Hitchcock Kickback

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2013)

In true Hitchcockian 'shades of grey' office worker Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) rashly decides to take a stash of cash from her employer and ditch Los Angeles to join up with her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). With her internal moral regret mounting, even conspiring against her to the verge of paranoia, she ultimately ends up in a dilapidated off-road motel run by the reclusive, but amiable Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who literally has skeletons hiding out in his closet. When Marion Crane famously gets gutted in the shower by Bates' mother, her sister Lila (Vera Miles) and boyfriend Sam become aware of her disappearance and initiate a hunt. Similarly, her employer sends out detective Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) to track down Marion and the stolen money.
With a movie so awash with interpretations and reviews, not much noteworthy can be added, except from personal input, especially from the future-past perspective, as in: How does "Psycho" hold up against its contemporaries? And as such "Psycho", one of Hitchcock's best works, has aged pretty darn well, outdoing a vast majority of by-the-numbers rip-offs, due to the the ambiguous societal commentary lingering in between the killer rampage. Norman Bates, despite his awkward presence and facial tics, is by no measure a crazed psychopath, who deals in excess, instead Hitchcock affords his main antagonist a very thoughtful character structure, which also helps to build tension. Hitchcock, masterfully, builds context and content, especially with regards to the interaction between Marion and Norman, each running away from their own demons, suggesting that the difference between the two is much less pronounced, than we would like to believe. This gruesome take hits best during a genuinely fresh conversation between the two in the hotel office.
Once the initial murder takes place, Hitchcock never lets go of a sense of tension, but the story focuses more on the thriller/horror essence, no longer affording space for such thoughtful commentary. Anthony Perkins carries the movie with his impish, offbeat, charm, delivering a still crisp and tense conversation with the nosey PI Arbogast. For the most part "Psycho" remains a gripping experience, even though age has caused many false notes to supplant true fright with corny music and overused shock gimmicks. As such the most famous scenes, including the bathroom murder and the big reveal, have lost their impact, referenced to death and outdone by the coming slew of slasher films. Possibly this even works for the better, as the much ridiculed sequences no longer define the movie, instead letting it breath by its own.