Psycho [1960]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skilfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. --Jim Emerson

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-09-02 rating:
Creepy!
I didn't know the plot of this film at all (apart from seeing the infamous shower scene on all the top 10 horror movies lists)

Basically, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) goes on the run with $40 000, and on the way to her boyfriends she checks into a motel where she meets the somewhat odd Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)

It was really creepy, the atmosphere builds up and the murders are scarier for the fact that they are not graphic, something which I think spoils modern horrors. I guessed the "twist" at the end almost as soon as she checked into the motel though.

Perkins is outstanding, far outshining all other slasher baddies.

As with all Hitchcock films this is a definate must see, highly recommended!!!

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review by: date: 2008-06-26 rating:
Reasons Not To Use A Shower
This simply is one of the greatest films ever, containing one of the greatest scenes ever, the infamous `shower scene'. Hitchcock referred to it as his `first horror film'. It may be far from today's standards of horror following this ever-evolving film medium, but it certainly is a gruesome story. Anthony Perkins impeccably performs the role of a man who has preserved his mother's corpse for a decade, moving it round the house, dressing in its clothes and mimicking its voice, whilst quietly running the practically deserted motel. Hitchcock's slow-paced and deviously manipulative direction is masterful. The fact that the leading character, the famous Janet Leigh, is killed off less than half way through the film, having been developing a `red-herring' of a plot, is a stroke of brilliance.

Apparently, the choice of filming in black and white was a budget-driven decision (as the film was recorded by the crew for his TV show), but actually creates an eerie addition to the sinister effect. Hitchcock was already accustomed to Bernard Hermann's skill and a screen composer, and his skeleton string score is totally seamless in completing and augmenting the atmosphere Hitchcock created. Again, the lack of a full orchestra was probably an issue with budget, but again adds to the unique genius.

With such films around in 1960 as `Exodus', `Le Trou', `Plein Soleil', `Room at the Top', `Elmer Gantry', `The Apartment' (1961 Oscar), the horror `Peeping Tom', and, of course, `Spartacus', there was heavy competition around. Yet, `Psycho', seems to have gained a status as `the film' of 1960, and is certainly a milestone in the Hitchcock legacy.

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review by: terbo08 date: 2008-05-28 rating:
The legendary masterpiece from Hitchcock!
Without doubt, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is one of the greatest films of all time, a compulsive horror that is nothing short of being a masterpiece.
If you haven't seen this black and white before, shame on you, but do be sure to buy this DVD because "Psycho" is one of those films that you must see before you die.
An amazing horror film!

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review by: brendoclarke date: 2008-04-07 rating:
BATES MOTEL
More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel.

This film simply had everything going for it from eerie set designs to a gripping score, and from careful and clever photography to insightful characterizations. Hitchcock created believable characters that we care about in unbelievable circumstances that scare us because as unbelievable as the situations appear, there is still the element of "yeah, but it could happen." Sadly, in reality, events like this have happened as much as we so often can't believe the facts when we hear them.


The classic story of "Psycho" takes place mostly at a run-down motel next to a Gothic home that houses a socially inept momma's boy and his clingy demanding mother who sees no woman as good enough for her "boy" seems surreal, but somehow still possible. This psychological slasher film offers so much more than a lone deranged killer hacking away at unsuspecting victims. Here Norman Bates, an Oscar worthy performance by Anthony Perkins, falls for Marion Crane, played with great subtly by the stunning Janet Leigh (mother of Jamie Lee Curtis whom she co-starred with in the original The Fog), who has just robbed her boss and is now having second thoughts and using the Bates Motel to stop and rethink her actions. Norman's infatuation with Marion disturbs his controlling mother who later "visits" Leigh in one of horrorland's most thrilling and disturbing moments on film. Clever camera work and inspired direction go with the "less is more" approach that fools us into thinking we are seeing more than we actually are and we are happy to have it that way.


What follows is a great psychological thriller/mystery as the first victim's lover, her sister, the local sheriff, and a private detective attempt to figure out just what is going on at the Bates Motel. While the body count is nothing in comparison to today's slice and dice horror flicks, the killings in this film are nerve-shattering even by today's standards. The disorienting camera angles enhance every frame of this film that is years ahead of its time.


Unlike the slasher films of today with a crazed killer with no real identity to speak of and an even further detachment from reality or plausibility than anything in this film and a series of victims we care even less about than the killer, "Psycho" offers us sadly sympathetic victims and a villain much like the one in "The Phantom of the Opera."
This is a thriller with surprising depth and insight.



review by: date: 2006-04-17 rating:
Classic Hitchcock.
Hitchcock's most well known film follows a young woman who steals a large sum of money from her employer and then goes on the run, when she makes the mistake of checking in to the Bates Motel. The direction is fantastic, in particular the famous shower scene - considered shockingly violent on the film's release - where the violence is implied rather than depicted directly. This 45 second scene took seven days to shoot, and is one of the most important scenes in the history of cinema - its influence extending in a very direct way to, for example, the famous ear-severing scene in Reservoir Dogs. A must for all film fans.

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Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Classics . Horror & Suspense
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