Exasperatingly detailed, steely-cold precursor to the 'slasher'...

Rating: 7/10 (26 October 2005)

Alfred Hitchcock has no sympathy for the victims in "Psycho", and he views them dispassionately. This relatively low-budget film is in silvery black-and-white, eerie and beautiful, with gliding camera-work and clever production touches which warrant repeat viewings, however it is much too merciless towards its characters to be a black comedy. It's also not much of a murder-mystery (we have an early idea of what's going on), yet the suspense in the third act is mounted with cunning precision. Mostly, Hitchcock seems curiously fascinated with plot-exposition and details, although the picture is still quite chilling. Anthony Perkins' tightly-controlled performance as Norman Bates is hypnotizing: his boyish good looks can be taken either way--gangly or crazily disconnected--and his eyes, which are frantic, dart around like an impatient child's (it's the role of a lifetime). I didn't much care for Simon Oakland's psychology report at the end, but the final shots and the voice-over are masterfully pulled-off. *** from ****