Directed by:
Alfred HitchcockScreenplay:
Joseph StefanoCinematography:
John L. RussellComposer:
Bernard HerrmannCast:
Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson, Patricia Hitchcock, Vaughn Taylor (more)VOD (3)
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Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the notorious "shower scene." First a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) searches for her, the horror and the suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
Somehow I'm getting lost here in the flood of "immortal", "classic", and "timeless". I mean, Psycho has undeniable value considering when it was made, but for all intents and purposes it's now just an outdated entertainment artifact. The script scrapes its dialogue from the bottom, the acting and general direction of the actors is severely laughable (apart from Anthony Perkins, who is quite out of step with the production of the time in both his performance and appearance), the early identification of the killer takes the edge off the scare, and the editing is downright prehistoric. The interesting reveal and cinematography were enjoyable, plus I believe that to experience Psycho in its time would be pretty psycho, but nowadays the film operates on significantly different algorithms.
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It’s misguided to rate Psycho as a representative of any genre or as a film that scared the viewer on the scale of a few stars. Psycho deserves to be judged as a demonstration of the possibilities of the art of filmmaking and as a showcase of Alfred Hitchcock’s brilliant creativity. And by taking this path, it’s possible to come to only one conclusion – Psycho is not a film; it is a super-film. First there’s that, and then there are films that can rated with some stars according to how well made they are. ___ Let’s imagine that a painter’s brush has X possibilities of movement, angle of approach to the canvas and intensity of contact with the canvas. Now let’s apply that principle of possibilities to film directing and working with film techniques and with the viewer. Hitchcock harnessed these X possibilities that other filmmakers had been working with, juggled them and created a new palette of XYZ possibilities. Filmmaking is a science. When will there ever be a greater filmmaking innovator that Hitchcock was?
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So I’ve finally really gotten to know Psycho! This is because the film is so well known that from all the previews and photos I've seen, all the TV documentaries, all the paragraphs in books and magazines, and the song titles on Herrmann's extra-fierce soundtrack, I felt like I'd actually known it for a long time. And since one of those notorious things is the point, despite all my admiration for the greatest master of suspense, I wasn't that keen on watching Psycho. Come on, stop looking at me like that, we all do stupid things. I did enjoy Psycho last night, though. In a movie theatre, in fact. I didn't notice the giggling of the rest of the audience, who had apparently seen the film for the tenth time, and I sat there like a chained man. I was very pleasantly surprised by a lot of moments I didn't know and which I quite possibly liked the most - especially the (non)sinking of the car into the peat bog and the private detective walking up the stairs (that was truly worthy of a heart attack). Needless to say, Psycho is one of those films that deserves a sixth star.
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It’s such a shame that this film’s twist is so profane today, the experience would have been much greater without knowing it. What surprised me a little is that it was the bathroom scene the one that became the most famous, I think the one of the attack at the stairs is a lot better – it’s one of the best and most terrifying attacks on film I’ve ever seen. Basically, it manages to precisely capture the instant between the reveal of the attacker and the attack itself, thus saving both the moment of surprise and the moment of tension. It’s like when, in a fraction of a second, you notice that the person who has just started running towards you is holding a knife. Yeah, and before I forget, Psycho made me realise what is that thing that often bothers me in old films, that characters driving a car shot from the front turn the steering wheel too much :-) 90%
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Everybody knows the legendary knife scene. I have to admit that at the beginning I thought it would be just a boring old film that would give me nothing, but in the second half the plot really took off and the ending was a real treat. With a clear conscience I give this great Hitchcock horror film 4* (85% to be precise) and if it wasn't for the dodgy beginning, it would have been worth a full score.
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