Psycho

REVIEW: I seriously loved this movie! The way Alfred Hitchcock builds up suspense is mind-blowing. I can see why this is the classic favorite of many Hitchcock fans. The plot is so perfect! It's entertaining throughout the entire movie, I never felt bored. The jump scares were and were not jump scares. In a way, they were more emotionally jarring than the ones in horror films released these days, that have huge budgets. I was on the edge of my seat! Psycho's narrative could be watched over and over again. I LOVED PSYCHO!

5/5

In Phoenix, Marion Crane spends her lunchtime break with her out-of-town lover, Sam. Marion wants to marry him, but he wants to get rid of his inherited debts before he can fully financially support her. She returns to her real estate office where she works as a secretary. Her boss sold a house to a man who is buying a house for his daughter with $40,000 in cash. Marion is told to take the money to the bank, and she asks if she could take the rest of the day off. However, Marion unexpectedly keeps the money and packs for a trip. While she is driving, she sees her boss walking across the road, and they make eye contact. She is driving to Sam in California to help pay for his debt so that they can be together. The next morning, she has an increasing sense of paranoia with the police officer and the car salesman. While she’s driving, an intense rainstorm hits her, and she is unable to see the road. Marion pulls into the Bates Motel where Norman Bates greets her at the front desk. He is kind and offers to have dinner with her because of the storm. During dinner, the discussion about his mother triggers him so Marion steps out and returns to her room. While she is showering, a figure of an old woman approaches and stabs her multiple times until she dies on the bathroom floor. Norman is petrified but cleans up the murder scene to protect his mother. He tosses everything, including the body and the $40,000, into the car and sinks the car into a swamp. In California, Sam is greeted by Lila, Marion’s sister, and a private investigator. Arbogast, the private investigator, looks at multiple hotels in order to find Marion. At the Bates Motel, Arbogast notices that Norman is acting very suspiciously. He notices a figure in the house near the Bates Motel and asks to see Norman’s mother but is declined. Arbogast calls Lila and explains that he knows that Marion was staying at the Bates Motel. He decides to return and ask some questions to Norman’s mother. When he reaches the top of the stairs, Mother emerges from the bedroom and stabs him until he dies. Impatiently waiting, Lila and Sam decide to go to the Bates Motel themselves because Arbogast hasn’t come back. Norman is disposing the body, so he is unable to see them. They return to town and Lila asks for help from the sheriff. As Lila and Sam tell the story, the sheriff tells him that Norman’s mother has been dead for a long time. She had poisoned herself and her lover leaving Norman alone. Norman is worried so he carries his mother down to the cellar for protection. Still unsatisfied, Lila and Sam register as husband and wife at the Bates Motel. Sam distracts Norman while Lila investigates Norman’s house. Sam mentions Norman’s mother and he realizes that the other guest could be in the house. Lila finds odd things and while she is coming down the stairs, she sees Norman running to the house. She runs into the cellar and sees the back of Mrs. Bates. The chair swivels and a skeleton is staring back at her. Lila screams and Norman, dressed like his Mother, tries to stab her leading Sam to pin him down. At the police office, a psychiatrist is explaining to Lila and Sam that Norman’s guilt of killing his mother lead to him trying to preserve her. Norman’s “Mother” personality took over. When Norman was attracted to Marion, the “Mother” side killed her. In his locked room, Norman’s head is only filled with his Mother’s voice. The final image is Marion’s car getting pulled out of the swamp.

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates

Norman Bates lives in a house near his motel, supposedly with his controlling mother. Throughout his childhood, Norman has been judged and ridiculed by his mother and his hatred towards her builds up until he kills her and her boyfriend. To keep her “alive”, he pretends to be her which leads to Norman having a split personality. One side is his violent mother, and the other is Norman. When Marion arrives at the motel, he is instantly intrigued. The “mother” part of him is controlling and decides that she isn’t good enough, which in his mind, justifies the murder of the innocent woman. When multiple people arrive at the Bates Motel to try to figure out what happened to Marion, Norman tries to cover his tracks thinking that he is protecting his mother. He keeps her corpse in the house and hides it in the fruit cellar when danger is near. When he gets caught, Norman only hears his “Mother’s” voice in his mind.