The difference between GOOD and GREAT

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2006)

"Psycho" is hailed as one of the greatest movies of all time, but I just don't view it as the amazing film others do. Before I had even seen the film, I was told how great a job Hitchcock did. I'm sorry but any director who uses a corpse THAT fake looking didn't do enough. Instead of putting little motifs in every scene he should have looked at the simple things. By simple things I mean stuff like the indent in mother's bed and of course that corpse. Plus I'm sick of hearing how great the music score was... yes, the music DID fit the movie well, BUT it was one of the most redundant scores I have EVER heard, and frankly it had gotten very annoying 30 minutes into the film(I laughed when the music started again when the cop chased Janet Leigh). On a lighter note, I thought that Anthony Perkins was extremely good and Janet Leigh wasn't bad herself. I also found myself rooting' for John Gavin's character, Sam Loomis. The directing(apart from the props) was good... I was impressed with all the motifs and imagery(even though I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of those genius acts Hitchcock took were product of over-analyzation). I am a big fan of Hitchcock's decision to film in black and white. I feel that black and white is much more expressive(especially when you have the option to film in color). I also have a small problem with some pieces of the plot that are very unbelievable. Ex: Marion's receipt found next to the toilet(like hell they would find that), Sam being knocked out by a shot to the back with a pot, the lack of emotion shown by Lila Crane when she finds out that her sister is dead, etc...
I know my review sounds bad, but don't get me wrong I did enjoy the film. My position sounds bad because it is easier to point out the bad than the good. I feel that this is a fine film it just has too many holes and pet peeves for me to recognize it as one of the best. I gave "Psycho" a 7/10 although I wanted to give it more around a 7.5 or 7.75. I think you should see "Psycho" for yourself and draw your own conclusions because whether you like it or not it IS a classic.