Definitive Hitchcock.

Rating: Null/10 (8 June 2002)

The definitive film from Hitchcock's library that just does not age at all. It is probably more terrifying and disturbing now than it was over 40 years ago. Janet Leigh (Oscar-nominated) seems like an ordinary woman, but she has a few skeletons in her closet: she is having an affair with a married man and she takes it upon herself to take a large sum of money from the bank where she works. A frantic getaway is now the only option, but the weather impedes her progress. Maybe a stay in the Bates Motel is what she needs. Enter suspicious inn-keeper Anthony Perkins and his unseen elderly mother who torments him. Trouble awaits for Leigh now. Sister Vera Miles becomes worried after Leigh's disappearance and Leigh's boyfriend also joins the search (John Gavin). The search leads to the spooky Bates Motel and the suspense builds. Private investigator Martin Balsam also joins the search but no one's safety is assured. Hitchcock is in top-form here all the way. The film is tense and it wraps itself around the audience. Definitely trail-blazing and definitely a classic, "Psycho" is one of the cinema's best productions from any era. 5 stars out of 5.