Psycho

Psycho, 1960
Psycho (Collector's Edition)



This is one of several movies on the list that I have seen either clips or portions of the movie, but not the movie in it's entirety. I first remember watching the movie with my Mom on TV when I still lived at home. I've estimated that I have seen the first twenty-thirty minutes of the movie, so anything beyond that I will be watching for the first time. This also makes the second Hitchcock movie that I will be watching on my list, so I'm really excited to find out what similarities there are between this movie and Dial M for Murder, which was shot six years prior to Psycho.

After having seen the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

After having watched the movie, I read a few facts about it online on IMDB. I selected a couple which I thought were appropriate to share; however I would strongly encourage people to take a few minutes and a look over some of the other facts. When the movie was first made, Hitchcock went to great lengths to keep parts of the plot secret. He purchased the rights to the book from the author anonymously, made the entire cast and crew swear to secrecy, and once the movie was ready to be released in theaters he provided a record for theaters to play which would remind viewers to be seated by the time the movie was scheduled to start.

I actually want to just jump right into how this one ended, so please do yourself a favor - If you haven't already seen or know about the plot of this movie, go rent/watch it and then finish reading this post.

I want to go out on a limb here and say that I think this movie is the first of it's kind, a horror/thriller in which the villain has had a psychological disorder although I don't claim to be an expert. In this instance, I think this is also the first time mainstream audiences had seen any portrayal either in a positive or negative light of a person with multiple personality disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder.

About halfway through the movie I was able to connect all of the dots. I remembered from conversations in school and with friends that Bates had killed his mother a long time ago and suffered from a Dissociative Identity Disorder. Film school is where major plot points and twist endings go to die. It seems no matter how hard you try to keep something a secret for yourself you're going to end up over hearing at least one major plot point or twist ending while you're there.

I certainly think Psycho was well made and beautifully executed. Perhaps the best example of this is when the boyfriend, who teaches 16mm film production, pointed out to me two-thirds of the way through the movie that Hitchcock was always able to light the actors eyes. These small subtleties are things that as a filmmaker you come to learn over time with experience, and can make all the difference between a telenovela and major motion picture.

Final thoughts: I can understand and really appreciate what the movie meant in 1960 when audiences first watched it, but having already known the plot it takes the "movie magic" away. I think for Psycho or any Hitchcock movie to really have a big impact on anyone, they need to watch it for the first time not knowing what they are getting themselves into.

OFFICIAL COUNT: 5 DOWN 360 TO GO

Next up: The Royal Tenenbaums with Kristin.