An unforgettable masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2017)

Marion Crane works for an estate agent in Phoenix; one Friday afternoon a client pays $40,000 in cash for a property and her boss ask to take it for the bank as he doesn't want it in the office over the weekend. Rather than going to the bank she sets off to California. It is a long journey and after spending one night in her car, after she is woken by a suspicious police officer she buys a new car. Then, as it starts to rain, she leaves the main road and stops at a remote motel for the night. The motel is run by Norman Bates who tells her that he lives in the neighbouring house with his aged mother. He appears to be friendly as he offers to make her something for supper. She hears his mother expressing her disapproval of him being alone with a young woman before she has her supper in the office. The then returns to her room and prepares for bed. Now things get creepy; Norman takes a picture off the wall and uses a spy hole to observe Marion as she gets undressed. Then as she takes a shower somebody enters her room and brutally murders her. Soon people are starting to wonder what happened to her and the $40,000. Her boss has sent a private detective to find her and her sister goes to see her boyfriend, who has no idea where she is. The detective checks a string of motels before finding that she stayed at the Bates motel. As the story progresses we learn more about Norman and his mother all leading to one of cinema's most shocking conclusions.
This film is rightly considered a classic; I would love to have watched it without knowing about what happened. For the first half of the film follows Marion Crane, setting her up as the protagonist; everybody else we see, including Norman Bates, appears to be very much secondary characters so anybody lucky enough not to know the film's first famous twist should be genuinely surprised. Until her death it looks as though the film would centre on whether she would be caught or whether she would see the error of her ways and return the money. After the infamous 'shower scene' the tone changes dramatically as we learn just what is going on at the Bates Motel and ultimately discover Norman's shocking secret. Janet Leigh does a fine job as the good girl who has made a bad choice but it is Anthony Perkins who stands out with his nuanced performance as Norman Bates; at times charming at others chilling. Hitchcock's direction is superb; he manages to show brutal murder without actually showing and of the actual brutality; just a raised knife, Marion screaming and blood going down the plug hole blood that isn't even red as the film is black and white. Obviously this isn't suitable for younger viewers but I'd say it is a must see for all older film fans.