''A boy's best friend is his mother.''A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
Anthony Perkins: Norman Bates
Janet Leigh: Mario...( read more)n CraneThroughout his life, illustrious director Alfred Hitchcock thrilled and captivated audiences everywhere, but never before or since as well as he did with the psychological chiller, Psycho. Introducing the cinematic world to an eccentric loner named Norman Bates.
Fifty years later even in an age of fading, worn out sensibilities, graphic horror and the likes of psychological Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho; Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho remains, even after repeated viewings, truly frightening and intrinsically disturbing.
For Psycho unlike a cheap blood-and-gore routine, actually has a philosophy of life to go along with all its horrors and dramatics. In the world of film and sin, such as Marion's stealing her employers client's money; will always be followed by repercussions in Karmic cosmic ways.
The long conversation between Norman and Marion over dinner probes some pretty serious psychological depths and ideologies. "We're all caught in our private traps," says Norman, and the movie illustrates how first Marion, then Norman, becomes trapped. What is most shocking about Norman is how pitiable he results in being; especially when compared with the villains of alternative horror movies.Psycho also undeniably has one of the most famous scenes in the history of cinema, the genius and illusion soaked sequence, yes you've guessed it...''The Shower Scene''.
The shower in question is in the Bates motel, run by Norman Bates, and his mysterious mother. Even in modern times, if someone looks strange, many still make comparisons to the hermit like Norman Bates.
If someone has a clingy or moaning, temper induced mother, many a Norman Bates reference is implied. Psycho has become tattooed and injected into modern culture thus becoming a glowing household name of sorts.
Why?...because the film was and still is a milestone of unmeasured significance, not just of splatter and gore, but of cinematic effects and technique. Psycho is, all at the same time, smooth, mesmerizing yet frightfully terrifying. It is a textbook example of how to captivate an audience, and then shock them right up until and during it's climax.''A hobby should pass the time, not fill it.''
Psycho in effect was essentially a totally new way of writing a plot, and manipulating threads of a story. The supposed lead heroine is killed early on in a bizarre shocking twist of fate and events, a replacement protagonist suffers a similar twist of fate, and all the audience are then left with are the utterly desperate and confused Lila Crane(sister) and Sam Loomis(boyfriend), who have only their fears and assumptions to propel them to the damning answers they seek. We the audience connect to them if only for a glimmer of a moment, because we know that Norman's mother murdered Marion Crane.....or so Hitchcock leads us to believe.
Psycho only runs for around an hour and a half, but that is all that is required for one of the greatest psychological horror/thrillers to be born. Not one scene is wasted on being a space to fill in, every scene serves a purpose, remains powerful, and in effect, extremely economical.
Even though Psycho was made on a relatively low budget, having Hitchcock behind the camera makes for lots of subtly effective shots, images, motifs, etc. He orchestrates two frightening death scenes, a suspenseful beginning that fools you into thinking that Marion is the protagonist, and a quietly chilling conclusion. Bernard Herrmann's score really is as good as everyone says; and not only the shrieking violins during the famous shower scene or title sequence. In particular the scene where Marion is debating whether to steal the money; thus the music mirrors her indecisiveness.
Pace is startlingly quick when required, yet at times also slow and hypnotic when emotion and fear need to be emphasized.
The long scene as Norman Bates cleans up the murder scene serves as a haunting reminder to what just occurred, letting us the audience soak it up like a sponge.
The script is well conceived and written obviously, with some flourishing dialogue that even overshadows some wooden acting from John Gavin.
Cinematography is brilliant, with great use of lighting and shadows. And, of course, the directing is just simply cutting edge, even for today. Anthony Perkins does a perfectly chilling job as the psychotic Norman Bates, and Martin Balsam is a completely natural private eye. Famously, to complement these ground-breaking plot twists, are the chilling and perfectly executed murder scenes.Two things overall in Psycho as mentioned prior. One is that harsh, driving Bernard Herrmann score which fits the mood of the film so well. The other is Hitchcock's direction and his use of black-and-white photography to convey a threatening mood. He said that he used black-and-white to make the film less gory, in fact, it seems far more eerie and frightening than a colour version ever could.
It's easy to take Psycho for granted now, it has been imitated so many times in so many ways by far lesser talents. Indeed, it's one negative is that it inspired so many pale imitations, including its own three sequels and a very bad remake. Yet even so, Psycho remains a one and only original carbon print. Its iconic status can't be denied or criticized; Psycho redefined the concepts of what a Hitchcock film was and what a horror film could be.''You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.''
Psycho
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Psycho
Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, John McIntire, Martin Balsam
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
Id: 10902730
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Recent Reviews
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December 25, 2009''A boy's best friend is his mother.''
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
Anthony Perkins: Norman Bates
Janet Leigh: Mario...( read more) -
December 8, 2009It's hard to imagine a black and white movie from 1960 with no cursing, no blatant violence, and very little action, being badass, but Psycho definitely deserves that description.
Even with a basic prior knowledge of what was going to happen, I was still completely enthralled b...( read more) -
July 31, 2009"I think I must have one of those faces you can't help believing."
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
...( read more) -
May 11, 2009Classic Alfred Hitchcock tale about a motel clerk and his mysterious mother's obsession with homicide. Psycho is one of the all time greatest horror films ever made, and it is currently ranked #14 on AFI's top 100 Film's. Hitchcock's signature twist and flare is evident ...( read more)
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January 21, 2009Psycho, in my opinion is probably the most heart-stopping movie ever made. Where The Exorcist contained mind-blowing, jaw-dropping scenes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre achieved the status of the most brutal psychological torture ever depicted on film, Psycho kind of builds up t...( read more)
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January 2, 2010I saw this with a friend in the 80's because it should be so good, both him and me was agreed that it was not more than ok.
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December 20, 2009Totally brilliant thriller by Hitchcock with Perkins as the menacing and sinister Norman Bates.
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December 17, 2009Clearly one of the best cinematic experiences one could hope for. Iconic, classic, vintage, mighty.
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December 16, 2009I love Alfred Hitchcock! This is a great Black and White horror with the classic shower scene. Even though colour was around in the 50s, he kept with black and white which is great because it just sets the scene. Anthony Perkins is brilliant in his portrayal of a mentally ill man...( read more)
