Having recently reviewed John Carpenter's Halloween and Halloween 2, and having stated that they are my personal favorite scariest movies of all time (considering it's really one four-hour long horror movie), I felt it was only fair to give The Exorcist and Psycho a fair chance. I reviewed the Exorcist last October, so tonight, it was time to review Psycho.
Psycho (1960) is Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller starring Janet Leigh as Marion Crane and Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. Marion is a bored office worker who is given $40,000 in cash to deposit into a bank. Instead, she takes the money and hotfoots it out of town. She might have got away with it, too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids! Actually, there's no kids in this movie, and it's just bad luck that she doesn't get away clean. As Janet is on her way out of town, her boss crosses the street right in front of her car, and recognizes her. Since she had told him she was spending the weekend in bed, her boss seems to wonder, then continues on his way. Marion begins to worry immediately, and it's not long before she suspects the authorities may be after her. Getting clear of the major highway, she happens on the Bates Motel, and checks in for the night. Unfortunately, the proprietor of the Bates Motel, one Norman Bates, isn't exactly in his right mind.
I am sure most everyone has seen this movie, but I won't give away any further details. Sure, I could discuss a good monster movie all day long, but this isn't really a monster movie. Sure, it's a classic thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, and yes, it's freakin Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins in their most famous film roles, but there's no real monster. Sure, this movie was voted most thrilling horror movie of all time by some important magazine, and yea, usually on lists of the best horror movies ever, this one is usually right behind the number one spot, the Exorcist. Sure, I could go on and on about how famous and popular this movie was back in the day.
However, I guess this movie hasn't really aged well. One, nowadays, psychiatrists don't even think there is such a thing as multiple personalities. I'm not really sure how they can just erase some 50 years of psychiatry. They used lots of white-out, I guess. Personally, it seems to me that if you're going to deny something you've been trying to prove for the last 50 years, then wouldn't that kind of shatter whatever credibility you've managed to gather thus far? (shrugs) Second thing, Psycho is in black and white, which just kind of bugs me. Thirdly, transvestites were pretty shocking back in the 60's. Nowadays, I could be wearing a dress and stockings right now, and nobody would really care. Norman Bates rushing out of a darkened doorway in a wig, a dress, and wielding a knife would just make me laugh. Sure, he'd probably still get me, but I'd be laughing the whole time anyway. Fifth, I guess I'm just a little too jaded to be startled by a desiccated corpse in a fruit cellar at this point in my life.
All that having been said, this isn't one of the most famous thrillers of all time for no reason. Hitchcock was a master film-maker in his day, and I think Janet Leigh got an oscar nomination for her role in this movie, which is almost unheard of for a horror film. Between 1983 and 1990, Anthony Perkins even starred in 3 sequels, Psycho 2 through 4, before his death in 1992. The sequels were actually pretty decent, too, if you ever get the chance to view them. There's no nudity, but there is one hell of a famous shower scene, in which Janet Leigh gets brutally stabbed to death. Pretty sure everyone is familiar with that one. Having just watched it, and having watched it before, I can say with all honesty that it is worth more than one viewing, and watching it over again doesn't hurt it at all. Norman Bates is already batshit crazy by the time this movie starts, so you can't really catalog his descent into madness, but it's still damn creepy to hear him talking to himself in his mother's voice. Not that we don't all talk to ourselves in our mother's voice from time to time... or maybe, that's just me... but it's still creepy. Even when I do it.
So, to sum up, excellent thriller, pretty frightening if you're scared of guys in drag with long knives, or, you know, Psychos (heh, see what I did there?). No nudity, famous shower scene, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins (a fine actor). Rewatchable, but a bit dated, also, in black and white.
In other news, I carved my first Jack-O-Lantern in several years today! :-D I used to do it every year, but I gave it up for about a half-dozen years. Too stressed out, I guess? Hard to say. I used to be pretty decent at it, but I'm a little rusty. Sure, today's Lantern is creepy, and scary, and I almost shit myself when I finished and took a look at it, but it's just not my best work. Meh. Practice makes perfect. Next year's will be better. :-)
Two more reviews to go! Catch you guys tomorrow night.
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