Psycho (1960)

Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.

Summary
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Chilling and impactful black-and-white cinematography in the 1960s, that's made even more impressive considering color movies were extremely common in that era. It just goes to show how dedicated Hitchcock is to his work and its suspense factor.
 * 2) The actors give great performances, especially Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. The film boosted his career but unfortunately subsequently stereotyped him as the damaged outsider.
 * 3) Excellent character and story-development with Norman Bates, Marion and Lila Crane.
 * 4) Norman Bates is a memorable horror villain, who manages to stand out as unique because he actually seemed like a friendly, ordinary man. He's the last guy you'd ever expect to be a serial killer or a homicidal maniac, and yet the rest is history.
 * 5) Another notable aspect is that Hitchcock intentionally made the film very low-budget (with only $800,000), to the point where it could have been an extended episode in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with its stark black and white and even similar actors. And yet, the film's still brilliantly-edited and works out fairly well as a theatrical film.
 * 6) The impact of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller piece owes a lot to its two big surprises that when the film opened in 1960. It got to the point where Hitchcock himself not only refused to allow press screenings but had theaters hire Pinkerton security guards to prevent latecomers from entering the theater once the picture had started.
 * 7) Said twists of Marion Crane dying only 45 minutes into the movie, and the murderer being Norman Bates who succumbed to the personality of his mother he murdered years prior to the film, were both incredibly shocking and unpredictable during its initial release, even though they're both incredibly well-known by this point.
 * 8) Speaking of which, the 45-second shower murder sequence is among the most famous and imitated scenes in all of cinema. It's one of the few times Hitchcock ever used this type of graphic violence in his films. He was known for his vivid set pieces, but they usually involved chases, attempts to evade detection, accidents, and the like -- not cold-blooded murder. Psycho was a total game changer for both filmmakers and audiences.
 * 9) At the same time, having your lead protagonist die midway through the film was an super uncommon and a bold move. Hitchcock manipulates the audience into identifying with Marion who’s in every scene until her death, who is the only central character in its first half. That way the big murder scene, is a huge shocker and feels semi-depressing.
 * 10) In addition to that, Psycho broke more film conventions by displaying its leading female protagonist having a lunchtime affair in her sexy white undergarments in the first scene, and by photographing a toilet bowl - and flush - in a bathroom (a first in an American film).
 * 11) Amazing musical score by Bernard Herrmann that's rich with discordant strings and is spine-tinglingly unforgettable.
 * 12) * The music also has some great symbolism like how the theme song pretty much represents Norman Bate’s split, mentally-insane personality.
 * 13) *The music that plays during the shower murder scene is super iconic.
 * 14) Norman Bates' home and motel is a nightmarish piece of art.
 * 15) The ending is very suspenseful, with Norman’s evil grin adding fear into the scene and becoming one of the most iconic shots in the film while Norma Bate’s inner voice plays in his head.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) This film arguably started the trend of portraying people with split personalities as dangerous people.
 * 2) For today's standards, the film can seem very sexist.
 * 3) The main issue with building a suspense story around a secret means that once the secret's revealed, there's no reason to wait around to see what else happens. Psycho 's "secret" became common knowledge fairly early in the film's release. Not only could subsequent viewers prepare themselves for the shower sequence, but they could also dismiss what happens in the rest of the film.

Reception
Initial reviews of the film were mixed, however, audience interest and outstanding box-office returns prompted a major critical re-evaluation. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and is arguably his most famous work. It has been praised as a major work of cinematic art by international film critics and scholars due to its slick direction, tense atmosphere, impressive camerawork, memorable score, and iconic performances.

On the review aggregator website RottenTomatoes.com, Psycho holds a 'Certified: Fresh' score of 96%, based on 103 reviews, with the critical consensus stated as, "Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn't just create modern horror, he validated it". On Metacritic, film has a weighted average score of 97/100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Trivia

 * After Janet Leigh worked on the shower scene, she only took baths for the rest of her life.