Psycho (1960, Movie)

Format: Movie (Blu-Ray)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: June 16, 1960
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Psycho is a psychological horror film based off of the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. A woman named Marion Crane manages to steal $40,000 from her work and takes off. She ends up at a secluded motel known as the Bates Motel where Norman Bates, the owner, is very odd and seems overly attached to his ailing mother. The plot is a lot more interesting to watch then to explain and it has quite a lot of twists and turns.

The acting is very well done here with Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis' mother) playing Marion and Anthony Perkins playing Norman. Norman is played as socially awkward but also frightening at the same time and it is pulled off perfectly.

I have seen this film, the 1998 remake, and the first two seasons or so of the Bates Motel television series before. However, it has been quite a while since I have seen this film so I thought it was time I revisited it for the blog. It holds up very well and the tension and quick pacing help it from feeling as dated as many movies from this time period feel today.

Some people consider this to be a precursor to the slasher genre which became popular throughout the 1980s (and a little bit in the 1970s). I do see a few elements here but it lacks the exploitation (either sexual exploitation or the gore) of a slasher flick although it does have a few characters being slowly killed off throughout the film.

Psycho pushes a lot of boundaries for the time that it was made in that the main character steals money (thus not being a perfectly morally upstanding character), has sexual relations outside of marriage, and the movie has a little bit more blood than was standard for the time (although nothing compared to movies that would come later). I think all of these elements are important for creating more three dimensional characters than the standard good guy/bad guy routine that would be so common in movies from prior decades.

If you haven't seen this movie already, go out and do so. The film is available on Blu-Ray these days and the transfer is incredible. It looks incredibly clean and the movie is in widescreen which is nice for modern televisions. Not only is this a very important film, but it also holds up very well today with some quick pacing and lots of action going on. The soundtrack perfectly compliments the tension and excitement of the film as well. This not only created a franchise but also helped to create an entire subgenre. It works very well at subverting the general plot structure seen in cinema even today (helping to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats).

Spoilers

It is difficult to talk about Psycho without talking about the two big twists. Halfway through the movie when Marion dies it seems to come out of nowhere when she is killed off. So often in movies characters seem to have "plot armor" where no matter what situation they get in the audience is not afraid for them because they are a well known actor/actress or because they are a main character so they are unlikely to be killed off. By breaking this trend the movie makes the scene only the more surprising. It is unfortunate that most people today already know about this infamous "shower scene" before even seeing the film.

The second big plot twist being that Norman's mother has been dead for ten years and that Norman has split personality disorder as he sometimes impersonates her. Mental illness had rarely been touched upon by movies at this point and if it was it was often just a standard "madman" who didn't have any subtlety or ability to act even somewhat normal. This movie had a much more accurate portrayal of what a serial killer with a mental disorder is actually like (and before I get blasted in the comments I will clarify that very few people with mental disorders are serial killers or bad people). I think these two plots twists are what really make the movie so memorable and interesting and hopefully there are still people out there today who will be able to see this film without it being spoiled for them.