Psycho
Category
Horror, Thriller, Suspense
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Cast
- Anthony Perkins
- Janet Leigh
- Vera Miles
- John Gavin
Release Date
16th June 1960
Synopsis
Show anyone a shadowy figure holding a knife while lurking in the shower and the movie Psycho would surely come to mind along with the chills. Alfred Hitchcock’s superb execution of Robert Bloch’s novel kept haunting people even today.
It was said that the trick to the movie’s hair-raising story was the way it manipulated people to sympathize with the characters in the story and its unexpected turn of events.
It all began as a simple story. Sam Loomis (John Gavin) and Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) are lovers. They cannot get married until Sam has enough money. Marion, working for a real estate office, was given an opportunity to have money through a dirty customer. Not able to withstand temptation, she took the money for herself and travels from Phoenix, Arizona to Sam’s house in Fairview, California. On her way there, paranoia hit her when she saw a policeman staring at her. She even traded her car for another one to avoid suspicion.
A storm forced our heroine to stop at Bates Motel where she met the owner, Norman (Anthony Perkins). Norman is then discovered to have an ill mother in his care. That night, Norman and Marion got along and shared advices. In the process Marion got time to somehow regret her actions.
What happened after is the ever famous shower scene that had made Psycho immortal. Everybody who watched Psycho was shocked to see Marion, the heroine, stabbed in the shower by a shadowy figure that appears to be of that of a woman. And as Norman is the closest character that the people had associated with, he instantly becomes the hero.
Wanting to hide his mother’s crime, Norman fell to work and dispatched Marion’s belongings. In here, the magic of the work of Hitchcock forces us to think whether to sympathize with Norman who was dragged into the crime. Do we hope that somebody find Marion’s body? Or do we want it to remain hidden for his sake?
Following these incidents is the investigation on the stolen money being handled by detective Milton Arbogast. He found leads of Marion in the Bates Motel, but he was killed before he can probe further into the case. Lila (Vera Miles) and Sam, having told by Arbogast about the case, decided to take the situation into their hands. Their investigation of the case soon takes us to a shocking discovery.
As further proof of the movie’s success, Psycho has three sequels, namely, Psycho IV: The Beginning, Psycho II and Psycho III. There was also a recreation of it in 1998 directed by Gus Van Sant. All four, however, did not gain half the accolades that the original movie has received.