This is one to watch again and again.

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2001)

Alfred Hitchcock's crisp efficiency is not unlike that of Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the dutiful son who cleans up after his mother in the landmark thriller "Psycho." Not only is this a masterfully directed suspense chiller, it actually set standards by which all fright films since have been measured. The cinema has produced some great scores, but Bernard Herrmann's music is incredibly enhancing and simply unforgettable, one of the best ever (and it did not even get an Oscar nomination for Best Score). The more I watch "Psycho," the more I prefer the first half, with its sense of dread and a fascinatingly cool Janet Leigh (Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress). Hitchcock, of course, never won the Best Director Oscar, but was nominated for "Psycho," one of 1960's biggest box-office hits. Shockingly, Anthony Perkins, in a career-making role and one of the most famous performances in screen history, failed to win a Best Actor nomination -- probably because the performance was too edgy and disturbing (which is what made it great). Some scenes are dated, of course, but this film almost never falters. It gets a "9" (and a very high nine at that) from me.