Overrated, underperformed B-movie

Rating: 5/10 (27 March 2003)

Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" has gone down in history as one of the most psychologically disturbing thrillers ever made. I strongly disagree. I started this movie fully expecting to be disturbed and scared, but finished it feeling robbed. The problem with this movie is the hype. Had it not been hyped as the scariest film ever made, than it would have gone over better. But as it stands, Psycho DOESN'T stand. Back in 1960, movie-going Americans were not at all expecting this, had never seen anything like this, and were probably very shocked when they did. This movie started the endless number of slasher-type films we know today, such as "Halloween", and the Jason series. Of them, I can't say Psycho is any better. Hitchcock does well with the cinematography, but falls short in the suspense area. His predecessors, such as Ridley Scott (Alien), Robert Zemeckis (What Lies Beneath), and many others succeeded where he failed. The acting in Psycho is pretty good, though sometimes mechanical. Bottom-line: If you have NEVER seen a horror film, particularly of the slasher type, than you will find this a chilling film. But for modern, decensitized America, it will only be looked at as a good B-movie.