Psycho | | Cast : | Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh | | Director : | Alfred Hitchcock | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | June 16, 1960 | | DVD Released Date : | September 02, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | A classic... | Content
 | ... that will never get old. This movie is actually not about a serial; killer but a lady who is on the run with sopme money she stole and winds up at the Bates motel. A very creepy atmosphere and great role by Perkins. This movie is creepy good classic horror a definite must if you are a fan of haorror and you know what realk good horror is ( e.g The original 1972 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead 1978, Maniac 1980, American WereWolf in London 1980's ) I could go on and on but if you like movies like ( e.g Scream, i know what you did last summer, Jeepers Creepers etc ) then you most likely wont have this movie cause you really dont know what horror is.
So for any true horror fans out there , you know who you are get this flick its a must for the serious fan of horrors. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | "She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes." | Content
| Psycho is considered by many to be the first and greatest slasher flick. I personally love Psycho. Like always, Hitchcock steps into unexplored territory giving us a completely original entertaining and psychologically exercising shockfest! The Bates Motel's got my reservations! The shower scene is still classic and always will be. Anthony Perkins is a good actor and Vera Miles and Janet Leigh aren't bad either. This movie is an hour and thirty minute mystery that leaves us screaming for more. Sadly, we din't get a sequel until 23 years later and Mr. Hitchcock had passed away a few years earlier. Oh, well we'll always remeber the classic. It'll always be the best! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 17, 2005 | | Summary | The Masterpiece of Suspense | Content
| Psycho breaks all the rules. We the audience are drawn into an unsettling story about an unstable young woman (Janet Leigh) and her handsome lover (John Gavin) and wind up being hurtled down a puzzling and frightening road toward a motel and its proprietor (Anthony Perkins in his stellar performance as Norman Bates) who are frighteningly normal-looking. There is something terribly wrong, yet Hitchcock the magician-master makes audiences scream with terror without showing any act of violence.
The "black humor" is Hitchcock's tradmark, and the horror of what we imagine, Hitchcock's films teach audiences- skillfully and artistically, is far scarier than the graphic blood-and-guts which other filmmakers purvey. Finding humor in frightening characters and situations, unbelievably strange and unexpected plot twists and the crispest editing ever found on film, are all the trademarks of the fastidious and brilliant Alfred Hitchcock in this masterpiece that poked fun at even as it contributed like no other film to the genre of suspense. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 10, 2005 | | Summary | SCAREY AS HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | Content
| THIS IS THE SCARIEST MOVIE EVER (ESPECIALY THE SHOWER SCENE I JUMPED WHEN I SAW IT IT FREAKED ME OUT) ANYWAY PRETTY GOOD DVD AND EXELLENT MOVIE NICE PLOT TO. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 05, 2005 | | Summary | "...they'll see, they'll know and they'll say...'why she wouldn't even harm a fly'."- Mother :) | Content
| When I think of Alfred Hitchcock's timeless masterpiece "Psycho", I think of a movie that is very close to my heart...a movie which spawned so many imitators paying homage to it as the father of all slasher-horror movies (not necessarily the scariest as "Halloween" is number ONE in my opinion, but "Psycho" is a very close second for sure), but none quite able to imitate its individual "charm", grace and unique mixture of style, substance and theatrical structure. "Psycho" is a model of horror cinema on so many levels: slasher horror, psychological terror, the unconscious mind, the unknown, madness, multiple personality disorder and evil...also, "Pscyho" is the ultimate "suspense thriller" of all-time. Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh provide equally brilliant performances in Hitchcock's ultimate masterpiece called "Psycho".
The movie starts with Marion Crane and her boyfriend together in a motel during the afternoon on an ordinary day in Phoenix, Arizona. What started to be a drama would turn into oh so much more by the middle part of this movie. Marion and her boyfriend named Sam Lumus who are struggling with financial issues and problems of morality regarding their "respectability" as a couple (incidentally, the name Sam Lumus intentionally borrowed by John Carpenter who named Michael Myers' psychiatrist after Hitchcock's Sam Lumus of "Psycho").
Marion Crane is unhappy with her current status with Sam and decides to make a rash decision and actually steals $40,000 and runs off with it to meet her boyfriend in California. Well, our imperfect protagonist begins to feel paranoid and her conscious bothers her to some degree. Here, Hitchcock is setting the stage for what appears to be a drama where the focus is on Marion Crane, her boyfriend and the money that she has stolen. The audience has no clue what is in store for them...there is absolutely no indication that the movie is anything but a drama about these two lovers and their personal struggle to attain a satisfactory life together.
