Still Great (Spoilers galore)

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2006)

I was just flipping channels tonight and this was on. Even though I have seen it before, I just could not move on and became totally caught up in it. That was the genius of Hitchcock. The way the shots were framed, the way the story was laid out, the way the actors moved and talked-- it all works as an organic whole.
We have a lot more knowledge of psychology today, or at least we think we do, but the shrink's little wrap-up talk at the end is still fascinating. One thing that probably is dated is the sinister/crazy look on the face of Norman Bates at the end. It works for the spooky effect and sends a chill up your spine, but real-life killers probably never show such "mad" expressions. Then again, the way Norman Bates is portrayed at the beginning is realistic, in that most people who meet mad killers so not detect anything unusual about them.
John Gavin, who later abandoned acting and became US ambassador to Mexico, was the one stiff and unconvincing actor in this film. At his senate hearing, as I recall, he told the panel, "I am not an actor and I have several films I can show you to prove it!"
There were several great shots in this film beyond the famous shower scene that usually gets all the attention. The scariest single moment was the killing on the stairs. Then there is the swinging light and the skeletal face of the "mother." (Spoiler for anyone who just emerged from a cave and has never seen this film).
Hollywood, of course, made a remake some years ago, but this is the film to see.