Hitch's masterwork

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2014)

PSYCHO truly is an excellent film, a movie which, along with the same year's PEEPING TOM, managed to kick start a new genre of psychological thrillers which continues to this day. It's perfectly made, with an excellent story (thanks to the reliable schlockmeister Robert Bloch), a great script adaptation, and assured direction from Hitchcock.
It's hard to know what stands out here the most: the brooding cinematography, in which features such as the Bates Motel become characters in their own right, or Anthony Perkins's most famous role. Perkins encapsulates Bates perfectly, making him a bogeyman far more frightening than the OTT fantasy creations of a Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees.
Watching it today, it's tough to imagine sitting through it without knowing the various twists beforehand, but they must have been mind-blowing to newcomers. And one of the things I like best is that the film is already great, and thrilling, even before the action shifts to the Bates Motel. Add in a great Martin Balsam performance and you have one of the greatest masterworks of 20th century cinema, in my humble opinion.