A comparison of Peeping Tom and Psycho

A detailed comparison with Psycho. Peeping Tom and Psycho were released in 1960 only 2 months apart, both made by revered British directors. But while Peeping Tom was rejected, Psycho became hugely successful. In this chapter we try to understand why. Psycho was black and white and Peeping Tom was colour – this was a cross-over period between shooting techniques and it could be argued that the black and white of Psycho slighted muted it’s potential to truly horrify the audience, unlike Powell’s brightly colourful Peeping Tom. The presentation of Psycho, from a music point of view is highly theatrical, as is the eventual reveal to show the pantomime villain of Norman as ‘Mother’. Was Peeping Tom more revolting to a contemporary audience because it was that much closer to real life? This close comparison identified similarities and key differences between the two films.