Shower Thoughts: Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter, and the Birth of the Modern “Slasher”
WARNING: The following article contains major spoiler alerts and disturbing content.
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A young real estate secretary from Phoenix, AZ runs off with her boss’s money– $40,000. She retires for the evening at a remote, mostly vacant motel. She meets with the proprietor, a young man who operates the motel alongside his mother. An awkward and tense conversation ensues. The woman heads back to her room. She is tired, but she decides to take a shower before going to bed.
As she relaxes in the shower, enjoys the hot water, and gently massages her scalp, the bathroom door opens. A shadowy figure appears behind the shower curtain. The young woman is oblivious. We zero in on the creeping figure behind the shower curtain. The figure yanks open the shower curtain, and the young woman spins around in horror. Naked and helpless, the young woman screams as the shadowy figure (presumably an older woman) plunges a kitchen knife into her. The shadowy figure stabs her repeatedly, and then the young woman- barely grasping the walls and dying from her wounds- collapses onto the shower floor. The killer abruptly leaves. We zoom in on one of the dead woman’s eyes. It transitions into bloody water circling the drain.
As you may have surmised, this whole story constitutes the first half of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch (1959). The young woman is Marion Crane, and the young man is, of course, Norman Bates. Psycho, one of Hitchcock’s signature masterpieces, undoubtedly kicked off the modern horror genre. More appropriately, though, it kicked off the modern “slasher,” a subgenre of horror films. Several decades later, The Silence of the Lambs re-elevated the genre, making one of Hollywood’s other most notorious villains- Hannibal Lecter- a household name.
Krueger, Jason, and Myers
“Slashers” viscerally derive their name from the stabbing, slicing, or hacking motion of a knife/axe. They primarily involve serial killers and/or mass murderers, and their villains usually remain mysterious. The dream-invading, finger-bladed Freddy Krueger is one such “slasher” villain…as is the hockey-mask-wearing, camp-dwelling murderer from the Friday the 13th series. Halloween’s Michael Myers jumpstarted Jamie Lee Curtis’s “scream queen” acting career, while “Ghostface” iconically revived the slasher genre in a “meta” sort of way. Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) drew attention to the various “rules” that previous slasher films put into place. The Cabin in the Woods (2012) would later reprise this “meta” approach.
Production and Inspiration
In the case of Psycho, none of the more “modern” tropes apply. His victims aren’t promiscuous teenagers, nor does he systematically seek revenge. Norman- whom we later learn is the real killer (not his mother)- murders people when his mother’s “personality” takes hold of him. In classic Oedipal fashion, the mother despises and distrusts any young woman who threatens to “take away her son,” and so Norman acts upon “her” wishes.
Ed Gein, a notorious Wisconsin murderer and grave robber (who grew up less than 40 miles from Robert Bloch), infamously inspired Norman Bates. The psychotic, cross-dressing serial killer, whose relationship with his domineering mother drove him to kill, murdered two people and used their body parts to build a shrine. Defense attorneys later turned to Gein’s story when assisting cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 1991. Gein also notably inspired two other fictional serial killers- Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Joseph Stefano wrote the adapted screenplay for Psycho. Anthony Perkins starred as Norman Bates and Janet Leigh as Marion Crane. Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, and John McIntire all co-starred in the film. John L. Russell provided principal photography. George Tomasini was the film’s editor, and Bernard Herrmann gave the movie its legendary score—notably the “screeching violins.” Shamley Productions produced the film, and Paramount Pictures distributed it. Studios released Psycho on June 16, 1960, and September 8, 1960 (just missing out on the Halloween season).
Hitchcock, who acquired rights to the novel for $9,500, reportedly ordered Peggy Robertson (his long-time assistant) to buy all copies of the novel to preserve its surprises1,2. He had come to face genre competitors whose works reviewers were critically comparing to his own (The Birds, Vertigo, and North by Northwest). Hitchcock- seeking new material to recover from two aborted projects with Paramount (Flamingo Feather and No Bail for the Judge)- trusted only a few people while choosing prospective material3. Paramount executives balked at Hitchcock’s proposal. They refused to provide his usual budget, and so Hitchcock countered that he would finance and film the movie at Universal-International using his Shamley Productions crew if Paramount agreed to distribute it4. The studio accepted.
