Peeping Tom was produced and directed by Michael Powell, starred Karl Boehm as Mark Lewis and was 109 minutes long. In (rather dodgey) colour.

Psycho was produced and directed by Alfred Hitchock, starred Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and was also 109 minutes long. Black and white.

The horror genre prior to 1960

1960 could be considered the 'coming of age' for the Horror genre. In the years before it, the genre had developed since the first years of moving pictures, its' popularity waning and increasing as social viewpoints and cultural trends changed. The genre began mainly focusing on 'classic' tales or adaptations, such as Nosferatu (Dracula) and Frankenstien. Other films were produced along the same lines, incorporating familiar plot elements and characters (such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, a film about an insane Doctor and his zombie 'somnambulist' monster that he controls). With the rise of science fiction and the fears of war, attention moved to new types of monster - the alien and the mutant. The viewer was left with little room for empathy or understanding of these 'science-related' monsters. Like the supernatural creations of early horror films, the monsters were completely inhuman and obviously 'evil' (although it is possible to argue that evil is a human concept and not applicable to bug-eyed monsters), and had an easily definable source. There was also no real feeling that the events could happen to the viewer. The genre had become a little stale, and while it remained popular, it needed a fresh slant to rejuvenate interest in its potential.

Psycho and Peeping Tom Introduced

Peeping Tom and Psycho were both released in 1960, filmed by British directors and, unlike the vast majority of horror films before them, focused mainly on the 'monster' (or 'anti-heroes') of their stories. They both present horror as something real, evil not coming from outer-space or as the result of 'messing with nature' - rather it comes from Human Beings - and two seemingly timid ones at that; their insanity was not typical of cinema at the time. Both Bates (Psycho) and Lewis (Peeping Tom) are young, lonely men who appear quiet and polite, tidy and reserved. Both men had overbearing parents who featured significantly in their lives, and although neither parent was still alive (although whether Bates was aware of this or not is a matter of debate) they still seemed to live on through the lives of their children. To illustrate: Lewis carried on the work of his perverted father studying the effects of fear, and Bates still looked after and followed instructions from his mental reconstruction of his mother. Both men seem slightly inadequate around other people - Bates especially, when awkward questions leave him angered and prone to outbursts of emotion.

In both films, the victims (with the exception of a male private detective in Psycho) are female. In Psycho it is a young secretary who steals a large amount of money from her employer and flees, eventually staying in The Bates Motel, while in Peeping Tom the victims are a string of women - a whore, a film star and a model, all obsessed with their physical appearance. Bates and Lewis chose sharp, penetrating implements as their weapons (Bates uses a large knife while Lewis has a sharpened metal stake made from a tripod leg), which could be linked to a repressed sexual theme - especially in Peeping Tom where Lewis is a porn photographer - which is underlying in the films.

Important aspects of the films identified

Peeping Tom was released early in 1960, prior to the more popular Psycho released later that year. It was a film now considered to be ahead of its time, dealing with real issues and with a plot that hit too close to home to be accepted by the reviewers:
The story follows the events leading to the death of Mark Lewis, a young photographer for a pornography producer and an assistant camera operator in film studio. His job alone was a subject for controversy with reviewers - pornography, although (as the director saw it) part of society, was never represented in mainstream film, and was part of what made the film initially so unpopular. He lives in a boarding house that used to be owned by his deceased father. In his flat is a secret room he has converted into a processing centre and theatre for watching the films he makes.

The first unsettling thing that a person who met Mark Lewis would notice is that he always carried a small movie camera with him - cradled beside him with his bag - almost like a comfort blanket. He was also very quiet, and had no friends except for the one he made during the film, Helen Stephens, a naïve and inanely cheerful girl who lived in a room below him. We learn, from the beginning of the film, that Lewis is killing women and watching their deaths on his projector. What we don't know immediately is why. This is revealed later, through his conversation with Helen: he is observing the fear of the women - and lets them see it too, by placing a mirror above the camera/weapon so that they see their own face as they scream in anguish. He is repeating experiments, admittedly to an extreme, first conducted on him as a child by his father. We are shown archive footage of Lewis' father (played by Michael Powell, the director) filming Lewis as a child (played, perversely, by Powell's own son). In the footage, you can see the reflection made by a mirror hovering over the boy as he cries. Lewis's father is the most apparent cause for his mental condition, and it is obvious that Lewis had a peculiar relationship with him. Lewis implies that he is proud of his father's work (showed by his collection of books on fear written by his father), but that the constant analysis and filming (even at his mothers' death) left him unstable.

