Quite simply my favourite horror film which still manages to scare me!

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2006)

Psycho, ever since I first saw it, has stuck with me. It is my favourite horror film and I can confidently say it always will be. Nothing comes close to the sheer thrills and chills Psycho delivers. From Hitchcock's masterful direction to Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins' flawless performances to Bernard Herrmann's unforgettable score, Psycho is the ultimate in real horror.
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals $40,000 from her employer's client and leaves town intent on starting afresh. While on the run she stops by Bate's Motel where she meets the owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). They dine and converse for awhile then she returns to her hotel to get ready for bed and make amends for her crime. However, she takes a shower before this during which she is brutally stabbed to death by an unseen assailant. Her absence does not go unnoticed, as her lover, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), and her sister Lila (Vera Miles) begin to question her whereabouts. Also hot on her trail is Detective Arbogast (Martin Balsam).
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho traded the supernatural beings of the genre's past (vampires, werewolves and zombies) for a human monster. The film made Norman Bates a household name in the world of horror and movie villains. Hitchcock does not rely on cheap, hokey scares to terrify his audience, but uses various camera angles and tracking shots to heighten the tension and then, accompanied by Herrmann's shrieking score, lets lose a shocking image. Hitchcock is quite simply, as his common title suggests, the Master of Suspense. He knows how to tap into the movie-viewing public's collective psyche: By making his monster seemingly normal and by blending sex, madness and murder in a sordid tale.
The cast is spot on: Janet Leigh, in one of her more famous roles, is the naÃ¯ve "leading lady" who meets her demise in the now infamous shower scene. Anthony Perkins gives a chilling performance as Norman Bates, his deceptive normality which masks his madness could not have been more convincingly done. Vera Miles and John Gavin provide excellent support in the last half, they both had great on-screen chemistry! Herrmann's famous score is arguably the best of any horror movie (it has been parodied and imitated countless times) and Hitchcock's direction is flawless (just look at the ending, which still shocks me to this day)! 5/5