Psycho

Before finally seeing "Psycho", the only other Alfred Hitchcock films I had seen were "Rebecca" and "Vertigo". I had only seen parts of "The Birds" and "Sabotage". While "Rebecca" and "Vertigo" were well done, "Psycho" proved to me in a powerful way that Hitchcock is truly the Master of Suspense. I first saw this movie late at night. Bad mistake. The movie was made on a very low budget and became iconic. One might argue that by this point in his career, Hitchcock had such a reputation that he didn't need to do much to get us on the edge of our seats. We instead psychologically make the film scary ourselves but with this theory I disagree because of the use of editing, cinematography and music.

There are too many great cinematic decisions to mention them all. The whole film was masterfully put together. The opening title music is familiar because I have heard it on TV shows before, spoofing the movie (although I didn't realize what they were spoofing). I like the opening establishing shots and ironically, they would have been different if Hitchcock had more money to use. The reason why the film is set in December is because Christmas decorations can be seen and there wasn't any sense in wasting money for reshoots. I love how the camera moves into the dark room and then the room becomes bright. I am still trying to figure out how they accomplished that shot so smoothly with the blind covering most of the window. One thing I will say early on is that all the extreme close ups of the film create a lot of suspense such as the close up of the money on the bed. When I got to see this movie on the big screen, I released this was all the more true and I came to understand how powerful this film must have been for those moviegoers in 1960. I love the great cameo by Hitchcock, profile and all. By this point in his career, every moviegoer knew to look out for Hitchcock's cameo. For the sake of the story, the cameo came very early on in "Psycho". When you first meet Norman Bates, you trust him. He is established as nice because he contrasts the other characters we have seen. When I first saw the birds of prey in the parlour, I thought Hitchcock was doing some foreshadowing for his next movie but it's just a coincidence. The moment Marion mentions putting the mother in a mad house, Norman changes. I still get tense at that moment every time I watch this show. As a quick fun fact, the toilet flushing in the bathroom may be the first time that a toilet was seen and heard flushing on film. Now we come to the shower scene, one of Hollywood's most famous scenes. Plenty of myths surround the filming of this scene. Some proven facts include that chocolate syrup was better seen when filmed with black & white cameras and so that was used as blood. Janet Leigh developed a fear of showers after this movie by the way. It wasn't until I had seen this movie a few times that I noticed the how much nudity is in the film. At one point, there is nudity out of focus in the background and again in the very next shot that is filmed from above. I think that Hitchcock should have filmed these shots differently but at least you don't even notice it watching the film for the first few times. He has you so engrossed in the famous scene that you didn't even notice the nudity. Now that I know it is there, the scene makes me a little uncomfortable. I wasn't expecting to jump at any time in this show but when Bates' mother suddenly stepped out as Arbogast climbs the stairs, I did get a good fright even though I knew what was going to happen. We even know she is near because we are shown a door slowly open, very slowly. The high camera angle sets up the surprise as well but that is not the only reason for the high shot. Arbogast's fall down the stairs is surreal because the camera follows Arbogast so smoothly. It is also surreal because he doesn't fall off his feet until he reaches the bottom. The reason for this filmmaking decision as I see it is to be visual interesting and different. It is meant to be another memorable moment in the show. I also like the use of camera depth as Arbogast slowly climbs the stairs before being stabbed. Another great use of cinematography was the camera following Norman and moving up to the high angle previously seen when Arbogast was killed. I like Sam's cleverness when he checks in to the Bates motel. I was really frightened by Lila's approach up to the house. It mirrors the approach of Arbogast up the stairs in the house. The editing and cinematography are the stars in those two sequences. Also, when Lila approaches the house, the cuts in the editing happen almost rhythmically with the musical score. I was so surprised by the twist at the end and I am even more surprised that it has been kept a secret for so many years. Not even "The Sixth Sense" has that reputation in my opinion. The fact that Mrs. Bates turns around so slowly by herself is the creepy part. It is impossible for her to do so when you think about it because of the kind of chair she is sitting in but once again, this is something you only notice upon multiple viewings. It doesn't even matter once you spot this fact because of the slow movement of Mrs. Bates. Norman Bates' face upon finding Lila down in the fruit seller is also frightening. The swinging lightbulb creates even more fright because of the way the light moves on the objects and actors in the fruit cellar. I didn't think this film had a twist at the end but it made the movie so resolving. Everything makes sense in this moment. That final smile of Norman's is the most chilling of all. I can't imagine how they did that final cross-dissolve.

Actor Anthony Perkins suffered from typecasting for the rest of his career but never regretted taking the role. I loved his work. I also have to give credit to the actor playing the psychiatrist and those playing Norma Bates. When it comes to the horror genre, it is mostly about the music in my opinion. It makes or breaks the film as is the case with "Jaws". The music by Bernard Herrmann is iconic but it is the absence of music that really scares me such as when Lila is looking for Mrs. Bates. Hitchcock at first didn't want any music for the shower scene but he later acknowledged that he was mistaken in this initial decision. The studio did not have faith in the film and Hitchcock had to finance it himself. The story from the novel appears to have been simplified and I like that. The film is in black and white to save money but there were artistic reasons for this choice as well. Hitchcock did retakes during filming, which is not characteristic of him, and it shows just how passionately he felt about this story. His perfectionism got the better of him. Hitchcock also took measures to keep the story of the film a secret. Hitchcock had copies of the original novel bought up and critics were not given a sneak peak of the finished product. Another unusual thing that Hitchcock did was to insist that no one who came late to "Psycho" would be allowed into the theater. Theater owners first objected but the long lines of people waiting to see the film changed their minds as it made their businesses look popular. Perhaps with Hitchcock paying for the movie himself, he was doing everything he could to sell tickets by creating anticipation and a sense of mystery for the audience before they even sat down in their seats. The Master of Suspense indeed. This initial sense of thrill that you get before the show starts can still be felt today.

The Bates Motel set at Universal Studios still stands and I feel so disappointed that I saw this movie only months after my vacation there. Alfred Hitchcock was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Director and rightfully so. "Psycho" was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Janet Leigh), Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. Leigh did win the Golden Globe by the way. This movie is the "Star Wars" of the horror genre. Before "Psycho", horror films were not taken seriously. After 1960, it became a credible genre and the Slasher section of the genre came into being. The American Film Institute recognizes this film on its lists for best movies (#14), villains (Norman Bates is second only to Hannibal), movie quotes ("A boy's best friend is his mother" is #56) and musical scores (#4). Only the musical scores of "Star Wars", "Gone with the Wind" and "Lawrence of Arabia" in that order precede it on the list. Funny enough, the score was not nominated for an Oscar. The beautiful music from "Exodus" took home the Academy Award for that year but if you were to play both musical scores for someone who hasn't seen either movie, which theme do you think would be more familiar? That is why Herrmann's score is #4 on AFI's list. Most importantly, AFI has "Psycho" as the most thrilling movie of all time and I agree. This is the best movie I have seen from 1960. I have realized that seeing this film with others who haven't seen it before is the most fun.

4 Stars