Classic Film

Rating: 9/10 (7 February 2016)

Recorded in 1960, Psycho is a film that will remain an ageless classic due to chiefly to the superb storytelling of Alfred Hitchcock. Similar to Robert Wise's film The Haunting, Hitchcock is able to use the audience's imagination against them. Just like the fact that no ghosts are visible in The Haunting, Psycho does not actually show violence. Instead, it is implied and more terrifying that way. Hitchcock's use of sound in this movie makes it more suspenseful as well. Particular creepy is the sharp violin music that plays just before a character is brutally murdered. Hitchcock also uses foreshadowing to create added levels of suspense throughout the film.
Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane in the film. She steals $40,000 from her employer in an attempt to get away from the daily stresses of life with actor John Gavin who plays character Sam Loomis. Marion flees Phoenix to join Sam in Fairvale, but the journey is long and Marion is forced to stop for the night. Fearing that she will be caught, Marion chooses to stay at a run-down hotel that is off the beaten track. It is at this hotel where Marion meets Norman Bates who is played by Anthony Perkins. Unknown to Marion, Norman is a violent psychopath who develops an alter ego as his mother. Unable to control himself, Norman eventually stabs Marion to death, puts her body in the truck of her car, and pushes her car into a muddy pond on the property to dispose of the evidence.
After Marion's mysterious disappearance, her sister Lila who played by Vera Miles, goes in search of her at Sam's place of employment in Fairvale. Actor Martin Balsam plays Private Detective Arbogast who is hired to track down Marion and the missing money. Arbogast assumes that Marion went to see Sam, so he questions Sam and Lila about her whereabouts. With no leads to go on, Arbogast tries to retrace what would most likely have been Marion's trip from Phoenix to Fairvale. It is during his investigation that Arbogast stops at the Bates Motel and talks to Norman. Norman eventually admits that Marion was at his hotel, but claims that she left. Unconvinced, Arbogast alerts Sam and Lila that he has found a trail and that he is going back to try and talk to Norman's mother.
In order to know what will come of the investigation, one will have to watch the film. However, one thing is very clear and that is the theme of this film. Be wary of traveling alone and not letting anyone know where you are going because you never know when you will run into someone like Norman Bates.