10 Horror Movies That Tricked You By Killing The "Main Character" Early

The archetype of the false protagonist and the non-final girl in all slasher films to come; the unfortunate Marion Crane.

Psycho is considered by many to be Alfred Hitchcock's piece de resistance; a film that met with fierce opposition when it was being pitched and when seeking funding. Indeed, the legendary director took the financial risk of taking such a revolutionary picture upon his own shoulders.

When viewers meet Marion, she is in the process of appropriating $40,000 so that she can marry her financially struggling boyfriend. In her rush to get away from the scene of the crime, she abandons her car and books a stay at the now infamous Bates Motel. The involved nature of Marion's character from the start, as well as the fact that the plot initially seems to centre around her theft of the money, totally threw viewers when the immortal twist came around.

Having dined with the proprietor of the motel, a certain Norman Bates, Marion has an epiphany and decides to return the stolen money. If only she hadn't decided to take a shower before setting off.

Marion is stabbed to death in the shower by an unseen figure, in arguably the most iconic scene in horror history. Viewers at the time were left utterly gobsmacked by this brutally unexpected twist, demonstrating Hitchcock's once-in-a-generation talent as a director.