Hitchcock and Stefano made several notable changes to Norman Bates’ character. In the book, Norman was middle-aged, heavily weighted, a bigtime drinker, and more overtly unstable5. He also had an interest in spiritualism, the occult, and pornography. Stefano and Hitchcock removed all those traits- making Norman Bates young, handsome, articulate, and sober instead. Stefano and Hitchcock also opted not to open the film with Norman Bates. The first 20 minutes would instead focus on Marion Crane, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her financial chicanery. The $40,000 would provide a proper “MacGuffin” to drive the story forward and blindside the audience with one of Hollywood’s greatest “bait-and-switches.” Killing off the lead in the first half of the film allowed the storytellers to shift the narrative from a standard, financially driven crime thriller to a deep psychological horror film.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Freddy Highmore and Vera Farmiga respectively reprised the roles of Norman and Norma Bates in a small-screen adaptation and spiritual “prequel” to Hitchcock’s work. Bates Motel (2013-2017) thematically picks up where the film leaves off- delving into Norman’s twisted psyche. Norman suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), and this drives him to kill when he is provoked.
Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior, and a sense of self6. Symptomatic examples of this disorder include a detachment or feeling as if one is outside of their body, a loss or memory, or amnesia6. These disorders- frequently associated with some previous experience of trauma- are divided into three types: dissociative amnesia, depersonalization/derealization, and dissociative identity disorder6. The latter usually stems from childhood trauma and can manifest itself as a “multiple personality disorder”6.
Symptoms include the existence of two or more distinct identities (“personality states”), which the individual or others can report, ongoing gaps in memory about everyday events, personal information and/or past traumatic events, and significant distress or problems in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning6. Patients may shift their attitudes and personal preferences about food, activities, and clothes6. They may speak or act differently (e.g. behaving like a small child, someone of another gender, or someone huge and muscular)6. A person with DID “feels as if she has within her two or more entities, each with its own way of thinking and remembering about herself and her life. It is important to keep in mind that although these alternate states may feel or appear to be very different, they are all manifestations of a single, whole person,” the Sidran Institute notes6.
Real Life Monsters
Films like Identity (2003), The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Split (2017), Fight Club (1999), and The Nutty Professor (1996) all address this mental disorder from different angles and through different genres. In the case of most real-life “slashers,” though, mental disorders such as multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia don’t typically explain all the killers’ murderous deeds. The killers sometimes experience psychotic “breaks with reality.” They may believe that God has sent them on a mission to kill, or they may believe that evil extraterrestrial entities have overtaken their loved ones’ bodies. In many cases, though, serial killers aren’t psychotic. They’re psychopathic. They’re parasitic, manipulative, deceptive, and sadistic, and they lack empathy. They tie up and torture people just to hear them scream and beg for their lives. The “screaming and begging” doesn’t tug at their heart strings. The killers have none. Instead, the “screaming and begging” excites them. The killers derive pleasure from the terror their victims experience. It sexually arouses them.
Real-life serial killers- including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and David Berkowitz- don’t immediately murder people, though. A lot of “preparation” takes place. They brood for hundreds- if not thousands- of hours or days. Their minds go into pure “hunting mode.” They build up twisted, sexually perverse fantasies, they go out and sadistically act them out, they collect “trophies,” they relive their fantasies, and then, when that gets old, they go out and kill again. The cycle continues.
Some killers stand out in a crowd. Many others don’t. Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgeway were both infamously charming and polite when they weren’t in “serial killer mode.” Dennis “BTK” Rader was a pillar of his community in Wichita, Kansas- a church president, cub scout leader, and husband/father. That is, to say, he was a pillar of his community when he wasn’t stalking, “binding, torturing, and killing” people, taunting the police, or reliving his fantasies.
Another standard misconception from your run-of-the-mill “slasher” film is that killers chase down their victims with chainsaws or pickaxes. Many strangle or sexually assault their victims. Others, such as David “Son of Sam/.44 Caliber Killer” Berkowitz, shoot their victims. Robert Ressler initially coined the term “serial killer” in 1974. His definition described violent criminals who murder two or more people with “cooling off” periods in between. Ressler carefully noted that, unlike gangsters, who kill for “business” reasons, serial killers mainly murder to gratify psychological or sexual urges.
Some even engage in necrophilia or cannibalism. Jeffrey Dahmer, who certainly wasn’t as nefariously brilliant as Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs (1991), shared a similar motivation as the fictional villain. “[Enjoying someone’s] liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti” was less about hunger or culinary curiosity than it was about power and control. Dahmer explains in interviews that he wanted to feel like his victims were “always a part of him.”
