Psycho (1960) Movie Review

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
  Halloween is this weekend, so I decided that all this week I am going to review several of the most widely acclaimed thrillers. What better way to start than with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho? Even if you think you have never heard of it, you have. This is the film that gave us the incredibly popular “Shower Scene”. I had heard so much about this film, unfortunately, it was one of those movies I had just never gotten around to. At least, until this past weekend.
  Psycho is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and stars Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. It is widely considered one of the best films directed by Hitchcock, and even one of the best films of all time. But does it really deserve to be in that conversation? Here’s what I think...

  Psycho is kind of like Game of Thrones (that’s a comparison I never thought I would make) if the fact that you don’t realize how invested you are into the story until bad things start to happen to everybody. I was sitting there enjoying the movie slightly intrigued in the story, and then the “Shower Scene” happened. After that, it was as if the movie grabbed me and said “You’re gonna watch me, and you’re gonna like it!”
  This movie was utterly breathtaking. Not only did it have amazing direction by Hitchcock, and amazing acting on all of the actor’s part, but it also had a plot that sucked you in, and a surprise twist ending that I did not expect.
  What surprised me was, I had no idea what the twist was, and this movie came out 55 years ago! I follow a bazillion film nerds and critics on twitter and watch and listen to a variety of their podcasts and news shows. But through all of that, not one of them spoiled the ending! Good job film community! You showed a little bit of restraint.
  Anyway, back to the movie. One thing that I really enjoyed about the movie dealt with a recurring plot point that was introduced early on.  As the movie went along, this plot point, which was necessary to the film’s beginning, didn’t really fit. So they did the right thing and didn’t force it. It ended up not being a major conflict in the movie. They resisted the urge to beat us over the head with it and add unnecessary complexity to the movie. Bravo! I wish more modern filmmakers did that!
  There were points in this movie that I could feel my muscles tensing up from the suspense. With all the graphic and gory stuff that they can get away with in film and television nowadays, it’s impressive that this black-and-white film over half a century old can do that. That just goes to show how masterfully Hitchcock handled those scenes, and the Norman Bates character is one that always kept you on your toes. You could never quite tell what he was up to. It was that uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen that would really get in your head.
  There was a point of the movie where I thought it did get a little repetitive. It seemed like they would go somewhere, investigate, leave, then someone else would do the same. It didn’t go on for long, but I thought that it definitely should be mentioned.
  Overall, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a movie that withstands the test of time, and definitely deserves its place in the conversation among the best films of all time.
9.5/10 

​  So what do you think of Psycho? Are you as big a fan as the rest of the world, or do you think it’s overrated? Let me know by commenting on this post!
 
Thanks for stopping by!