Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Joseph Stefano (based on the book by Robert Bloch)
Starring: Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins
Available On Video: Collector's Edition DVD ($34.95) from MCA/Universal Home Video
Body Count: 2
Review:Psycho is not a slasher movie, but it is the first installment in a franchise that would become a slasher series.
It's also the first film that was influential in the creation of the slasher genre.
For those who don't know, Psycho tells the story of Marion Crane, who steals $40,000 from her boss and heads for her married boyfriend's town. Along the way, she stops in at the Bates Motel and meets the caretaker, Norman.
The rest is cinematic history, and to speak any more would ruin the sheer joy of watching Psycho. Stop reading reviews of Psycho and go watch it. Go, now!
Trivia: Psycho was the first film to ever show a toilet on-screen, and the show the toilet actually flushing. Apparently, this was a no-no in the early days of the MPPC. This was the biggest taboo that Alfred Hitchcock felt he was breaking when he made the film.
As many people know, Gus Van Sant remade Psycho in 1998, in color, with the hopes of bringing Hitchcock's film to a "new generation." Unfortunately, his film is a great big bastardization of the original, and is not worth even mentioning any more on this site.
Go back to the Psycho Series Page.
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