Psychose

I saw this movie as a teenager when it was first released in the 1960's. The promotional hype for the film ensured you did not have a clue what it was about and people who had seen the movie were asked not to reveal the ending. You went to see it anticipating something scary and thats what you got. Even 30 years later I still remember sitting in a dark theatre with my heart pumping and everyone, and I mean everyone, screaming their lungs out.

The movie set a new and very high standard in horror movies which I don't believe has ever been equaled. The characters were great, the direction perfect and the music, which I thought was absolutely fantastic, made this a classic.

I still get scared when I see it on TV.

This famous film with known story tells about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) , she works in a Phoenix (Arizona) office, when his employer trusts her some money . Seeing the opportunity to take the cash and beginning a new life along with her fiancé Sam (John Gavin) . Larcenous Marion leaves Phoenix and heads with her car towards California where her lover with debts is owner a store . When is caught in a storm and pursued by a policeman , she leaves the highway and enters Bates hotel . The hotel with twelve rooms (and 12 showers) is managed by a strange young (Anthony Perkins) who seems to be submitted by his overbearing mother , she's living at a creaky mansion nearly hotel. Then, rare things start to happen . Later on , a detective named Arbogast (Martin Balsam) , her sister (Vera Miles) and Sam (John Gavin) are looking for Marion , asking for help a stubborn sheriff (John McIntire).

¨Psycho¨ was not only Hitchcock's biggest successful movie , but was a phenomenon in its own right . The picture is a magnum opus in the terror genre and its immediate impact and its future influence was enormous and cannot be over emphasised . It's the quinta-essential shocker that created an authentic sub-genre about psycho-killers and continuing until nowadays . The shower image is one of the most studied , copied and analysed sequences in cinema history and has obtained a notoriety what exceeds of the movie itself . Terrific performance by Anthony Perkins in an immortal role as Norman Bates and sensational Janet Leigh with Oscar nomination included that was the only one in her long career. Inventive and superbly constructed plot , filled with delicious black humor by writer Joseph Stefano based on Robert Bloch's novel. The highlight of the film is , of course , the shower scene , it was made with 70 cameras to shot the 45 seconds of footage and the creepy sound effects were realized by stabbing a knife into a melon . Magnificent credit titles by Saul Bass , he's usual on Hitchcock films .

Excellent black and white cinematography by cameraman John Russell , as Hitch thought it would be very gory in colour . Bernard Herrmann's legendary musical score copied and endlessly imitated , aids to create a thrilling atmosphere . Film is directed with exquisite taste and intelligence by master Hitchcock who makes an impeccable control of every scene and maneuvers your emotions , infusing with a deliciously macabre wit , it makes ¨Psycho¨ far superior to the several movies what tried duplicate , or imitate it ; these are the following ones : ¨Psycho II¨ (1983) by Richard Franklin , ¨Psycho III¨ (1986) by Anthony Perkins himself and for cable television : ¨Psycho IV¨ (1990) by Mick Garris. Hitchcock's Psycho belongs to his best period in the 5os and 60s when he produced his finest works , perfecting the art of suspense in a series of masterpieces : ¨Dial M¨, ¨Rear window¨, ¨Vertigo¨, ¨North by Nortwest¨, ¨Birds¨ and specially ¨Psycho¨ , all of them are still studied and copied today . Rating : Indispensable and essential classic movie.

When you look up the phrase "Horror Film" in the dictionary .. a picture of Janet Leigh screaming in a shower should appear next to it. Undoubtedly, Psycho is the greatest horror film ever made, bar-none. The story is incredible. The acting is near perfection. The cinematography is godly. The soundtrack is perfect. It's hard to find anything wrong with Psycho. Perhaps the only imperfection I can find with Psycho is the inability to stand the test of time. One of the reasons the shower scene has become so notorious is that it's not only filmed to perfection, but because the elements of sexuality and murder are so surreal. In 1960, seeing a nude women being murdered in a shower was something that no-one had experienced yet, and was quite shocking. Nowadays, seeing Jason double-spearing two lovers having sex is nothing uncommon. I envy those who experienced Psycho in 1960 in the theaters .. those experienced the full terror of Psycho.

Aside from this though, the movie is flawless. I won't even go into to how incredible the cinematography is. One thing I think people seem to forget about the movie is the incredible soundtrack. Sound is such an important element in movies and Psycho is undaunted when it comes to sound. The only other horror movie that even comes close to using sound with such perfection is Halloween (1978).

The movie is perfectly casted as well. Janet Leigh as the beautiful Marion Crane, Vera Miles as the concerned sister, Lila Crane, and of course the unforgettable performance from Anthony Perkins as the eerie yet charismatic Norman Bates.

I would recommend this movie to any horror movie film fanatic. I would especially recommend this movie to any horror movie fan not desensitized by Friday The 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, or Scream .. if such a fan exists.

Robert Bloch wrote the original work, Joseph Stefano adapted it into a tight screenplay but it was Alfred Hitchcock with the extraordinary complicity of Bernard Herrmann who transformed this lurid tale into a classic, horror masterpiece. The score propels us into the moment before the moment arrives provoking the sort of anticipation that verges on the unbearable. The fact that the key scenes have become iconic film moments: copied, imitated, emulated and parodied, have not diminished its impact, not really. The anticipation, underlined by Herrmann's strings, creates a sort of craving for the moment to arrive. That doesn't happen very often. No amount of planning can produce it or re-produce it - otherwise how do you explain the Gus Van Sant version - so, the only possible explanation is an accident, a miraculous film accident and those do happen. Everything falls into place so perfectly that even the things that one may argue are below the smart standard of the film, are needed, the film without every frame is not quite the film. Try to turn away after the climax during Simon Oakland's long explanation. You can't. I couldn't. Partly because you know you'll soon be confronting those eyes, that fly, the car...

Most modern-day horror films make the killer to be an absolutely inhuman, grotesque, unimaginable monster in order to scare the audience out of its wits. Most of the time, however, these stereotypes create a generic murderer a raving, ranting, clearly demented psychopath. One of the few memorable cinematic killers that does not adhere to these restraints and cliches is, of course, Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, whom manages to effectively cause the audience to recoil without such drek as the aforementioned devices.

Anthony Perkins' skillfully crafts his performance as Norman Bates, avoiding a ranting, raving, drooling, murder-happy, manic characterization; instead his performance as Norman is subtle, creepy, cool, and unsettling. He is brilliant; from his quiet conversations with Marion Crane amidst the stuffed birds, to his weasling wimpiness when confronted by Arbogast, his performance is so exact that it chills the viewer, all without the unnecessary disturbing images prevalent in more modern films (read The Cell, Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer).

Perkin's fine performance, a tight script, and Bernstein's classic score make Psycho a film that is now and will always be remembered as one of the pinnacles of the horror genre.