Crane drives on through a rain and all the while, Hitchcock brilliantly allows the audience to empathize with Crane by providing a look into Crane's state of mind as she is driving away from her problems. The audience experiences Marion Crane's present thoughts as she acts and thinks. Still, there is no indication of what is ahead. Late at night and driving into a torrential downpour, Marion Crane decides it is time to pull over for the night. She stops at the Bates Motel where she meets a energetic and seemingly nice young man named Norman Bates, whom perhaps is a little too friendly if anything negative can be said for the young man. The two have dinner together in parlor of the motel where much of the topic of conversation revolves around Norman's sick and rather maltempered old mother.
As they talk in a truly great scene, Marion along with the audience discovers Norman's obvious "sensitivity" about the issue of his mother's condition. The house that Norman and his mother live in is absolutely horrifying in appearance and this is magnified through the black and white picture presented by Hitchcock.
Along with Herrmann's eerie score, Hitchcock begins to paint a picture of something darker than just a sad couple with money problems and a young lady stealing some money. Hitchcock brilliantly leads the unsuspecting audience along with the present mental impressions and thoughts of Marion Crane as she deals with her problems and the audience settles into drama mode, but the movie's focus changes and it is Hitchcock's magnificent use of "misdirection" that creates such strong elements of shock and horror as the audience's focus violently and abruptly changes from the personal problems of Marion Crane into a dark, disturbing and horrorfying murder mystery.
I cannot imagine that anyone has not yet seen this brilliant movie, but in the event that you have not, I will not spoil it for you. What will become of Marion Crane and will the authorities catch up with her and bring her to justice for stealing $40,000? And what about Sam Lumus? How does he figure into this puzzule? And what about the peculiar Norman Bates and his mysterious ill-tempered old mother? Suffice it to say that Hitchcock is the master of theatrical "misdirection" and while the focus of the audience is clearly on Marion Crane and her personal affairs, that is not what this movie is about...something darker and far more terrifying is afoot in this masterpiece of cinematic horror. Hitchcock's "misdirection" is absolutely mesmorizingly brilliant and this aspect only amplifies the horror that will suddenly befall the audience as the movie calmly progresses to its moments of sheer terror. Like a Picasso or Michaelangelo painting, the mood, atmosphere, musical score and setting of Psycho presents a picture of absolute beauty that is sure to inspire horror, shock and despair in the audience with one chilling scene after another.
The shower scene in "Psycho" IS STILL to this very day unrivaled as the ultimate scene of cinematic terror which is so incredibly terrifying that nothing else even comes close to its horrifying shock and awe value. The audience never fully recovers from this terrifying event as it comes so unexpectedly making it all the more terrifying for the audience to digest. Can you imagine what it would be like watching this in a movie theatre for the first time in 1960? To be overwhelmed in the dark and magnificent world of Hitchcock while watching "Psycho" is the only reasonable effect upon the viewer. And yet, even after the infamous "shower scene" which still gets me to this day, Hitchcock is not done with horrifying the audience with his incredible shocking conclusion in this movie.
To call this movie a horror movie is an understatment...indeed, "Psycho" is a horror movie but it is also so much more...it is the quintessential and ultimate psychological suspense thriller and with its heavy dose of sheer horror, "Psycho" creates one of the greatest viewing experiences of all-time, not just for horror movies, but of any movie. The terror of psycho never lets up even after the movie is over...the audience has to go home and take a shower sooner or later although maybe they will put it off for a few days after seeing this movie.
Another incredible aspect to this movie is that it is so believable and realistic...there is not one thing in this movie that could not happen in real life and in a sense, these types of things have and are happening as I write this review. This factor of realism adds even more to the timeless horror this movie has to offer.
"Psycho" is Alfred Hitchcock's unquestioned masterpiece and is a must own for all horror movie fans like myself...the movie just never gets old and the scenes of horror in this movie stay with you for a long time and the horror of "the shower scene" will never ever leave you and will always be the most terrifying scene of all-time. I cannot recommend "Psycho" highly enough not just to the horror movie fan, but to any person who appreciates classic movies. The acting, storyline, plot and directing are second to none and Hitchcock provides the ultimate psychological suspense thrillers in one of the GREATEST HORROR MOVIES OF ALL-TIME in "Psycho".
I recommend purchasing "Psycho" The Collector's edition DVD from the "The Alfred Hitchcock Collection"...the transfer is terrific with great sound and 1.85:1 widescreen presentation provides the perfect viewing experience for this indescribably brilliant film...this flick deserves a hundred stars! I envy anyone that has never seen this movie and is ignorant about it...you will never be the same after watching this brilliant horror movie and I challenge you to take a shower at night after viewing this for the first time...I can assure you that your showers will never quite be the same again. :) |
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