The best of the Hitchcock canon

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2001)

Probably the best of all of the Hitchcock films, mostly due to the surprise mid-film demise of the film's main character. The basic problem with any suspense film is the audience can be secure in the knowledge that the big-name star will survive the film--somehow. Psycho breaks this tradition and throws the audience a completely unexpected curve. Psycho also demonstrates what a good director can do with a low budget and, basically, a one-set picture. Good performances all around, particularly from Perkins. Nearly a perfect piece of cinema, marred only by occasionally sloppy editing and a few unfair red herrings, such as using an actress (Virginia Gregg) as the voice of "mother" instead of having Perkins do it. Brilliant Bernard Herrmann score uses only strings. Title sequences by Saul Bass seamlessly set-up the story. Would-be horror film directors need to thoroughly understand what makes this film a masterpiece before they shoot their first frame of film. There is almost no blood or on-screen violence.