FILM CHALLENGE: 113) Psycho

113) Psycho

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Year: 1960

Plot Summary: In a spur of the moment decision, Marion Crane decides to leave Phoenix with the $40,000 her boss entrusted to her to deposit at the bank. She's headed to her boyfriend Sam in Fairvale, California and the money will finally let them start their life together. After having spent a night in her car, she can't quite make all the way and spends her second night at the Bates Motel. There she meets Norman Bates, a shy and withdrawn young man who seems to be dominated by his mother. A week later Marion's sister arrives at Sam's store in Fairvale to tell him Marion has disappeared. Together with a private detective, Milton Arbogast, they begin searching the area

It's impossible to deny that Psycho is among the most influential movies in cinematic history. After all, Alfred Hitchcock's most famous release was one of the very first studio pictures that fell under the horror genre. However, despite how unique and original it was upon its release in 1960, I find it to be one of Hitchcock's most dull pictures.

For the first 45 minutes of the film, in which Janet Leigh's character steals $40,000 from her employers and goes on the run, Psycho is almost unbearably slow paced with very little that will hold your interest. You will simply watch as Leigh drives out of town, is stopped by a police officer and exchanges her car for another. Sure, you understand what her ultimate goal is and the motivation for the crime, but nothing about it will make you side with her.

Therefore, because this opening half of the movie is fairly tedious, it lets down what could have been a gripping third act. Once Leigh's character, Marion, has been killed off in the famous shower stabbing scene, the mystery story of Psycho starts to take shape as her former partner and sister try to figure out what happened. Moreover, the audience becomes involved in the mystery as the enigmas start to arise: Who is his mother? Is she dead? Was it her or her son Norman who killed her and for what purpose? Norman Bates, furthermore, starts to turn into a fascinating antagonist after this half way point.

Nevertheless, while the movie isn't up there with the very best of Hitchcock's work, his direction is as good as it always is in Psycho. He creates suspense throughout this final act almost effortlessly and, in the aforementioned shower scene, he has the ability to send shivers right down your spine without once showing a plunging knife, a wound or any gore. It's the kind of simple yet effective direction that many modern film-makers should take note from.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment