Film Review: Psycho (1960)

Fig. 1: Psycho Poster.

Psycho (1960), is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous films. The film shocked audiences in the 60s, and inspired dozens of "slasher movies", which were very popular in the 80s; "no other Hitchcock film had a greater impact." (Ebert, 1998). To this day, Psycho inspires filmmakers, and is considered by many to be the original "slasher" movie. 

Fig. 2: Marion and Sam in a hotel room.

The beginning of the film shows the main character, Marion Crane, and her lover, Sam (fig.2). They discuss their relationship, the frustration of having to meet up during Marion's lunch breaks, and how they can't get married while Sam still has to send money to his ex-wife. This is Marion's motive for stealing the $40,000, but Marion is never portrayed as being a criminal; "When the money appears, it's attached to a slimy real estate customer who insinuates that for money like that, Marion might be for sale. So Marion's motive is love, and her victim is a creep." (Ebert, 1998). So, the audience follows Marion, as she travels to California to meet Sam, and as the film goes on the audience wonders if she'll be caught, if she will reach Sam, or if she will go home and return the money. Hitchcock wants the audience to be invested in this character, before he has her violently murdered half way through; "[Hitchcock] delivered one of the boldest blows in screen history. It was not just how he killed Janet Leigh's Marion Crane, astonishing though that was – it was when." (Monohan, 2015)

Fig. 3: Arbogast, Sam and Lila discuss Marion's disappearance.

It is rare to have a main character killed before the end of the film, but it can be argued that, despite her death, Marion is still very much the focus of the film. It is her death that leads to the discovery of what's been happening at The Bates Motel, and up until her death is made official, the majority of the characters still talk about Marion, believing her to be alive. This adds dramatic irony to the film, as the audience knows all too well what happened to Marion, while the other characters have no idea. The film has something reminiscent to John Webster's play, The Duchess of Malfi, in which the Duchess is executed in the fourth act, despite being the main character. As a result, the fifth act follows the remaining characters, and shows the impact the Duchess' death has had on them individually. Like Marion, though she is not present, the Duchess continues to be the focus and the motive behind all the other character's actions.

Fig. 4: Norman talking with Marion.

The most interesting character in the film is Norman Bates, who is played excellently by Anthony Perkins. Norman, though appearing friendly when Marion first meets him, gives off a sense of unease. As he and Marion interact more, it becomes clear that there is something not right about Norman, and that he isn't just an unhappy young man being held back by his mother. Norman compares Marion to a bird, whilst in a room of taxidermy birds (fig. 4), which is more than a little discomforting. His behaviour becomes more and more unnerving as he and Marion interact, and he even watches her through a hole in the wall as she is changing in her room (fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Norman watches Marion through the hole in the wall.

Once Marion has been murdered, Norman seems shocked at what "his mother" has done, but the entire set-up shows he planned it; putting Marion in the room next to the office where he could watch her, opening her window, and the routine-like way he cleans up and removes her body. Though the audience knows by the end of the film that Norman is suffering from a split personality disorder, he is very much himself when he decides to do those things, setting up the murder for "his mother". This suggests that Norman is aware of the events that will unfold, maybe he even enjoys them, as it gives him an excuse to bring his mother back from the dead, so to speak.

Fig. 6: The famous murder scene.

The murder scene was "made up of 70 camera set-ups and 78 pieces of film, with no actual shot of the knife piercing flesh" (Monohan, 2015). And it is one of a few other scenes that was so shocking to audiences, one reviewer called it "one of the most disgusting murders in all screen history." (Lejeune, 1960). Today, this scene is considered famous; you can buy posters, prints, and even t-shirts with Marion Crane's screaming face on them, her murder glorified in pop culture. In fact, if you showed someone who had never heard of Psycho a clip of Marion's murder, they would probably tell you that they recognised it from somewhere. 

Fig. 7: Norman or mother?

At the end of the film, the audience sees Norman, who is now entirely in the self-constructed mindset of his mother. The camera slowly moves towards him, as his mothers voice talks in his head about how she can't let Norman get away with what he's done, blaming it on her, when she wouldn't even hurt a fly. Norman looks up at the camera, his eyes not matching his smile, the image of a skull is overlayed onto his face as the image fades to Marion's car being pulled out of the swamp where he left it. The way Norman stares directly into the camera feels like he's letting the audience in on a secret, or that he has something in common with them, as they both knew where Marion was the whole time. Though it may simply have been added to make the audience uncomfortable, especially if they'd previously sympathised with poor, panicked Norman, as he tried to tidy up after his mother's murder.

Though the film is greatly admired and even loved today, it was not so warmly appreciated on release; "I couldn't give away the ending if I wanted to, for the simple reason that I grew so sick and tired of the whole beastly business that I didn't stop to see it." (Lejeune, 1960), "You had better have a pretty strong stomach and be prepared for a couple of grisly shocks when you go to see Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho" (Crowther, 1960). It may seem strange now to a modern audience --who is arguably desensitised to seeing blood and murder on the big screen-- that people found these scenes in Psycho so shocking. When many watch films or shows that involve murder, the simple implication of stabbing isn't enough, they want to see the blade go in and blood come gushing out. They want to hear the knife twist in the wound. 


Images:
Figure 1. Psycho Poster. (1960) [poster] At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Psycho_(1960).jpg (Accessed on: 27.01.16)

Figure 2. Marion and Sam in a hotel room. (1960) From: Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [Film still] United States: Shamley Productions. 
At: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%203984 (Accessed on 27.01.16)

Figure 3. Arbogast, Sam and Lila discuss Marion's disappearance. (1960) From: Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [Film still] United States: Shamley Productions. 
At: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%204164 (Accessed on 27.01.16)

Figure 4. Norman talking with Marion. (1960) From: Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [Film still] United States: Shamley Productions. 
At: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%204016 (Accessed on 27.01.16)

Figure 5. Norman watches Marion through the hole in the wall. (1960) From: Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [Film still] United States: Shamley Productions. 
At: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%203983 (Accessed on 27.01.16)

Figure 6. The famous murder scene. (1960) From: Psycho. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock [Film still] United States: Shamley Productions. 
At: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%204029 (Accessed on 27.01.16)


Bibliography:
Ebert, R. (1998) 'Psycho' In: rogerebert.com 06.12.1998 [online] At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-psycho-1960 (Accessed on: 27.01.16)

Monohan, M. (2015) 'Psycho, review' In: The Telegraph 30.06.2015 [online] At: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11025424/Psycho-review.html (Accessed on: 27.01.16)

Lejeune, CA. (1960) 'Psycho: Archive review: From the Observer, 7 August 1960' In: The Guardian 07.09.1960 [online] At: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/psycho-hitchcock-archive-review-horror (Accessed on: 27.01.16)

Crowther, B. (1960) 'Psycho (1960)' In: The New York Times 17.06.1960 [online] At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173DE273BC4F52DFB066838B679EDE (Accessed on: 27.01.16)