychology (in the final analysis, both Mitch and Melanie are not more than gear wheels launching the mechanism of the film) Hitchcock proposes the viewer a number of captivating film- attractions. The main task of these film- attractions is to scare, to worry, to make the viewer feel anxious, nervous and share the feelings and emotions. Hitchcock is quite successful in doing so. The producer tricks (Hitchcock does use plenty of them) influence the viewer without a hitch.

For example, one of the interesting techniques the produces uses to maximize the impact on the audience is the use of the quick triple cut-in on the close-up of the farmer whose eyes have been pecked out (Hall n. p. ). Such tricks dont leave the change to apathetically comprehend the events of the film. Some people see the revenge of nature in birds aggression, some of them see evil omen of imminent danger of Apocalypse.

Some people draw a parallel between the film events and geopolitical environment in the modern world (for example, the Cold war between the United States and the former USSR). Some critics find the explanation in embodiment of human alienation and mistrust and consider that on an allegorical level, the birds in the film are the physical embodiment and exterior ization of unleashed, disturbing, shattering forces that threaten all of humanity (those threatened in the film include schoolchildren, a defenseless farmer, bystanders, a schoolteacher, etc. ) when relationships have become insubstantial, un supportive, or hurtful (Dirks n. p. ). All these assumptions have right for existence. The charm of The Birds consists of all those integral parts of the film.

The sphere for interpretation is large enough to embrace all assumptions. Alfred Hitchcock proposes universal metaphor of illogical, groundless evil. He shows all weakness and feebleness of people in proposed conditions. The only thing the main heroes are able to undertake is to escape, to run away from the danger. The equal confrontation is impossible a priori. At least, the producer considers there is no other way out.

The skillful combination of suspense and interesting, poly semantic context made The Birds one of the best Hitchcock's films. It is difficult to call that call in question. The Birds, as well as Psycho, is one of the most interesting Hitchcock's films. The Birds, obviously, is the most compound producers works.

There are many books dedicated to the film and its plotting, where the authors were taking to pieces every scene of the film, in order to prove their theory (mainly the theories of psychoanalytical character). However that may be, even those viewers who were bored to trace slowly forced suspense with some dramaturgic failures, were unable to neglect the incredible power of fascinating episodes of the film: the episode made from the viewpoint of the bird, the birds who slowly come to the playground, to mention a few. Another astonishing episode is the birds attack during a birthday party, where a birthday party and a schoolhouse are both attacked by the inexplicably maddened birds, and Hitchcock's camera lingers on the kids as they run, cry, fall to the ground helpless against the attacks. Even the most "innocent" among us are guilty in this irrational cosmology (Collins n. p. ). The film episode where Melanie finds herself in the trap at the garret makes the viewer to feel helpless and disparity of situation.

Finally, the last ambiguous film shot, where people who come off second-best, escape from Bodega Bay, and thousands of triumphing birds watch them escaping Bibliography Collins, Sean T. "No... No... ": Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. October 30, 2003. Retrieved September 12, 2006.

web Dirks, Tim. Psycho (1960). Retrieved September 12, 2006. web Dirks, Tim. The Birds (1963). Retrieved September 12, 2006.

web Hall, John W. Touch of Psycho? Retrieved September 12, 2006. web Vanneman, Alan. Alfred Hitchcock and Psycho. Retrieved September 12, 2006.

web


Free research essays on topics related to: birthday party, n p, alfred hitchcock, horror films, black humor

Research essay sample on Alfred Hitchcock Horror Films

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com