Analyse

Psycho was an early use of the knife in horror but used it in a different way to recent films such as Halloween and Scream. Alfred Hitchcock is known for his clever way of portraying violence without showing huge amounts of macabre detail. Even in the famous shower scene, we barely see the knife as shadows are used cleverly so the viewer does not need to see such details to be scared. Even the idea that a "psycho" would come to murder a young woman for no reason is scary enough, especially for the time it was created. But, as audiences have changed more shock value is needed and the knife is certainly key to this. More recent films such as Halloween and Scream use the visual shock of a body being ripped open to scare the viewers while Psycho even shows minimal amounts of blood.
Audiences continue to ask for more in the way of shock, and directors seem to deliver. In the 1931 film Frankenstein censorship meant that the line in which Dr Frankenstein says "Now I know what it's like to be god!" was edited out because of the blasphemous nature of the line. Today, this line would be left unquestioned, it's not at all shocking to a viewer of today. In the case of the use of the knife, previously violence would only be implied. For example in Psycho shadow was used in a very intentional way, we never actually see the face of the murderer, but we do see his or her silhouette holding the knife. We also see shots of raised hands and the shape of the murderer. Although shadow is definitely still used in horror films today it is usually not used to hide graphic violence, instead directors of today like to focus on this detail of films.
Because of the accessible nature of the knife, it makes the viewer think about how, perhaps, anyone could do this. This idea is certainly played with in Scream when Ghost-face turns out to be two teenage characters Billy and Stu who are obsessed with Horror Films. They are rather 'average' people and this is scarier to the viewer. In Halloween the opening scene shows a 6 year-old Mike Myers killing his sister with a knife in her bedroom. The unnerving detail that it is a child committing such a horrific crime continues to play with the idea that no one is innocent. Also in Halloween Laurie's retaliation to the events is shocking. Stabbing him with any sharp object she can find shows us that this ordinary girl is also capable of killing another human being. Psycho takes another perspective on this idea, as Norman Bates has Personality Disorder he is rather unaware of what he has done, as even he himself believes it is someone else. But, for viewers this could be more unnerving and raises the question of  'What if I was in his position?'. Psycho plays with the idea of loss of control with in ones self, the murders are not organised as they were in Scream instead, they are simply a reaction to what has happened to Bates both in the past and more presently.

Explain

The phallic symbol idea gives depth to the characters in the film. Often, Horrors seem to focus on the fear both being felt by the characters in the film, and the fear felt by the viewer but have little focus on the protagonist. In Psycho we are introduced to Marion after it is apparent she has had premarital sex, we make the assumption she is a very sexual person and when she is stabbed this emphasises and stays true to this assumption. While in Halloween the protagonist, Laurie is a very innocent and perhaps even nerdy character. It is shocking for the audience to find the same character who previously brought a pile of books home for the weekend is now the same character who is attempting to protect herself by stabbing another person. From this, we learn that Laurie is not as innocent as we first thought.
A knife as a weapon allows the director to create a very graphic violence and so is helpful in the slasher sub-genre. Other possible weapons such as a gun although will kill the victim they do not leave enough space for shocking viewing. In the opening scene to Scream Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) is brutally murdered by ghost face telling her he wanted  "To see what your insides look like". This results in Casey being brutally cut open and hanged, showing her insides and setting the macabre atmosphere for the entire film.
 Not only does the knife as a weapon add to the physical brutality intended in a horror film, but it also has the underlying impression that anyone is capable of taking such an awful action towards another person. A knife is a very common household item, everyone has one and this adds to the shocking qualities shown in any horror film that uses this convention. It seems that Norman Bates (Psycho) did not think out his murders, as it was to an extent out of his hands, so the knife may have been his only option, a simple weapon. Although we are not given much information on Myers' reasoning in Halloween other then the opening sequence where we see a 6 year-old Myers murder his sister and a small back story from Dr Loomis, it seems to be an act of tradition. He used the knife as a child, and is continuing this sick act.

Describe

Convention: Knife
The knife is constantly reused in the horror film genre. Mostly used in the slasher sub-genre, it is a weapon used not only to kill victims in a brutal manner, but also often used as a phallic symbol showing the possible sexual tension between the victim and the culprit. In the famous Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, character Norman Bates uses a knife to murder his victims. After an obvious show of admiration for female character, Marion Crane, Bates' multiple personality of his mother stabs her to death while she is in the shower as a result of jealousy. Alternatively, this could be as a result of sexual frustration Norman has towards Marion.

The knife as shown in the famous shower scene. Psycho, 1960

 In the film Halloween the knife weapon continues to be used as a phallic symbol. Main character, Laurie is the most innocent and least sexually active of her friends. John Carpenter once explained "The one girl who is the most sexually uptight just keeps stabbing this guy with a long knife. She's the most sexually frustrated. She's the one that's killed him. Not because she's a virgin but because all that sexually repressed energy starts coming out. She uses all those phallic symbols on the guy." In the final sequence of the film in which Mike Myers is attempting to kill Laurie, she uses the knife (along with many phallic symbols such as a knitting needle) in attempt to murder him.

 

Laurie holding the knife in preparation for Mike Myers. Halloween, 1978