The film was controversial not simply because of the graphic violence (although the actual stabbing is never seen) but because the character of Lewis is such that the viewer finds themselves sympathising with him - and this was not a feature the reviewers were happy with. Another feature which was a cause for concern at the time was the 'voyeuristic' camerawork used to portray events - Lewis enjoys watching the murders, but we are forced to see through his 'eyes' (his camera), for example at the beginning of the film. The film could be viewed almost as a tragedy - the tale of a man who can only find control over himself, ultimately, by ending his life in the same way as he did his victims. Would we have found his character as (albeit uncomfortably) acceptable if he had not committed suicide? If he had continued his private pursuit of sadism, killing Helen and her blind mother, I doubt if reviewers would have had the same reasons for disliking it, although possibly the same reaction. The film's use of symbolism, with Helen Stephens' blind mother the only character to truly see Lewis for who he was, and its enjoyable dig at the conservative movie industry at the time, make it a classic to be remembered, if not enjoyed, for years to come.

Psycho, similarly, deals with themes of violence, secret voyeurism, and insanity but in a less sympathetic manner: its' monster, Norman Bates, does not have a girlfriend for instance (as Lewis has - and does not kill her!) and during the film we are only shown his negative aspects.

Psycho is very contemporary in feel, even 40 years after its release. This is likely to be because it had a large impact on many films which followed it, meaning that in some ways it created the contemporary 'slickness' of many modern films (the opening titles, for instance, are very smooth and visual). At the beginning of the film, the story follows the exploits of a young secretary (Marion Crane) for a real estate office, beginning with her adulterous affair in a hotel and followed by her decision to steal a large amount of cash from her office. As she escapes the town in a new car she buys with some of the money, the film could well be a simple story of her eluding the police and her family. However, we are soon reminded of the film's title as she reaches the Bates Motel to spend the night. We are introduced to 'Master' Norman Bates, the proprietor. He appears friendly, nervous and is obviously attracted to Crane, as he invites her for sandwiches in his office. This is the first time that a sign is given that Bates may not be all he appears to be, when he first talks about his mother (which is obviously a subject he is greatly concerned about, as he becomes agitated) and his hobby (taxidermy).

When Crane retires to her room, for the first time we are left alone with Bates. Just as we were 'spying' through the hotel window at Crane and her lover at the beginning of the film, Bates now spies on her getting undressed to have a shower, using a peephole he has made in the wall. As he retires to his house, where he says his mother is, we hear her unfairly scolding him for renting a room to a young woman. As Crane takes a shower, suddenly the shape of an old lady is seen approaching her with a knife, and a now-famous musical score begins which mimics the stabbing of the attack with the pronounced screeching of stringed instruments. The murder is sudden and brutal, the main character is dead 45 minutes into the film and the audience is left stunned. We are left to contend with Norman Bates, after 'finding' the body and screaming, destroying the evidence, methodically and without remorse. Crane's friends soon realise she is missing and set out to find her, employing a private detective. Eventually their trail leads them to the motel, where the detective is murdered while investigating the mansion before the shocking confrontation with the murder. The murderer is not Mrs Bates. In fact, it is revealed that Mrs Bates has been long dead (only her rancid skeletal corpse remains) but Norman, a schizophrenic, still believes she is alive and carries out her horrific acts as if possessed.

This storyline still manages to shock today, when horror films are very extreme - and when Psycho was first released it caused a massive amount of hype. The film is special for many reasons, from the meticulously planned camerawork (director Hitchcock is well known for his storyboards) and surprising plot, its graphic violence (the detective was stabbed at the head of a staircase and staggered down it backwards before collapsing) and gimmicky marketing. The film is well cast, with Anthony Perkins perfect as Norman Bates, who appears too weak and sensitive to behave contrary to his 'mummy's boy' (quite literally) appearance.

Psycho, because it was more popular, had a greater influence on future films than Peeping Tom. It also spawned many cash-in sequels, none of which were directed by Hitchcock but did star Perkins once again as Bates. It will be remembered as the classic horror thriller that transformed horror from unconvincing scenarios and characters to real-world locations with monsters with almost supernatural qualities (such as Michael Myers in John Carpenter's Halloween).

