Psycho

 1. Pyscho

Before I watched the original, I actually saw the reasonably good sequel, as it was on late one night as the weekend horror film. I enjoyed it, but there were a lot of references to the original so I rented it from a video store and gave it a go. At first I wasn’t too impressed because to begin with, it was in black and white – yawn! And I thought it took a while to get going as well. The first 40 minutes were all about this woman on the run with stolen money. When was the psycho going to show up? But I stuck with it. I had heard about the film from my parents and particularly my Media teacher at school who praised it for its filming techniques, which had stood the test of time. So as I watched it and that infamous shower scene came along, I was quite startled. I thought, “Wow, not bad for a film made nearly 40 years ago”  


I first watched the film when I was about 15 years old, back when I was starting to really watch movies - heaps of movies on a daily basis. It seemed to grow on me more and more as I got older. I watched the rest of the sequels which I thought were okay in their own right, but as I watched many other horror movies that followed on from Psycho’s success and formula, I began to understand why it was seen as the best and most original thriller ever made, and considered by some to be one of the best movies ever made. I saw it often imitated but never surpassed, and I have no comment on the 1998 remake by Gus Van Sant except to say it was a load of crap - end of comment! 


A nice touch Hitchcock made back when the film was released in 1960 was that the public had to see the film from the very beginning. He gave strict instructions to every theatre screening Psycho, that no on... absolutely NO ONE... could be seated after the film started. He also encouraged people to watch the movie standing up. I haven't tried that yet, but would be willing to give it a go. That's what I love about Hitchcock as a filmmaker... it was all about the "experience" of watching the film.

I have now probably watched the film about 30 times in my years and will always preach it as my absolute number one favourite movie of all time. It inspired me; it shocked me and got me into watching all of the Hitchcock films I could get my hands on. I even had the idea of writing my own book about Alfred Hitchcock and his films when I was a teenager, but never got around to it. Maybe a project for the future? I own two copies of the film on DVD; a normal version plus the Blu-Ray version. I have also read the original novel on which it is based and have a vintage poster on my bedroom wall of the movie which was a poster that was released at the time of the movie (same as above). Mine isn't an original, but you can tell its design is from the 60’s. 

I even saw the original house and hotel set when I visited Universal Studios in Los Angeles, on the back lot tour. That was extremely cool, and in a tribute to the film, there is a mannequin dressed as an old woman, that sits in a rocking chair and can be seen in the top window of the house… exactly where Mrs. Bates would sit to keep an eye on her son. 

What I love about Psycho, is its confidence as a movie. It was made over fifty years ago, by a filmmaker who was way ahead of his time. It’s still as sophisticated and intelligent as it was back then, with terrific performances from all involved and one of the best twists in movie history. It’s the idea behind it that still grabs me today. The fact that a boy who had an overbearing mother could be driven so far to the edge, he would take her life but couldn’t live without her… so dressed up as her and took on her personality. That’s purely frightening.  

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