Review #234: Psycho (1960)

This review was originally written in October 2022.

Gabe's 100 Bucket List Horror Films Review #88: Psycho (1960)

I'll be perfectly honest: I was not at all expecting to enjoy this movie. I'd seen the remake years ago (which was pretty accurate to my recollection) and wasn't impressed by it, so considering I already knew the big twist of this one I was expecting it to just be another slow, dry slog. But boy was I mistaken! This one moves at a nice clip, it's paced really well (even if a bit strange and unconventional) and there's enough going on that it never overstays its welcome.

Psycho starts off following Marion Crane, a secretary who decides to steal a big thing of money from her employer and run away to live with her boyfriend. On the way she stops at a roadside motel, where the creepy innkeeper, Norman Bates, has an unhealthy relationship with his mother and a penchant for taxidermy. After he watches Marion in the shower, an unseen figure (presumably Norman's mother) sneaks up and kills her with a knife. Norman hides the body, and goes about his life afterward. Marion's family and employer, however, hire a private investigator to find her, and the clues lead him to the Bates Motel- but there's more going on than just a momma's boy running the family business, and more blood will be shed before this investigation can be closed.

Like I said, this movie is paced in a strange and unconventional way. I guess I've already spoiled it, but the person who seems to be the protagonist gets killed halfway through, and then the rest of the film kind of follows two other sets of protagonists, each one picking up where the previous one left off. It's weird, but it keeps the action moving in a way that- as bizarre as it sounds- I feel like more movies could benefit from. (It almost felt like a bad D&D campaign- the first party goes into the dungeon and dies. So then a second party goes in to retrieve the first party's stuff, but they die on the way out. So now a third party has to go in and finish the job, and so on.) It could have been done so poorly but there's a reason Alfred Hitchcock gets praised as much as he does (even if he was kind of an ass).

Anthony Perkins does a fantastic job playing Norman Bates, though I spent the entirety of every one of his scenes remarking at how much he looks and sounds like Andrew Garfield. (Seriously, I'm not kidding, they could make a shot-for-shot remake- another one, anyway- by just putting Andrew Garfield in there, no makeup or characterization needed.) He's the perfect level of creepy, intimidating, and harmless- and the final shot with him creepily staring into the camera is as bone-chilling now as I'm sure it was sixty years ago. The other characters are great too- Arbogast serves as a great Colombo-style detective, and the other three protagonists do their job perfectly fine (though they don't steal the show or anything). The setting is great, the music is great, and I can't really think of anything this movie did wrong. It definitely holds up to this day, and although I wouldn't say it's the "best horror film ever" like some people might, I'd recommend it to anybody.

Overall Rating: 8/10 Envious Friends Back Home

Wealth of Trivia: Most of the movies I've watched so far this month have had 50, maybe 60 pieces of trivia listed on IMDB. Psycho has 359! That's way too much trivia!