Psycho (1960)

Starring - Anthony Perkins; Vera Miles; John Gavin; Martin Balsam & John McIntire Director - Alfred Hitchcock MPAA - R (1984 Re-issue.) (Previously rated M in 1960 and 1968.) Psycho is the Alfred Hitchcock film considered by many to be a masterpiece. When it was released in 1960 it was probably one of the scariest movies ever made. By today's standards it has a couple of shocking moments, but it certainly wouldn't be what I'd consider to be a real scary film. Since I'm judging Psycho by today's standards, it is for that reason that I wouldn't really recommend Psycho to someone who was looking for a real good scare. They won't find it in Psycho. Even the famous shower scene has lost its shock value. When Psycho was first released it had the virtue of never having been done before. Today there are very few people out there who haven't at least heard about the shower scene. As a result, when it happens, it isn't a real big surprise to anyone watching. As soon as Janet Leigh turns on the water in the bathroom, you know exactly what is coming next. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The aforementioned Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane. Marion steals a large sum of money from her employer and hops into her car and leaves town. She decides to spend the night in a lonely motel out in the middle on nowhere. It's the very deserted Bat's Motel run by the very odd Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother. To be brief, Marion decides to go in for a shower after she settles into her room. Once she goes in, she never comes out again alive. The rest of the movie centers on Marion's sister, boyfriend, and a private investigator hired by her employer, trying to track down Marion, who has seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth. And none of them get any help from Bates, although they all suspect that he knows a little more than he is willing to let on. While I wouldn't recommend Psycho for its shock value, I would recommend it on the basis that it is brilliantly made. Even though I'm not a big fan of black and white movies, visually it works very well. Add to that some of the best music found in a horror film, and you have a decidedly creepy, if not scary movie. The final reason; and the main one for recommending Psycho is the performance of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. It was probably the performance of his career. With the exception of Anthony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs, you will never find a more eerie personality on screen than Bates. Almost as soon as Perkins appears on screen, the audience knows that something just isn't right about this guy and he is bound to be trouble. For the sake of those 2 or 3 people that are just waking from a coma that they've been in since the early sixties, I won't go into any more detail about why good old Norm is as frightening as he is, let's just say his problems seem to run in the family. Psycho is a classic, and like many classics, I've found it to be just a little disappointing when compared to current films. The only reason to watch Psycho is for the haunting performance of Perkins, which is more than ample reason to plunk down a few bucks at the video store. As a personal note, the original is far better to spend your time and money on than the 1998 remake starring Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche. 7/10 - Most of that due to Perkins' performance and Hitchcock's direction. Reviewed September 19, 1998 by Joe Chamberlain