Roller Coaster Thrill Ride

Rating: Null/10 (22 February 2004)

What an incredible movie! Coming from a person who absolutely HATES scary movies, that's a lot to say. Not to shoot down Psycho, it was an amazingly scary movie, it would have been even worse had I seen it back in the sixties when it first came out. With the way the movie industry makes horror movies now a days, with all the guts and gore, Psycho was definitely a head of it's time when it was released.
Alfred Hitchcock was a talented director, a master of the macabre to say the least, and his quirky traits popped up here and there throughout Psycho. First off, as with his other movies, Hitchcock makes an appearance so look for him during the first fifteen minutes or so. Another quirky characteristic was his obsession with the bathroom, or better yet with the words bowel movement. This is evident with the initials of the Bates Motel. Idiosyncrasies like these make and otherwise terrifying movie more enjoyable for the viewer because knowing Hitchcock's habits, they can look for these types of things throughout Psycho. And definitely look for them, because there are a lot more things to pick up on than just the two mentioned above.
It's not just Hitchcock's eccentricities that make him a great director, his foreshadowing plotline and intense cinematography make it hard to beat. With the first appearance of the Bates Motel and mansion, you can tell bad things are going to ensue. The hotel itself isn't all that scary, creepy yes, but not edge-of-your-seat terrifying. Unlike the mansion, one look at the sinister house on top of the hill will send chills down your spine. Clearly something bad has happened or will happen there. As for the notorious shower scene, the camera angles used allowed Hitchcock to create a truly chilling scene without all the guts and gore of today.
All in all, this was a impressive movie for the time, one that all horror movies since should try to live up to. Alfred Hitchcock created something truly ahead of the time, a movie that no other horror movie can compare to, and for that I think it deserves ten out of ten stars.