“A census taker once tested me.”
If there is one fictional, Hollywood serial killer that is just as- if not more- infamous than Norman Bates, it’s Hannibal Lecter. The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which Jonathan Demme directed and Ted Tally adapted from Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel of the same name, was one of the three films to sweep the Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Adapted Screenplay). It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) were the other two. Kenneth Utt, Edward Saxon, and Ron Bozman produced the film. Tak Fujimoto provided principal photography. Craig McKay edited the movie. Howard Shore provided the score. Strong Heart Productions was its production company. Orion Pictures distributed the film.
The American Film Institute ranked it the 65th greatest film of all time and the 5th greatest and most influential thriller of all time. The Silence of the Lambs was the second film featuring the character Hannibal Lecter. The first was Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986)- based on the first novel in the Lecter series, Red Dragon (1981). Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002) were the third and fourth films- respectively- to feature Hannibal Lecter (both were sequels/prequels to the 1991 film).
As previously noted, Ed Gein inspired one of the film’s primary villains- serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). Ted Bundy and Gary Heidnik were the other two inspirations. Like the former, Buffalo Bill poses as an injured man or a police officer to lure in and kidnap women, and, like the latter, Buffalo Bill traps his victims in an underground well. Buffalo Bill wishes to become a woman. He captures, starves, and kills heavier women so that he can build an amalgamated “body suit” from them. In one of the film’s most iconic moments, he pulleys down a bucket of skin cream and demands that the pleading and terrified woman “put the lotion on its skin” or else “it gets the hose again.” This is of course a classic trait of many rapists and serial killers. To assault, torture, and/or murder their victims, they first need to objectify them.
Starling and Lecter
One of the most gruesome moments in Silence of the Lambs is undoubtedly when Lecter escapes- handcuffing, beating up, and cannibalizing his victims to classical music. But the film, a serious, procedural and psychoanalytically deep thriller that later small screen productions like Dexter (2006-2013) and Mindhunter (2017-2019) would pay homage to, is at its best during its “quieter moments.” By “quieter” …I am of course referring to the excellently written and acted scenes between Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster).
“Good evening, Clarice,” Lecter infamously greets his visitor. He reads a book and wears a white tee. His hair is slicked back. With his typically sinister grin and probing glare, he interrogates Agent Starling. He had previously smelled her skin cream through the prison’s air duct system and deduced that she was from “poor white trash” in West Virginia. He demands from her to know: “What is in [Buffalo Bill]’s nature?” His murders are allegedly “incidental,” Lecter observes. What matters is what he “covets.” “We covet what we see,” Dr. Lecter continues. “Don’t your eyes seek out the things you want?” he asks Agent Starling.
He then forces her to recount her past. Her father was murdered, and she was orphaned. She left West Virginia to live on a sheep and horse ranch in Montana with her cousins. One night, she woke up to the horrific sound(s) of lambs screaming. She ran outside and tried to save one. The ranchers, who were slaughtering them for meat, caught up to her and expelled her from their home. Lecter, ominously staring forward (his eyes totally fixed), guides her thoughts: “You think if you save Catherine [one of Buffalo Bill’s still-living victims], the lambs will stop screaming?” he rhetorically asks her. The other police officers escort the anxious FBI agent away, and Dr. Lecter stealthily plots his nefarious escape.
Conclusion
The modern “slasher” really owes it to Psycho (1960) for bringing the Hollywood subgenre into fruition. Norman Bates captured the sinister urges that underlie many of the most wicked serial killers and/or mass murderers- both real and fictional. In addition, Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs (1991) helped reinvigorate that genre…further delving into the disturbing and complex minds of these malevolent figures. That type of creepiness, terror, and disgust is what makes the “slasher” the appealing horror subgenre that it is. That erroneous notion that we could look at some people and be certain that they “wouldn’t even hurt a fly.”
SOURCES
- Rebello, Stephen (1990). Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Marion Boyars. pp. 19-20.
- Nickens, Christopher; Leigh, Janet (1996). Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller. Harmony. p. 6.
- Rebello, Stephen (1990). Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Marion Boyars. pp. 18-19.
- Rebello, Stephen (1990). Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Marion Boyars. p. 23.
- Rebello, Stephen (1990). Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Marion Boyars. p. 39.
- https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders
