Cherished Cinema

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Hello all.

I cannot believe that this is the seventh entry into the project already, and this is the last standalone film as to the fact that the eighth, ninth and tenth entries are all related films and fundamentally the foundation of this project. I had not seen Psycho in at least ten years prior to watching it for this project (despite the fact that I own it) and I could not believe how much I had forgotten. The opening sequence is excellent, as it is with all of Hitchcock films that I have seen.

As the film progresses into a soft opening, a lovers’ rendezvous if you will, another important element of horror films pop up. I am referring to a concealed, foreshadowing line that initially seems pointless. This is an obvious point of most any film but that does not take away how crucial of an element it is for horror films. In Psycho, the line is “This is the last time,” which is insignificant at the time but when considered in terms of the whole film it is meaningful. It is meaningful insofar as that was, of course, the actual last time. She is incapable of seeing him again due to her brutal murder, an occurrence out of her control.

In hindsight, I would have loved to have put this film either before or after The Shining due to the fact that, similar to Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining, Anthony Perkins’ performance is the highlight of this film. Hitchcock utilizes the scene between Norman and Marion in order to fully develop Norman’s character and give the viewer a general idea of who Norman is (detached from his mother).

Two sort of side-notes I wanted to throw out there: the first being the fact that I prefer the second stabbing to the first. As iconic as the first one is (I have seen it countless times in film classes and it truly is a great sequence) there is something about the second, the way she just appears at the bottom of the screen wielding the knife and his fall down the stairs. The second side-note is an incredible shot right after the second stabbing. As Norman is confronting his mother about going down into the cellar, the camera moves around outside the room and settles on the ceiling, looking down at the top of the stairwell. It sets up Norman carrying his mother out of the room and down the stairs.

When I originally wrote down the list of films I wanted to explore in this project, I was most afraid of writing on this and The Shining but it ended up not being all that bad. You may notice how jumbled these two have been, at least in comparison with the others, but these are truly great films that are not the easiest to handle. Thank you for reading!