Hitch's best

Rating: 7/10 (12 January 2001)

What else can I add about this film? One of the more famous settings ever (the motel), one of the most famous movie names (Norman Bates), and of course, probably the most memorable killing on film (shower, anyone?). There's no real point in summing up again, but, what the hay. Leigh embezzels money and skips town. She ends up at a remote motel and has dinner with the owner (Perkins). Though long winded, the scene in the parlor stays captivating with the dialogue and the subtle music softly in the background. They both discuss the things wrong in their lives, his biggest problem, his domineering "mother" (and I always wondered if people who haven't seen the film thought of when every critic always put quotations around mother). She retires for the night, and while unwinding with a shower, is brutally knifed by some woman. The mother? You'll find out if you haven't seen it. The rest of the film deals with Perkins trying to cover up the crime, as others come looking for Leigh. I say it's Hitchcocks best, but that's mostly based on the fact that I didn't like his other movies ("Frenzy" was ok). Performance wise, you couldn't ask for much more, as Perkins is terrifically understated as Norman, the role that pidgeon-holed the rest of his career. He pretty much carries the film as the others, good actors no doubt, have little screen time. A sequel followed 23 years later(!), one I went for more being a kid of the 80s. Part III was good as well (Perkins directed nicely), but IV was a lame made for cable film. There was also an awful remake in 98, check it out at your own risk. As far as the beginning of it all, it can be slow in spots, but is a well told story and one of only a few films before the 80s that I liked.