Hitchcock’s classic ‘Psycho’ still scares more than 50 years later

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

PSYCHO (1960)

Shortly after “Psycho” settles into its story, Alfred Hitchcock does the unthinkable: He knocks off one of the film’s top-billed stars in a scene that still frightens today.

The infamous “Psycho” shower scene is a technical tour de force, an intricately designed and meticulously filmed sequence that remains one of  many highlights of Hitchcock’s lengthy film career. The sequence is so effective that film scholars still study it in-depth.

More than 50 years after “Psycho” opened in 1960, the movie still packs significant scares and suspense into a small, intimate story. A year after helming the hit comic thriller “North by Northwest” in 1959, Hitchcock went for something totally different: a scaled-down, low-budget, black-and-white thriller filmed with the crew from his hit television show.

With strong performances from Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, a lean script from writer Joseph Stefano and taut direction from Hitchcock, “Psycho” is in a class all its own. “Psycho” jolted film-goers in much the same way that “The Exorcist” did 13 years later. Audiences had never seen anything quite like Hitchcock’s film.

Many film makers have tried desperately over the years to recapture the thrills of “Psycho.” Most have failed. One of the most obvious retreads came in 1980 with director Brian DePalma’s “Dressed to Kill,” a film with a similar story and scenes seemingly lifted straight from “Psycho” and other Hitchcock hits.

Like “Psycho,” DePalma knocks-off his top-billed actress early in the film. But DePalma’s movie feels and plays like a rip-off devoid of any originality. DePalma lifts sequences from Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” and then repeats the “it’s-only-a-dream” ending he filmed for “Carrie” four years earlier.

THE SHOWER SCENE

If “Dressed to Kill” was a failure, independent film maker Gus Van Sant’s 1998 scene-for-scene remake of  “Psycho” is an unprecedented train wreck. Despite using an updated version of the original 1960 screenplay featuring more explicit violence and sex (to appeal to a sex-craved teen-age audience, I guess), Van Sant’s movie was a massive, failed experiment. The film bombed.

The 1980s saw Perkins star in two official theatrical sequels to the original. “Psycho II” in 1983 and “Psycho III” in 1986 both fared somewhat better than DePalma’s and Van Sant’s films. But nothing could or can match Hitchock’s original film in artistry and shock value.

Most people remember “Psycho” for the scares, the shower scene and Perkins’ frightening performance. What some forget is that Hitchcock had a sly, off-beat sense of humor; Hitchcock often integrated the humor into every film he made – including “Psycho.”

Need an example? Check out Hitchcock’s hilarious theatrical trailer for “Psycho.” In the long, rambling, six-minute trailer (most previews these days run about two minutes), Hitchcock takes viewers on a personal tour of the Bates Motel and the owner’s house.

PSYCHO (1960)

Light music plays in the background as Hitchcock talks about the strange happenings at the hotel. In one part, Hitchcock shows the audience Leigh’s hotel room. “All tidied up,” Hitchcock tells theatergoers as he enters the room. He then turns toward an inside door, grabs the doorknob, begins to open it, stops, turns to the audience.

“The bathroom,” he says slowly.

I won’t spoil the fun of the rest of the trailer – you should see it for yourself. But it does end with composer Bernard Hermann’s signature music cue from the film: A shrill, ear-piercing, screeching violin that mimics the screams of a woman.

The trailer underlines the kind of consummate showman Hitchcock was. No detail was left undone. Everything was important – including and especially marketing the film and generating buzz.

Besides the countless remakes and rip-offs, “Psycho” also influenced many of the best horror films of the past 50 years. Sadly, it also influenced the creation of such vile trash as the “Friday the 13th” series and countless other violent mad-slasher films.

If you haven’t seen “Psycho” or simply want to revisit the film, now is the time. “Psycho” is available in a pristine, high-definition collector’s version Blu-ray disc – and the film has never looked. Those who appreciate the film will enjoy several extras, including an in-depth analysis of the shower scene and running commentary by Stephen Rebello, author of “The Making of Psycho.”

“Psycho” is available for purchase or rental on DVD or high definition Blu-ray disc. Click here to purchase the Blu-ray edition, which I highly recommend, from Amazon.com. “Psycho” is rated R for violence and horror.


Here is the theatrical trailer:

# # #