Psycho - One of the Best Thrillers Ever Made

I really enjoy good suspenseful thriller movies. Unfortunately, many of the movies that are advertised as suspenseful or thrillers turn out to be not very good with very little in the way of suspense. Alfred Hitchcock was able to make several very suspenseful movies during his career. I recently watched Psycho again, one of Hitchcock’s best movies.

I only saw Psycho for the first time around 2000. I had heard some things about the movie before, especially mentions of Norman, the Bates Motel and the shower scene. I didn’t know what the surprise was and I have no intention of sharing that in my review. There will be minor spoilers in the review for people who haven’t seen Psycho yet.

Marion Crane was involved with Sam Loomis but not happy with the way the relationship was going. That was why when she ended up with a large amount of cash to deposit for her boss that she took the money and left town, ending up at the Bates Motel. It was owned by Norman Bates and his mother who stayed in the large, spooky looking house over looking the motel while Norman took care of the motel. Marion was murdered while she took a shower that night. Not long after, her sister Lila went to see Sam, looking for Marion. Martin Arbogast, a private detective, was also looking for her and all three of them ended up at the motel.

Psycho was based on the book of the same name written by Robert Bloch. I haven’t read the book. I noticed in the opening credits about the movie being based on a book when I watched it again this time. I honestly don’t remember knowing that before, so I don’t think I noticed that on previous viewings. I’m really not sure how the material was changed for the movie. I did discover that a name was changed and that the book was considered to be much more violent. A few things I have read about the book said that the author was inspired by the real killer Ed Gein.

Considering that Psycho dealt with murder and featured one of the most well known murder scenes ever filmed, there really wasn’t that much violence or gore in the movie. The shower scene was made up of several fast cuts so that nothing too graphic was seen. All the violence in that sequence was implied. That allowed the audience to imagine exactly what was happening to Marion and I think that worked very well for the movie. I think that, and the very distinctive, creepy music that was used made the scene much more intense. It is tame compared to what is done in movies now, but it worked much better than many of the more graphically violent scenes in newer movies.

I think that Psycho is probably the best suspenseful thriller that I’ve seen. Time was taken to introduce Marion and provide the reason for why she took the money and left town. With the way the movie started off, it seemed like it was going to be focused on what Marion was going to do with the money and if she would be captured. The murder came out of nowhere, which made it even more shocking. From that point on, I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I was very surprised with how everything worked out and think it worked very well with what had happened earlier in the movie. The music, which featured only string instruments, fit the movie perfectly and helped to add suspense and tension, especially in a few specific scenes. The fact that the movie was shot in black and white and shadows were used throughout along with different camera angels which also helped to add to the suspense.

Filming started on Psycho in 1959 and the movie was released in 1960. At that time, there were things that just weren’t allowed to be shown in movies and I’ve read and heard how there was some trouble getting the censors to approve the movie. It was made very clear that Marion and Sam had a sexual relationship even though they weren’t married. The movie started off showing them together in a hotel room and even on the bed together. That was unheard of at that point in time even though there wasn’t an actual sex scene. Marion was shown in just a bra and half slip in more than one scene, so a lot of her skin was on display. More skin was shown in the shower scene, though her bare breasts and behind were never shown. With how strict the censors were at that point, it is rather amazing that the movie was released with those things included in it.

Marion had been a very dependable employee before she crossed the line and took the money. She acted on an impulse that she didn’t fully think through and eventually regretted. She did seem to be very kind. She was a bit frustrated with her relationship with Sam. Janet Leigh was wonderful in the part and made Marion a likable character despite what she had done. Sam wasn’t in as much of the movie, but he played a bigger, more important part later in the movie. He did love Marion, but he was trying to do what he thought was best because of his financial situation. John Gavin was fine in the part. Lila, Marion’s sister, only turned up later in the movie. She did become more important after her first appearance. Vera Miles handled the part well.

Norman Bates was a very complex character. He took care of the day to day running of the motel since his mother was too sick to leave the house. His hobby was taxidermy and he surrounded himself with his projects in the office of the motel. It did seem like he had some conflicting feelings for his mother. Anthony Perkins was wonderful in the part, making Norman believable. Perkins did seem to suffer from type casting after this performance. Milton Arbogast was the detective looking for Marion who found his way to the Bates Motel. Martin Balsam was good in the part. Pat Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter, had a small part as Caroline, a women who worked with Marion.

Main Cast

Martin Balsam - Milton Arbogast
John Gavin - Sam Loomis
Pat Hitchcock - Caroline
Anthony Hopkins - Norman Bates
Janet Leigh - Marion Crane
Vera Miles - Lila Crane

Alfred Hitchcock - Director

DVD Information

I picked up Psycho on DVD a few years ago. I can’t remember exactly how much it was, but I believe it was less than $10. My DVD has the widescreen version of the movie. I don’t know if there is a full screen version available as well. The DVD did include a few extras. There was a documentary, censored scene, the theatrical trailers, production drawings, the shower scene with and without the music, newsreel footage, and production photographs. The booklet that came with the DVD contained production notes with a little bit of information on the making of the movie and a few pictures of the cast and Hitchcock. The information also included some quotes from Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Joseph Stefano, Pat Hitchcock and Alfred Hitchcock.

The documentary, The Making of Psycho, featured interviews with people involved in the making of the movie in some way and was about 90 minutes long. It started by showing what seemed like an introduction by Alfred Hitchcock and then showed some clips from the movie. Hitchcock’s former personal assistant talked about how he discovered the book and decided that he wanted to turn it into a movie. The author Clive Barker was briefly shown talking about the book and how it was more violent than the movie. Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter, talked about being hired and then on working on the script. He talked about how he hadn’t like Norman at all in the book and made some changes so he was more sympathetic in the movie. Hitchcock decided to make the movie in black and white because he felt it would be too gory if filmed in color.

Janet Leigh talked a lot about her part in the movie. She did talk about how certain scenes were filmed, including the shower scene, and how she and the costume designer came up with something to keep certain parts covered in that scene. She also said how difficult one shot in particular at the end of that scene was. Other people also talked about the filming, with the most time being devoted to the shower scene. The documentary also explained how Hitchcock was very protective of the plot and didn’t want the surprise to get out. He didn’t let critics screen the movie before the release and he got the theaters to agree to not letting people enter the movie once it had started. Some of the posters used to promote the movie were shown as well as some footage showing people lined up outside theaters to see the movie. I really enjoyed the documentary and thought all the information was shared was very interesting. I learned several things about the movie I hadn’t known before, like that Psycho was the first movie to show a toilet. Fans of the movie will probably enjoy the documentary.

Psycho is one of the best suspenseful thriller movies ever made and one of Hitchcock’s best movies. Eventually there were three more Psycho movies made and the original was remade in 1998. The second movie wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t as good as the original. This movie is a must watch for people who like good suspense thrillers.

This review is part of CaptainD’s Good Movies Write Off.

Hitchcock Movie Reviews
North by Northwest ~ Rope ~

Psycho Movies
Psycho ~ Psycho 2 ~ Psycho 3 ~ Psycho 4: The Beginning ~