Psycho (1960)

American Film Institute's Top 100 Films: No. 14

Uh-oh, Mother, what is the phrase? She isn't quite herself today. Norman Bates

By far my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film, I personally believe it's a better movie than Vertigo. I've seen it a couple times years ago, but watching it again I really took in quite a bit more this time around. 

One thing I really picked up on was just how much of an adult film this movie was. The fact that many of the scenes depict Janet Leigh in her underwear, or less, Marion Crane was having an affair and Norman Bate's odd sexual tension were all mature concepts. While Vertigo did have some adult themes, this movie seems to have many more. 

Once again, Hitchcock's superb story-telling skills were evident in this particular film. He opted to shoot the entire movie in black and white despite the fact other big budget films of the time were being produced in color. As a director, he was meticulous - for the three weeks Leigh was on the set, one entire week was devoted to the 45-second shower sequence. Additionally, after the film was released Hitchcock received several letters from ophthalmologists saying Leigh's eyes were contracted during the extreme closeups after her character's death, while in real life a corpse's eyes are dilated. To remedy this problem for all of his remaining movies, he began using belladonna drops. Highly recommended, eerily creepy, and a bone-chilling score by Bernard Hermann to match.

5 stars out of 5