Psycho (1960)

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most iconic films, this film became almost an instant classic when it was released in 1960, and still continues to scare and shock audiences today.

Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) works for a real estate agent in Phoenix, Arizona. Her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin) lives and works in California, so the two of them are not able to see each other as often as either of them would like.

One afternoon, after spending one of their few available lunch hours together, Marion returns to work to find a client meeting with her boss who is purchasing a house as a wedding present for his daughter.

The client is paying in cash - forty thousand dollars - which is far more money than Marion’s boss feels comfortable leaving in the office safe over the weekend.

He asks Marion to take the money to the bank, and leave it in their safety deposit box. However, Marion instead takes the cash and goes on a road trip, planning to show up on Sam’s doorstep and start a new life with him.

The famous shower scene: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh).

One rainy night, after leaving the main highway, Marion pulls into a secluded motel - Bates Motel - and books a room for the night.

She meets - and has dinner and an interesting talk - with the proprietor of the motel, an eccentric young man named Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). She also sees - from a distance - an elderly woman in the window of Norman’s house.

Norman tells her that the woman is his elderly, invalid mother, a controlling woman he wishes in many ways he could be free from, but she is far too controlling, and also needs his constant care.

As Marion is taking a shower later that night, Mrs. Bates enters the bathroom, and in a fit of jealous rage, repeatedly stabs Marion, leaving her dead on the bathroom floor.

Norman - as always - is left to clean up his mother’s mess, and he disposed of the body, and all evidence that Marion was ever in the room at all.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).

When Marion doesn’t turn up to work after the weekend, her sister Lila (Vera Miles) hires a private investigator named Arbogast (Martin Balsam) to track her down. But his job isn’t going to be easy, because Norman is far too protective of his mother, and his mother is far too crazy to be taken without a fight.

The screenplay, written by Joseph Stefano, and based on the novel by Robert Bloch, is absolutely chilling. Every character is exceptionally well written, with plenty of internal and external conflicts. The plot is filled with enough twists and turns to keep audiences on the edge of their seat from beginning to end, particularly in the hands of an expert filmmaker such as Alfred Hitchcock.

If you’ve seen any of Hitchcock’s other films - or indeed this one - you’ll know that nothing is ever truly as it seems, and that the film is filled with incredibly intelligent subtext. And this film has both of those in spades. I won’t say any more - just in case you haven’t seen it yet - though the film has been around for long enough, and indeed the novel before it, to have entered into popular culture and the general zeitgeist in many ways.

John L. Russell’s cinematography is also exceptional. The film is shot in black and white, despite the fact that films had been made in colour for many years before its release. Hitchcock felt that the violence would be too graphic if shown in colour, and opted for black and white instead, which feels like the best decision to my mind. The use of black and white also provides additional opportunity for the use of light and shadow - and the contrast therein - and this is used to full effect throughout.

Det. Arbogast (Martin Balsam).

Perhaps one of the most memorable and impressive parts of this film is Bernard Herrmann’s score. The score is performed entirely by strings - violins, violas, cellos and contrabasses - which is not something you often find in films. But in the case of this film, it works incredibly well. Herrmann is an absolute genius, and the ways he uses sound and both the limitations and extended abilities of string instruments is incredible. For the most part, music is used to underline the psychological nature of the film, rather than the physical or technical functions, highlighting the psychological nature of the plot and the characters.

The performances of the cast are equally as exceptional. Anthony Perkins in particular is brilliant as Norman Bates, a character whose mood can change in the blink of an eye. This is without a doubt one of the most memorable characters of his career, and only under the direction of Hitchcock has it been so expertly portrayed.

Alfred Hitchcock has made an absolutely brilliant film here, one that will stay with you for long after its chilling conclusion. Even having studied this film in depth in secondary school, it still doesn’t fail to impress me, and also to terrify me in every thrilling moment. If you haven’t seen it yet, you absolutely must watch it as soon as possible, if for no other reason than to see how great cinema ought to be made.

10 out of 10.