Call number
DVD-DRAMA 359
Collection
Series
Publication
Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2012), Edition: Digital Copy Included ed.
Description
Horror melodrama in which a woman disappears after spending the night in an isolated motel which adjoins an eerie Victorian mansion, inhabited by a disturbed young man and his mother.
Subjects
Media reviews
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,
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and the secret of Norman's mother. "Psycho" was promoted like a William Castle exploitation thriller.... Unlike modern horror films, "Psycho" never shows the knife striking flesh. There are no wounds. There is blood, but not gallons of it. Hitchcock shot in black and white because he felt the audience could not stand so much blood in color. The slashing chords of Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack substitute for more grisly sound effects. The closing shots are not graphic but symbolic, as blood and water spin down the drain, and the camera cuts to a closeup, the same size, of Marion's unmoving eyeball. This remains the most effective slashing in movie history, suggesting that situation and artistry are more important than graphic details. Show Less
The “Psycho” diagnosis, commercially, is this: an unusual, good entertainment, indelibly Hitchcock, and on the right kind of boxoffice beam. The campaign backing is fitting and potent. The edict against seating customers after opening curtain, if respected may add to the intrigue. All adds up
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to success. Show Less
There is not an abundance of subtlety or the lately familiar Hitchcock bent toward significant and colorful scenery in this obviously low-budget job....That's the way it is with Mr. Hitchcock's picture -- slow buildups to sudden shocks that are old-fashioned melodramatics, however effective and
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sure, until a couple of people have been gruesomely punctured and the mystery of the haunted house has been revealed. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member comfypants
A secretary runs off with stolen cash and ends up at an isolated motel.
Knowing what's going to happen ruins most of the suspense, but it's still awesome.
Concept: C
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: B
GPA: 3.2/4
Knowing what's going to happen ruins most of the suspense, but it's still awesome.
Concept: C
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: B
GPA: 3.2/4
LibraryThing member Familiar_Diversions
Marion Crane, a real estate secretary, has a secret relationship with her boyfriend Sam. She wants to get married, but he's too concerned about his debts and general lack of money...so when Marion is handed an envelope with $40,000 at work and told to immediately deposit it at the bank, she instead
Increasingly concerned about the amount of attention she's getting from a cop, Marion ends up at the Bates Motel off the main highway. The proprietor, Norman Bates, seems a little odd and awkward, but Marion feels sympathetic towards him when she overhears Norman's mother berating her for wanting to allow Marion over for dinner. Now that she's had some time to think, Marion is reconsidering her decision to steal the money. Unfortunately, the Bates Motel was the wrong place to stop for the night.
I had never previously seen this, although cultural osmosis meant that I already knew about the twist ending, and I'd seen stills of the shower scene before. Although aspects of it haven't aged well, this was still worth watching.
Marion and Sam didn't work at all for me as a couple, and her sudden decision to steal the $40,000 immediately came across as a giant, stupid mistake. Buying a different car as the suspicious cop watched didn't really help - she was doomed to failure, one way or another. But her increasing tension and fear were believable, and I liked the way the creepiness of the cop made Norman Bates seem safer by comparison. Of course, I already knew that wasn't going to be the case, but as it turns out, I've never seen the outcome of the shower scene, so that was still a bit of a shock.
Anthony Perkins was excellent as Norman, shifting effortlessly between shy and kind of pitiful to something darker and more ominous. Unfortunately, the ending was one of those things that hasn't aged well. The big reveal wasn't so much shocking and scary as it was unintentionally funny, and the psychologist's monologue at the end was dated and came across as extremely insensitive - he treated this case like a fascinating puzzle, laying out all the pieces, apparently unbothered by the fact that he was talking to, among others, the victim's sister and boyfriend.
Extras:
Trailers, production photographs, behind-the-scenes photographs, storyboards for the shower scene, some behind-the-scenes info on the shower scene, and more. Nothing as helpful as the extras on the Dial "M" for Murder DVD I watched, although I appreciated the info on the shower scene. It sounded like Hitchcock went out of his way to make sure that filming the scene wouldn't be distressing for anyone involved, although the end result had to look violent.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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decides at the spur-of-the-moment to steal the money for her and Sam.Increasingly concerned about the amount of attention she's getting from a cop, Marion ends up at the Bates Motel off the main highway. The proprietor, Norman Bates, seems a little odd and awkward, but Marion feels sympathetic towards him when she overhears Norman's mother berating her for wanting to allow Marion over for dinner. Now that she's had some time to think, Marion is reconsidering her decision to steal the money. Unfortunately, the Bates Motel was the wrong place to stop for the night.
I had never previously seen this, although cultural osmosis meant that I already knew about the twist ending, and I'd seen stills of the shower scene before. Although aspects of it haven't aged well, this was still worth watching.
Marion and Sam didn't work at all for me as a couple, and her sudden decision to steal the $40,000 immediately came across as a giant, stupid mistake. Buying a different car as the suspicious cop watched didn't really help - she was doomed to failure, one way or another. But her increasing tension and fear were believable, and I liked the way the creepiness of the cop made Norman Bates seem safer by comparison. Of course, I already knew that wasn't going to be the case, but as it turns out, I've never seen the outcome of the shower scene, so that was still a bit of a shock.
Anthony Perkins was excellent as Norman, shifting effortlessly between shy and kind of pitiful to something darker and more ominous. Unfortunately, the ending was one of those things that hasn't aged well. The big reveal wasn't so much shocking and scary as it was unintentionally funny, and the psychologist's monologue at the end was dated and came across as extremely insensitive - he treated this case like a fascinating puzzle, laying out all the pieces, apparently unbothered by the fact that he was talking to, among others, the victim's sister and boyfriend.
Extras:
Trailers, production photographs, behind-the-scenes photographs, storyboards for the shower scene, some behind-the-scenes info on the shower scene, and more. Nothing as helpful as the extras on the Dial "M" for Murder DVD I watched, although I appreciated the info on the shower scene. It sounded like Hitchcock went out of his way to make sure that filming the scene wouldn't be distressing for anyone involved, although the end result had to look violent.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member jgcorrea
Psycho is a wonderful film until the end, when we have to listen to a bunch of psychobabble. Marnie was another of Hitchcock's psychoanalysis films, like Spellbound, which was cool enough to include a Salvador Dali sequence.
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Motion Picture Screenplay — 1961)
National Film Registry (1992)
UPC
025192143335