The bomb theory and the false plateau
Hitchcock's Bomb theory: When the audience is aware of a danger, but the characters don't know about it. An example of this is the bomb under the table that may explode at any moment however the characters are not aware of this. After watching the film 'The Stepfather' using Hitchcock's bomb theory I can clearly see that the stepfather is in fact the 'bomb' in the film. This is because the characters do not know about his past and how he is in fact a murderer and how his plans are also to kill his present family, however the audience are already aware of this.
The false plateau: When suspense is built up, but then the audience are made to feel calm and are relieved by the outcome. Then the shock happens. An example to explain this is the woman in the bath in fatal attraction coming back to life. In 'The Stepfather' there are many examples of ways in which false plateau is used. These are:
-The hand suddenly grabbing onto the shoulder
-Cat jumping out
-The umbrella in falling into the swimming pool
-Stepfather suddenly appearing outside bedroom
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