How ignorant can one be was exemplified when I noticed that there was a Psycho trilogy by Robert Bloch, when all the time I had assumed that Psycho was Hitchcock's masterpiece. It is, no doubt, in the visual medium. But, if you ask me, the thriller had its origin in this book.
In this book, fear gets under your skin...not the fear of blood, brutality and murders, but the fear of one becoming Bates. His fears, his psychotic thoughts, his vulnerability to psychological voices inside his head....are all these 'his' or 'ours'? Bloch takes us so infernally deep into Bates' mind that there is complete identification with Bates as he struggles with his screzophrenic personalities.
The point is, if one hadn't seen the movie, one could never have guessed the gruesome riddle.
Bloch is at his best in stoking our fears, not through graphic visuals and music as in the movie, but through his words. The 'how, when and why' of it all is best enjoyed only by reading Psycho.
Psycho II is chilling, becuase the terror keeps building through the opening pages. Dr.Clairborne, Bates' physician is determined to find his patient who escapes from the Detention centre after killing two nuns. The revelation and denouement are unexpected, in fact, it goes beyond our limited imagination.
Psycho III is a culmination of the psychological study and completes the horror story.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
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