A boy's best friend is his mother!

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2010)

Marion Crane steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor, Norman Bates who has spent too long under the domination of his mother.
Janet Leigh as Marion Crane was riveting to watch. She performs realistically and she is beautiful and radiant. The story of a young woman in love, who gets her hand on some money and wants to be better off in life with her lover. The scenes with her and the cop were absolutely thrilling. I was expecting the cop to search her bag and bring her to justice. The shower scene in the hotel room is a classic. How many films we know have tried to copy it!! And the scene which was shot from her eye was haunting.
Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates was absolutely wonderful and terrifying in the end. He made me care for his character who was under his mother's subjugation and did what any son who loves his mother would do (atleast, to him it was true. I would have been scared out of my mind).
Also, the little things in the movie do count. Milton Arbogast as the private detective, I wanted him to leave Bates alone as Norman was such an understandable character. Hitchcock delivers horror in a movie which has no gore. I never thought this old movie could be this awesome. I mean, the score was chilling and its still used today with all kinds of variations. This is the one of the films which spawned every horror filmmaker out there to follow the footsteps of Hitchcock and be as great as him (unfortunately, there are only a few).
Words don't do justice to this movie. Hitchcock does not disappoint by leaving out his trademark dark humor. He is brilliant by making the climax so scary. I really didn't see the ending coming. It was sheer brilliance on the part of Hitchcock. We still got films that have the same theme recycled over and over again. But, nothing is as good as the original. As they say, "old is gold" (I never thought I would say that). Hitchcock's decision to make this in black and white is impressive as it is more scary without the colours.
Do yourselves a favour and make your kids watch this film before they can get brainwashed into thinking today's horror films are scary. The smile at the end by Norman Bates (I'm so awestruck and scared by it) - so creepy. I loved it..!!
10/10