Differences between the films

The most prominent difference between Psycho and Peeping Tom was their respective successes with critics and at the box office. While Peeping Tom was previewed by critics who gave it slating reviews due to its content, Hitchcock refused to let critics preview his film and they had to watch it with everyone else. While Powell, Peeping Tom's director, was fairly popular, his status was not equal to that of the highly renowned (even at that time) Hitchcock. This meant that people went to see Psycho because Hitchcock was a reliably proficient director, and that the film (aided by a superb marketing scheme which meant that people could not enter the theatre after the film had started) was successful at the first public showing. Peeping Tom did not have this privilege, and instead people were discouraged by the reviews it received.

Although the two films are about mentally unstable murders, Bates and Lewis are subtly quite different. Neither fits the stereotypical psychopath of the few films of that genre, as they are not initially obviously insane. Rather, they each have a particular reason for their murders (being mad is not a reason in itself). Both men are quiet and shy, but Lewis is not as 'good' as Bates is likely to be. While Bates watched Crane undress in secret, he would never have the audacity to do anything else, and not when she could see him as himself. He required his mothers' persona to actually do damage. However, Lewis carefully plans his attacks (he might claim they were 'experiments' or 'research'), while not visually appearing excited he does it with the same fascination as a person going about any other hobby, or a scientist finding results in an experiment. Furthermore, while Lewis may be quiet, he has no shame in being a pornographer - something which Bates could never do (or at least not without punishing himself and the people he photographed due to his 'mothers' jealousy). Bates does not take pleasure from his murder, and is even shocked when he first finds the body of Crane (although we cannot be sure that he is genuinely surprised - Hitchcock may have included his reaction to play with the audience - to make us think that it is Mrs Bates who killed her).

The films also approach insanity in different ways. We know from the very beginning of Peeping Tom that Lewis is insane, that it is he who is killing people. That is what creates the tension of the film - what will he do next? However, we are not immediately sure who the psychopath of the title is in Psycho. At first we may think it is Mrs Bates, who Norman Bates describes as 'not being quite herself today'. Crane even suggests putting her 'someplace' (an institute) which is met with aggression from Bates. It is only near the end of the film that we learn who the true psycho is - not Bates's mother, who is long dead, but Norman himself.

Another difference between the two anti-heroes is that while Bates is locked away in a failing motel by himself, Lewis, due to his jobs and his residence, is surrounded by other people. We also learn a lot more of his childhood, and of his other, more human aspects - unlike Bates. This means that, weather we like it or not, we grow accustomed to Lewis, even though we are disgusted by his behaviour. Bates, who is onscreen for much of Psycho, is nevertheless unliveable and alien once the murder has been committed. The ending of the films, when Lewis kills himself and Bates completely degenerates also have an effect on how we view the two. When Lewis dies we feel relief but it is also, in some ways, sad. It seems that, if it were not for his habit of killing most of the women he met, he may have been a 'nice' person. Bates' final scene is very different. We see him locked into a cell, his face contorting as his 'mother' takes control, and we briefly see her skull superimposed over it, as the soundtrack resumes and credits begin. This simply leaves the viewer with a feeling of unease and bewilderment.

Finally, there were visual differences between Psycho and Peeping Tom. The most striking is that Psycho is in black and white, while Peeping Tom is not only in colour, but also almost in enhanced colour - it is lurid and gives the film an almost comic-book appearance (in a similar fashion to Dick Tracy).

In Conclusion

Psycho and Peeping Tom managed to stop the horror genre in its tracks and make its public think again. The films moved horror away from gothic mansions, fantastic locations and fairy tail monsters and right into the modern contemporary world, where evil is an aspect of the human psyche. They used convincing actors to perform horrific acts filmed in ways that broke the conventions of film making, taking the audiences into the action instead of simply showing them its results. They proved (as The Blair Witch Project has reminded more recent audiences) that convincing horror could still be produced on a low budget, and they forced viewers to realise that the world isn't always nice and that there doesn't have to be a straightforward happy ending. They scare you with the unexpected, the distasteful and with the sides of life that you wish were not there.

Their contributions, to the thriller/horror genre and film in general, are invaluable.