As devastating today as ever!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2006)

When I began watching this movie I felt that a film from the year 1960 couldn't possibly have an effect on somebody who has seen all the major horror movies of the last 30 years or so. Exorcist, Omen, The Shining, Friday the 13th, etc. etc. etc. etc. Never have I watched a movie that layered such powerful emotional scenarios into digestible brain food that nourishes the darkest places of my psyche. . As the movie went on I felt Norman Bates' madness slowly bubble and build so exquisitely that it was indeed a guilty pleasure to witness his final all out blitzkrieg into sheer madness. At this breaking point it was I too who had lived the moment with all of the unfortunate guests of the Bates Motel. Oh I am not a psycho per SE, but after watching this movie I felt like I lived every experience in the first person. It was after the movie directly after the last scene that I realized that a movie this special had eluded my eyes for so long. I almost felt heartbroken because it would have been the horror/terror movie to judge all others. I recommend to any teenager getting into film to really watch this, perhaps alone, perhaps not. I am just floored by the powerful use of music and the absolute shock value. The psychological thriller was born from this film. I thought SEVEN was shocking, and to some degree it was. But I was shocked deep to my core after viewing this masterpiece. Nothing in film will shock me ever again, I truly believe this. This Hitchcock fellow was something special. It took me 30 years to see this, and its much more than just a shower scene. Thats only the beginning. Oh the classics. Lets not confuse Classic with Old like so many of us are so quick to do. This movie transcends Classic and is more modern than the stuff Hollywood is pushing out these days. Still shocking after 46 years.