Norman Birds

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2009)

Anyone ever notice Perkins' bird-like performance? Look at the stuffed birds in the motel room. And the way he's eating like a nervous sparrow. In a movie (and a directorial career) full of impish inside jokes, Hitch turns Norman Bates into a frightened fledgling unable to escape momma's nest.
All in all, a gigantic and immensely well-made trick on the audience's expectations and the "über"-mother of all the inferior slasher flicks that followed.
(Were it not for the silly final speech to explain Norman's behaviour away with psychological mumbo-jumbo, this would be a minor classic.)
8 out of 10 healthy showers