"Review: Psycho (1960)" Topic

This movie came out when I was about two years old, and didn't make much of an impression on me at the time.

Since then, I read and seen so much about this movie, that I'm not ever certain if I've ever watched it before. Or maybe I just saw bit and pieces of it over the years as I was changing channels? Or just saw the 'shower scene' dozens of times on horror movie documentaries?

So I finally watched it, maybe for the first time (!).

Wasn't Janet Leigh the best "icy blonde" ever? When I first saw this movie, I was too young to appreciate her. Now, having seen some of her comedies more recently, I was extremely impressed with her in this movie.

Did you notice Hitchcock's daughter in a bit part?

When I was young, I thought Anthony Perkins was just annoying. Now, I can see how well he did in this role. Thumbs up.

I've never liked the 'falling down the stairs' sequence. Hitchcock was wrong on this one. Would it work better with today's special effects? Nah…

The ending is a bit odd, with Simon Oakland suddenly coming in to explain the whole movie to us.

So if you haven't seen this one, go see it!

I quite enjoyed the movie "Hitchcock", with Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, and Scarletf Johansson. It's about the making of Psycho, and the drama behind the people who made such a movie. Hitchcock got okay reviews, but I really enjoyed the backstory to such an influential movie.

I met Anthony Perkins briefly once in real life and he seemed just like in that movie, although it was 20+ years later.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

It's a classic for a reason -- a tight script and a very careful direction and pacing, with good performances. Suspenseful -- a term you don't hear much these days. Probably way too slow and deliberate for today's audiences, and yes, the ending is a bit pat and whodunnit-y, but part of the charm of the film is perhaps the period flavor it now has. Old-school, old-timey movie-making but with enough of Hitchcock's modernity to keep it alive even after 50 years.

Leigh is wonderful, of course, but I personally think that his use of Grace Kelly in several other of his films (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief) completely exemplifies the Hitchcockian "cool blonde". Your preferences may differ -- but give those a viewing sometime soon and see what you think of these now!

Aside from the sheer movie-making (try counting the separate shots in the shower scene,for instance),we jaded moderns who experienced "splatter" tend to forget just how shocking this film was at the time. Killing off the "protagonist" near the beginning was disconcerting,to say the least.

Yes, Hitch had a definite (ahem!) "weakness" for the icy blondes. Apparently his wife put up with it.

And hey,don't forget Tippy Hedren in "The Birds"!

Don't forget Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest

Yep, all great icy blondes as well! But Grace came first…. and Hitch was always casting about for a replacement!