THN HalloweenFest Day 1: Psycho

‘We all go a little mad sometimes… ‘

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam

Plot: Marion Crane nicks shitloads of cash and has it away on her toes, stops off at the Bates Motel, jumps in the shower, you know the rest…

Horror Highlights: Where to begin? Berman Herrmann’s legendary score, Hitchcock’s masterful visuals, the chocolate sauce swirling down the plughole, it’s a horror classic top to bottom.

Best Scare: Forget the ‘shower scene’ or the shock of old mother Bates’ corpse, the reveal of Norman kitted out in this dear old mum’s frock and wig is as unsettling as anything ever committed to celluloid.

It’s easy to prattle on about PSYCHO; it is, after all, one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces. However, there’s little to say about Hitchcock’s direction and tension-building abilities that haven’t already been said. Not only that, but we also know all about the script’s quite brilliant rejection of classic narrative rules, it’s iconic scenes, and groundbreaking twist. Yes, the film itself is one of the best, but to understand why it truly deserves such reverence, it’s important to look beyond the film itself and understand its cultural significance.

The impact of PSYCHO cannot be underestimated – in terms of horror, it was perhaps the single most important film since James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN in 1931. Whilst horror had enjoyed various cycles, the release of Hitchcock’s masterpiece in 1960 ushered in a new age of terror. Until this point, the monsters of the silver screen had been foreign or alien in some shape or form, but PSYCHO put the horror in America’s backyard, creating a monster recognizable from everyday life. Consequently, cinema was never the same again, and the horror genre became increasingly concerned with suburban and homegrown nightmares (hello, the ‘slasher’). It’s hardly surprising that PSYCHO should take this approach: it is after all based loosely on serial killer Ed Gein, whose penchant for grisly murder would awaken the American public to a real-life horrors in its wholesome neighbourhoods (Gein also inspired THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, DERANGED and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS). Reflecting the changing awareness of real-life horrors, PSYCHO is a disturbing piece of work, and has lost none of its power to this day. Often imitated but rarely bettered, PSYCHO deserves every ounce of respect it’s received in the last 50 years. All hail the man in his mother’s dress.

Read the rest of THN’s HalloweenFest here