PANDAR3X’S Scare A Day : Psycho

Posted October 20, 2012 by Richard Hernandez in Movies

June 16, 1960
Rated R
109 minutes
Alfred Hitchcock
Shamley Productions
Horror
Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, John Gavin
3.5 out of 5 Not your usual horror movie, but it delivers on the creepy factor

Trying to escape the monotony of everyday life, Marion does what all ladies do…she takes another man’s money and books it. While on the run from her troubles, Marion runs into troublesome police, used car salesmen and rain. The bad weather makes her pull into a Motel which otherwise would have gone unnoticed. The Bates Motel is run by Norman and his very mentally ill mother (hence the title of the movie), needless to say the poor old women does not approve of her sons sinful way of living his life. Mrs. Bates shows her disdain by proceeding to kill any woman to show her son affection. When Norman shows interest in Marion, she is forever doomed to have shampoo in her hair. Private investigators and her own sister soon trace Marion to the seedy motel, where they will certainly meet a similar fate at the hands of Mrs. Bates.

While this is a definite influence for all Slasher films, it certainly isn’t the originator. That honor belongs to “Peeping Tom” a flick that came out 3 months prior to this one, I won’t go into detail but “Peeping Tom” comes recommended both as a classic and to see the roots of this incredible horror sub-genre. Psycho tweaked the format just a bit , the knife wielding psychopath was there but “Psycho” added the who-dunnit aspects that have become the usual in the genre. Also a very heavy influence with its very energetic soundtrack. The soundtrack was almost a character unto itself, it demanded a lot of attention from audience and built suspense and terror. Even though the body count is low (a measly 2 people) the scary moments are delivered in the character development, when you found out about new aspects of the mother/son dynamic it left shivers of unease and creepiness radiating in your body. Hitchcock had the talent of scaring you in the theater, of course, while you watched but also when you were left to your own devices running through the scenario over and over in your head. The Bates family arguably was the first time people actually began to suspect that , serial killers and mass murderers were regular folks. Hitchcock brought the scares to our back door and left them there for John Carpenter and Wes Craven to bust the door in with.

Psycho is a slow-paced film but very fun to watch, a kind of history lesson for horror movie buffs. The story is very engrossing and more importantly relatable. All of the characters actions are centered in very human emotions , even that of the killer. A definite must watch.