A Boy and His Mother

#14—Psycho

#14 on AFI's Top 100 is just one among many great films from legendary British director Alfred Hitchcock (he has 4 films on this list). Among those amazing films, #14 seems to be the one most associated with the film director. Everyone thought Hitchcock was crazy when he told people how he planned on making Psycho, but maybe a little insanity was exactly what this film needed to become the masterpiece it is today.

After stealing $40,000, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) decides to skip town and meet her boyfriend in California. However due to a slight travel misdirection, Marion stops at a lonely looking roadside lodge for the night. What Marion doesn’t realize is that her stay at the Bates Motel maybe longer than just one night.

Coming off his success of North by Northwest, Hitchcock decided to take on a much smaller scale story. Psycho, in 1960, was considered very low budget and maybe thought by some to be beneath Hitchcock's level. Hitchcock, on the other hand, decided to make the film and do it in a way that most thought was weird. During this time every movie was being made in color, Hitchcock decided to make Psycho in black and white. Hitchcock did this to make the movie less gory and as inexpensive as possible. The final product just happened to be one if the creepiest black and white movies ever made.

The subtle tricks of the camera and lighting that Hitchcock used has been studied by raising filmmakers and film school students everywhere. How Hitchcock filmed the infamous shower scene was a prime presentation at Universal Orlando's attraction Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies. Of course this same scene alone gave second thoughts to anyone jumping in the shower for years.

Besides Hitchcock's direction, this film would not have succeed as well as it has without Anthony Perkins' portrait of Norman Bates. Throughout the film, Perkins gives Bates a very boyish innocence that brilliantly hides who Bates really is. Perkins does this so well that when the final moments of the film play out, the audience is put into a shock at who Bates really is.

This to me is Hitchcock's best film. This film showcases exactly why Hitchcock is considered one of the best directors of all time. Hitchcock fid so much with so little (chocolate syrup for blood is genius!). Psycho is also considered the mother of a whole subgenre of horror films, the slasher movie. Though not scary for today's standards, Psycho is still a creepy film that, for any horror/thriller fan, should be respected.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time.