Psycho (1960)- appreciation thread

[zorbonaut]

I was surprised that I was not able to find a thread focused on the brilliance of the film Psycho.

I hadn't seen this film in years and always placed it near the top of everything Hitchcock has directed but after last night, I'm of the thinking that this film is his Pièce de Résistance.

For years, I always put films such as Rear Window and Vertigo ahead of Psycho but after re-watching it last night, I think Psycho is a near perfect film.

Psycho along with The Birds are Hitchcock's most culturally significant films and very recognizable by the typical moviegoer. I think that this fact is why some people knock Psycho down a bit.

What impressed me upon re-watch is the technical expertise showcased in almost every shot of the film. It begins as we see a shot of downtown Phoenix and the camera pans up into a room with Gavin and Leigh in bed seamlessly. You can see director's such as David Fincher emulate this same technique in many of his films. In addition, Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh were so perfectly cast in their roles that you would be hard pressed to imagine any other actors in their place.

You could take a screenshot from almost any scene in the film and frame it up on a wall. Bernard Herrmann once again proved that he was the best in the business during his time and even Hitch once said, "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music."

Even though I was completely aware of what was going to happen, Hitchcock was still able to keep the suspense up upon multiple viewings.

Here is an except from a great review by Roger Ebert:

So Alfred Hitchcock told Francois Truffaut about "Psycho," adding that it "belongs to filmmakers, to you and me." Hitchcock deliberately wanted "Psycho" to look like a cheap exploitation film. He shot it not with his usual expensive feature crew (which had just finished "North by Northwest") but with the crew he used for his television show. He filmed in black and white. Long passages contained no dialogue. His budget, $800,000, was cheap even by 1960 standards; the Bates Motel and mansion were built on the back lot at Universal. In its visceral feel, "Psycho" has more in common with noir quickies like "Detour" than with elegant Hitchcock thrillers like "Rear Window" or "Vertigo."

Yet no other Hitchcock film had a greater impact. "I was directing the viewers," the director told Truffaut in their book-length interview. "You might say I was playing them, like an organ." It was the most shocking film its original audience members had ever seen. "Do not reveal the surprises!" the ads shouted, and no moviegoer could have anticipated the surprises Hitchcock had in store--the murder of Marion (Janet Leigh), the apparent heroine, only a third of the way into the film, and the secret of Norman's mother. "Psycho" was promoted like a William Castle exploitation thriller. "It is required that you see 'Psycho' from the very beginning!" Hitchcock decreed, explaining, "the late-comers would have been waiting to see Janet Leigh after she had disappeared from the screen action."

Full review below:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...ie-psycho-1960

Let's discuss this amazing film!

[Foggy]

Just to think, without this film, the diarrhea scene from Dumb and Dumber would not have been possible. Thanks Hitchcock.

[Dalekbuster523Bluray]

Psycho is one of the all-time greatest examples of filmmaking. It's hard to believe that it got bad reviews at the time. It's so expertly shot, especially the famous shower scene with the blood flowing down the plug hole.

[charlieray1]

I've always been amazed that Tony Perkins wasn't nominated for best actor. Janet Leigh was nominated, but not Tony. His performance is just perfect, in an obviously very difficult role.

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by charlieray1

I've always been amazed that Tony Perkins wasn't nominated for best actor. Janet Leigh was nominated, but not Tony. His performance is just perfect, in an obviously very difficult role.

This role was made for Tony and there is no one else that could have played this role the way he did. It is too bad that he did not get the recognition that he deserved at the time.

[imsounoriginal]

Not Hitch's best, but his most entertaining/rewatchable. Pretty much a perfect movie, except for maybe that unnecessary final scene of over-explanation.

[Scottie]

I made the mistake of watching Gus Van Sant's remake in the early 2000s, which ruined my viewing experience when I watched the original masterpiece for the first time a few years ago.

[Creed]

One of the best movies of all time. Anthony Perkins is FLAWLESS in his role. He nailed it.

[megafan2000]

I was just asking my brother the other day what's your favorite movie from before we were born (so it would have to be 1970s at the latest). I said mine would probably be between Psycho and Sound of Music, with the next 2 probably between Wizard of Oz and Ten Commandments.

