A Perfect Film.

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 1999)

Perfect films are few and far between and the filmmakers usually have no inkling as to the top-notch quality of work they are doing. Alfred Hitchcock thought it was a good idea to make a new kind of suspense picture back in 1959. Something that would give the audience goose bumps was in order, but bigger bumps must have been the goal. Hitch had to use his TV crew (from his network series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents..." because many film executives didn't like the material. Little did they know that the big Brit was about to make a cinematic milestone and change the way films are structured and material is presented. At the time, PSYCHO was a nasty-spirited movie that led some moviegoers to leave early or stop taking showers. It has held up amazingly well and is far superior to its countless rip-offs.
PSYCHO is perfect because: 1) It is in black and white, not blazing technicolor which would have stained the film for no purpose and made the shower murder less artistic. (Hitch may have went the route of director Michael Powell who became an outcast once his technicolor murder flick PEEPING TOM was seen.)
2)The featured star disappears a third of the way through igniting a new method of scriptwriting and casting. (Hitch made strict stipulations for theatre owners not to allow people into the movie once the picture started in order for this secret to stay secret.)
3)Lesser known actors are used to provide a more authentic feel for the characters. This is so true in the case of Anthony Perkins, not exactly a Cary Grant, who creates a stunningly chaotic portrayal of an abused son/mental madman. (Hitch shoots him from tilted angles and shadowy atmospheres to project Norman Bates' unquestionably distorted state of mind, not to mention his evil grin.)
4) The shower scene, of course. Never before in any film of any kind known to man had people seen such frightening butchery and frank brutality. (Hitch storyboarded each of the 80+ cuts that take place within the 2 minute segment.)
5) Norman Bates' mother, who sits upstairs in the "old house on the hill" and just watches what transpires when she's not taking part in it. (Hitch makes her a mystery until the very end when she is finally revealed to us and to Vera Miles in a masterfully shot turn of a chair.)
6)The set-up and payoff which consists of 40,000 dollars, a device common in most thrillers but new to this kind of psychological terror. (Hitch makes the viewer think the 40 grand will be the staple of importance and plot when it really disappears amidst the horror and has no significance at all.)
7)Finally, composer Bernard Hermann's famed musical score is a pulsating, vibrant piece of gothic composition that matches the story and character actions perfectly. (Hitch and Hermann worked on several films together, none better than this.)
Is there any other question that PSYCHO is one of the top 7 or 8 films of all time? I don't think so. Just look how film history began a slow course towards more independence and honesty after PSYCHO scared everyone into believing this kind of film could be made.
RATING: 10+