Serious Mother Issues

Rating: 10/10 (24 October 2005)

Alfred Hitchcock had created a classic film about a young man with serious mother issues. As "Psycho" begins, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh)is desperate to keep hold of her boyfriend Sam (John Gavin), who is struggling to keep financially afloat (Alimony and paying his father's debts). She decides to help by stealing $40,000 from a client of her boss. Skipping town, she stops at the Bates Motel during a stormy night and meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who is devoted to caring for his mentally ill mother. But it soon becomes apparently how ill she is when Marion is brutally stabbed to death while taking a shower.
Soon on Marion's trail is her sister Lila and Private Detective Arbogast (Martin Balsam). With Sam on board, they soon find out the secret of Norman and his mother.
Perkins could never escape the role of Norman (He eventually came back playing Norman 3 times), and you can understand why: under that sweet facade is a very unstable individual. The film works on 3 levels here: Hitchcock's direction, Bernard Herrmann's music and the performance of Perkins. The infamous shower scene still pulls a punch (And caused Leigh to swear off showers for the rest of her life).
If you haven't seen this, give it a look. Avoid the horrible remake at all costs.