Quite simply the greatest horror ever made

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2010)

Firstly, I have a love/hate relationship with the horror genre. My previous encounters consisted of a few dozen snickers to my viewing partner about how the film was ridiculously unrealistic and could never happen, and that furthermore, it wasn't really scary because I knew what was coming. This leads to my main problem with the genre: I am an expert at discerning the plot climax well before it happens. This is a massive problem, because it takes away the suspense.
Just a heads up, I will not be spoiling anything here, I'll just describe the setting and characters. Nothing story orientated. Anyway, so imagine my surprise when I finally decided to jump into the last of the main four Hitchcock films: Psycho.
The film differentiates itself from Rear Window (1954) in more ways that one. Namely; its been filmed in black & white, the setting is purposely lower class and it focuses even more on the psychological rather than the physical. The villain might not have the razor sharp fingers of Freddy Kruger, or the deep seeded hatred of Jigsaw, but he/she is made infinitely more malevolent through the twists and turns conveyed by the director. What makes this villain so much scarier than all the rest? He or she's an inherently plausible evildoer; one who could be sitting right next to you while you watch the film for all you know. The horror of Hitchcock's masterpiece is that it forces you to question whether this could happen to you.
The filmography might not be as good as Vertigo (1958), but it's certainly up there, and easily the defining work of the genre. It seems somewhat like Sin City in it's technical codes, the director obviously had the capacity to use color, but he chose to use black & white, why is that I wonder? The lack of color (and the associated filmic codes) isn't a drawback, it's done to keep you ignorant of the horrors to come. In many ways 'Psycho' feels like a last tribute to the genre, but in reality it's simply a new beginning, like Clint Eastwood's 1993 epic 'Unforgiven' was for the Western genre.
Hitchcock makes you believe you ARE one of the protagonists. His use of lighting is fantastic: dark scenes preclude a twist, and every time he shows one you tremble in fear, and try to figure out what's going to happen. There's no point. The film is crafted so eloquently that the vast majority of people won't figure it out until well into it, at which point you're not annoyed that you've figured out the main plot element, but rather you become much more involved.
This is a masterpiece, and 'Psycho' is one of the few films that'll have you telling yourself that over and over again while you watch it.