This is the fourth mystery video in my Gumshoe Opera series. The music, basically a rock song with unsettling, chaotic strings at the end, provides the mood for a mystery sub-genre “suspense” or “thriller” picture show. Suspense/thrillers center around epic, psychological or supernatural occurrences, unlike other mysteries such as crime dramas (think film noir,) or cozy (Miss Marple,) hard-boiled detective (Columbo,) police procedural, medical or forensic, and legal or courtroom dramas.
Recently, while watching Psycho‘s Anthony Perkins and listening to Peter Gabriel’s So album, a funny thing intrigued me. A comparison between the two brought out some similarities.
Then, if you go through the So album track by track, similarities are:
- Is “Red Rain” about the notorious Psycho shower scene?
- Is “Sledgehammer” a reference to the hammer that forged Norman Bates deadly-sharp knife?
- “Don’t Give Up” – Kate Bush’s lovely vocal urges us to keep on keeping on; Norman refuses to close the Bates Motel, even though it no longer receives travelers from the re-routed interstate.
- “in Your Eyes” could be about the peephole Norman has in his office, or about the spooky look on Janet Leigh at the end of the shower scene.
- “That Voice Again” and “We Do What We’re Told” = “Mother?!!!”
Of course, I am joking. But, it was fun thinking about how many comparisons I could find.* The Gumshoe series is making me look at things in different ways. Ah-ha!
Now, it’s time to have a look at my latest video.
*I’ve heard a similar story about Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz movie. Supposedly, if you listen to the album while you watch the movie, the album parallels the action happening on the screen. Strange, and it may be true…