Psycho

I give this movie 9 stuffed birds out of 10

The 1960 film is a classic in the Horror/Thriller/Mystery genre. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anthony Perkins as Normon Bates (the motel owner), Vera Miles as Lila Crane (the banker on the run), John Gavin as Sam Loomis (Lila's boyfriend), and Janet Leigh as Marion Crane (Lila's Sister). I really enjoyed this film and (thankfully no one told me) the suprise ending. I was genuinely scared of this movie. Not so much from the shower scene or the deaths but more from the psychological aspect. I want to go somewhat into Bates’s psyche and explore around a little.

From the beginning, one gets the feeling that this movie will be about Lila Crane and her escape from the law with the $40,000, but the movie takes a sharp turn as the focus is shifted to the other characters instead. This includes one of the most interesting of them all, Normon Bates. The quote “a boy’s best friend is his mother, never rang more true than with the twist ending with… well, I wouldn’t want to give anything away to any non-Psycho viewers, but one must watch from beginning to end. I really felt for Bates, and I don’t know how many would say that. It seemed to me that his behavior stemmed from a lot of psychological abuse and dependency issues. It’s not so much that he was a bad guy as he was a tragic case of mental breakdown.

I would recommend this movie-just like my Kane review-to any fan of subtlety and suspense. This movie deserves to be among the greats of film classics. i would also like to note that... don't be afraid of black and white films, they are very well done and offer something that color just can't reach.