Review of Psycho (1960) by Justin A — 23 Sep 2015

One of my favorite movies of all time and (in my opinion) Hitchcock's best film. He had made other films that get tons of notoriety (Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Rear Window) and they're all great films, but what I love about Psycho is that it doesn't get too funny and it never gets ridiculous and almost slapsticky like some of his other films. It still has all of his trademarks and showcases his skill as a director, but it's a straightforward and simple movie that works so well.

The shower scene is possibly one of the best scenes in movie history. To imagine what it would have been like in 1960 watching this in a crowded movie theater... I can't even imagine how shocked people were. It comes out of nowhere and is one of the most unexpected and terrifying scenes in any movie. The only thing I can compare it to in modern cinema would be the ending to The Ring. There's really no other movie off the top of my head (at least as far as horror films go) that I can remember a scene quite like it.

There's the twist ending, and it makes sense and works perfectly. It's not a twist just to be shocking. The clues were always there.

Needless to say, I love this movie. It has a few slow moments and the ending monologue by the psychiatrist is almost unnecessarily long, but the movie holds the viewer's interest throughout and there is plenty of excitement.

What I find fascinating is that even having seen this movie multiple times I am somehow shocked when I remember that only two people die. The killings are so violent that I somehow remember this movie having a body count, when that really isn't the case. Two people are killed on screen, two murders take place 10 years before the story, and then there are two suggested murders of missing people who never appear. The movie is relatively tame, but it's remembered as a violent slasher.

Must-see movie if you haven't already. And if you haven't, don't look up any spoilers on how it ends.