a masterpiece of audience manipulation

Rating: 10/10 (12 October 1998)

Psycho is one of the great movies because of the way it manipulates the audience. Everybody these days has at least an idea of who Norman Bates really is and what he does, but the movie still has the power to fascinate and to induce terror no less than poor Miss Crane's. The use of amazing photography and lighting schemes, the classic score, the "McGuffin" of the stolen money, and captivating performances by all actors (especially Janet Leigh and, famously and typecasting-ly, Anthony Perkins) add to the mix, pushing the audience's emotions one way and then another: tension, humour, humanity, terror, confusion, and a final horror. Ultimately, it is a visceral but above all highly entertaining experience.