[Member-275053]

Anthony Perkins was brilliant in the role of Norman Bates!

And, hunky actor John Gavin (Spartacus, Imitation of Life) was also great in the role of Sam Loomis.



Terrific performances from actresses Janet Leigh and Vera Miles, as well.

[Doctor Jack]

Does anyone not appreciate this masterpiece? That is the real question.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Just to think, without this film, the diarrhea scene from Dumb and Dumber would not have been possible. Thanks Hitchcock.

I beg your pardon?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I beg your pardon?

Psycho was the first film to feature a toilet on screen, a huge taboo throughout mainstream cinema up until the 60's.

[Coenskubrick]

It's one of my top 5 favourite films. I think it's masterful. Even the exposition at the end doesn't bother me. If anything, the shower scene is the worst part of the film, as the knife striking isn't totally believable. It's everything around it that makes it so wonderful. The shots are masterful, especially in a time where to be honest a lot of cinematography was fairly stock standard. The lighting are gorgeous. The music and fantastic.

And it all goes together into the whole mood of the film, which is just so rich. What I love about Norman as a villain is that he's threatening, absolutely, but also so relatable and amiable at the same time. The parlour scene is my favourite scene in the film. All the stuffed birds around reflecting his angry, twisted inner mind. And it's amazing the effect of simply having the camera sit below eye level. Makes you feel like you're trapped in the room, sinking. Anthony Perkins is incredible in the role. You really feel for this guy, who seems like a nice person bent and broken by loneliness, scorn, jealousy, and a love for his mother which only brings him pain.

Norman Bates: You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.

Marion Crane: Sometimes... we deliberately step into those traps.

Norman Bates: I was born into mine. I don't mind it anymore.

Marion Crane: Oh, but you should. You should mind it.

Norman Bates: Oh, I do...

[laughs]

Norman Bates: But I say I don't.

That's the best line in the film.

It's great that the movie spends so much time setting up Janet Leigh's plight, and building tension around the money, not just because of the twist 40 minutes in, but also because it shows the way ordinary people facing challenging circumstances can so easily end up doing crazy things, and creating their "traps" and gives something that bonds her to Norman, making it all the more meaningful and tragic when her demise comes.

The score is masterful, not just in the "EE-EE-EE-EE" that everyone remembers, but in the slow, quiet, subtley menacing music in the scenes where Norman talks to her outside the hotel, and she doesn't want him to find the money. The constant motif of the overbearing mother in the house on the hill, taunting Norman.

Look, my point is it's fantastic. It's Hitchcock's masterpiece, beyond a doubt. Everyone in it is fantastic. Cinematography, production design, music, direction, acting, it's all pretty much perfect.

[OceanBlue]

Apologies for bringing back a thread which was last posted in six years ago. Did a thread search in the Movies sub-forum for the original Psycho, and this seemed the closest thread on the search results page for discussion of just the original film.

Have seen a post by UK cinema chain Odeon on their Facebook page (it was posted a few hours ago), about an upcoming screening of the original Psycho on or from Friday 27th May. Have checked and (and I can't speak for other Odeon cinemas) my local Odeon cinema is showing it on Monday 30th May (the day before the screening of Diamonds Are Forever). It states on the Odeon website, "Psycho (Original Theatrical Cut)".

[JDub1]

I watch this movie at least once a year. I always wondered what it would be like to explore that house, at night!

[dkelly26666]

One of my favorite films ever. It's on a shortlist with "GoodFellas", "Jaws", and a few others as a film that I can just repeatedly come back to, it never gets old to me.

I saw it as a child in first run with my mom, way back when. For many years, I went around saying it was the scariest film ever made, LOL (well, for that time, it might have been).

I had the opportunity to take my adult son and see it in a theater back around 2015 or so. I hadn't seen it on the big screen since it was new. My son had never seen it.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Coenskubrick

The parlour scene is my favourite scene in the film.

Mine, too.

The acting and writing is superb.

[Rzzzz]

My favorite Hitchcock film...

[Jay H.]

I appreciate Psycho (1960).