Psycho led the way for graphic violence in cinema with skillfully rendered gore both on and off the screen. While the shower scene in Psycho is one of the most poignant and terrifying in film history, much of the violence in Hitchcock films is done off screen. The absence of visual stimulus during these types of scenes is in many ways Hitchcock’s greatest gift of all. The audience is led right up to the moment of a gruesome deed, but the deed itself often takes place off screen. This is another technique Hitchcock uses to great effect in many of his films; not only creating rising tension and conflict but also causing for the audience to envision the murder for themselves proving better than any special effect of his time period. Following