Psycho Is Every Bit As Engrossing As You've Heard And Then Some

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #8
Placement On Sight & Sound 50 Best Movies List: #35 (tied with Metropolis, Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and Satantango)

SPOILERS FOR PSYCHO WITHIN 

You'd think, for a guy as strongly associated with high quality horror/thriller fare like Alfred Hitchcock, the experience of discovering he's directed a top-to-bottom phenomenal movie wouldn't be the least bit surprising at this point. But good golly, the guy's done it again. Watching Psycho for the first time instilled in me a deep a sense of shock how this master of cinema had done it yet again. I could feel the glee spreading from my head to my toes as I watched each new scene of Psycho unfold, with that emotion stemming from me realizing that Hitchcock hadn't just knocked it out of the park here, he'd knocked it out our solar system!

At this point, the plot point in Psycho that was a shocking reveal for general moviegoers in 1960 is now common knowledge among even youngsters, the fact that midway through the movie the supposed protagonist of the piece, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), is brutally murdered in the shower at a motel she's staying at. The question I pondered before watching the movie was simply this; would this film still work as it was originally intended to, as a thriller that leaves one on the edge of their seat, even with that twist firmly stuck in my head after seeing it explicitly referenced over and over again in the likes of The Simpsons and Looney Tunes: Back In Action?

The answer to such an important question is, I'm glad to deliver, a hearty yes! You see, the brilliance of Psycho is that it's still so chilling and effective in countless other areas even if you're aware of the surprise it's going to drop on you midway through its running time. It's not like the sudden murder is the only thing it has going for it, far from it. In fact, the reason why that slaying worked so well in the first place still manages to resonate for more knowledgeable viewers, that reason being that Marion Crane and her inner turmoil are laid out in a concise and in-depth manner in the first half of the story. We understand how her psyche works, her personality and her ambitions, all of that good stuff needed to make a protagonist work.

Even before creepy motel employee Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) steps on-screen, there's plenty of suspense going around, as Marion, while working at her job as a real estate secretary, manages to take $40,000 from an unsavory character for herself that she's supposed to deposit in the bank. Watching her try to evade capture from a suspicious police officer already had me tense, especially since Joseph Stefano's screenplay comes up with a lot of fun fake-out moments that make you think the jig is up for Marion, like her being told to "WAIT! STOP!"....only for it to be a helpful mechanic giving her her luggage she just happened to forget.

Actually, that's a good example of the more playfully-tinged suspense and thrills that are at the forefront of Psycho in its first half, which makes the precipitous arrival of an actual blood-soaked murder when Marion Crane is stabbed in the shower all the more startling in its mere existence. Not only is the rug being pulled out from under the audience in terms of the main character being now fully gone from the proceedings, but the entire tone and style of horror has shifted. There's even now a mystery component weaved into the story, as Marion's sister, boyfriend and a private investigator all try to figure out where exactly Marion has disappeared to with very few concrete clues to work with.

Of course, it all goes back to that taxidermy-loving Norman Bates, a character whose depicted from the get-go as a nervous eccentric fellow, one that the movie primes to be some sort of menace during a scene where he and Marian share some sandwiches and milk in his parlor room. His body language and eye movement suggest how much he feels the presence of his mother watching over him, judging his every move. He's a dutifully obedient son very much to a crazed fault and Anthony Perkins does a marvelous job creating an overly-nervous jittery and realistic performance for that exact type of persona to inhabit.

It's a testament, in fact, to how good Perkins is that anytime Bates is just shuffling around on-screen, it makes one nervous andm ore than a little on edge. It's not as if he's the only element in Psycho keeping up this pervasive ambiance of creeping dread, an intoxicating atmosphere that this motion picture is able to weave so effortlessly it's a marvel to behold. Psycho is a film whose high quality I've been hearing about for nearly my entire life, and yet, somehow, it was able to surpass my lofty expectations and then some. You'd be as crazy as Norman Bates yourself if you didn't check this one out!