Anthony Perkins in Psycho
"I think I have one of those faces you can't help believing."
-Norman Bates
-Norman Bates
*Spoiler Alert*
Of the great Alfred Hitchcock films Psycho is the most
unique. First off it’s completely different than anything else at the time, so
different in fact that no studio would distribute it leading Hitchcock to
distribute it on his own. I mean what other film at the time killed off its
supposed main character before the halfway point of the film?
Psycho is the grandfather of the modern horror film and it’s
also one of the best horror films period. The film was ahead of its time in the
1960’s as the slasher genre’s popularity (which to a certain extent this film
embodies) would begin a decade or so later with another little film called
Halloween (more on that later). Not only that but Psycho 50 years later still
remains one of the creepiest and most frightening pictures of all time.
The first of Psycho’s many great elements is the way the
film is shot. The magic to the way Psycho is shot is the methodical attention
to detail. The film is shot in black and white for starters which right off the
bat creates a creepy vibe that would never have been achieved through the usage
of color (thus is one of the many reasons why the poor remake failed because it
was shot in color). The second thing is what Hitchcock decides to show and what
he doesn’t. Take for instance the most famous scene in the film, the shower
murder. The scene is one of the most effective in film history because of what
Hitchcock allows to be left to the imagination. If the murder was shown on
screen then the sequence wouldn’t have been affective at all (something that
most modern horror filmmakers don’t get at all), instead Hitchcock decides to
shoot the curtain opening a brief shot of the murderer with the knife and the
woman in the shower and then cuts to blood (or in this case chocolate syrup)
running down the drain. The scene is beautifully edited creating constant chill
and suspense by never giving the audience the kill on screen. The example is
only one of the fantastic examples of how well this film truly is made.
Another reason that Psycho works is the performance that
Anthony Perkins gives as the very creepy Norman Bates. The performance is so nuanced
and holds up extremely well even to this day. Perkins uses the magic of the
creep factor and makes the film’s latter half a joy to watch. While the film is
already great until he shows up, Perkins is an added layer that lifts Psycho up
to masterpiece status.
Psycho is a Hitchcock masterpiece for many reasons and the
ones mentioned above just scratch the surface. Psycho remains to this day as
fresh and as risky of a project as it was 5 decades ago and it also remains as
fantastic a film as it ever was.
-Frederick Cholowski
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