Jacked In Reviews ‘Psycho’ (1960)

On June 16th, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s rollercoaster of suspense, Psycho, first premiered in New York. On October 29th, 2021, sixty-one years later, Jacked In’s, Jack saw the horror classic on the big screen for the very first time, at Newcastle upon Tyne’s Tyneside Cinema.

The cinema’s vintage aesthetic, accompanied by the red curtain reclining just above the screen, complemented this classic, black and white picture perfectly. Despite being a movie I’ve seen many times before, when Bernard Herrmann’s score played alongside the – larger than life – opening credits as I was nestled in a velvet theatre seat; all those previous viewings fell by the wayside.

We begin in Arizona, Phoenix slowly panning in through an open window where we meet our “protagonist”, Marion Crane, (Janet Leigh) and her lover, Sam Loomis (John Gavin). Here we get our first insight into the characters and their troubles, but also how committed they are to each other; Marion especially, as she so lovingly declares, “I’ll lick the stamps” if the two were forced to live on a pittance.

Desperate for a way to better their situation, Marion takes advantage of her role as a real-estate receptionist one afternoon and makes off with a sizable deposit of $40,000 paid by one of their wealthier customers. Whilst making her escape, Marion is hit with several hurdles, being spotted by her boss mid-getaway, having an altercation with the authorities and arousing suspicion when purchasing a new car.

Although Hitchcock is a genius when it comes to building suspense (unsurprisingly), the most impressive thing about this first act is it’s following a thrilling story that is about to be brought to a quick and brutal close. Marion’s chapter in Psycho isn’t even the main focus, but what it does is strengthen the character and allows the audience to empathize with someone who only graces the screen for a short while.

And with that, whilst on the run, Marion soon finds herself at the (now iconic) Bates Motel, where she (and the audience) is first introduced to the proprietor, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Knowing the movie’s twist takes nothing away from this initial altercation. The superb acting talents of Perkins shows you a man that isn’t lying about the relationship he has with his overbearing mother, instead, we see a man that truly believes his fictional narrative, after all:

A boy’s best friend is his mother.

After Bates’ jealous “mother” takes the wheel, our leading lady is executed in one of the most famous onscreen moments in cinematic history.

As well as the amazing less-is-more style in which this scene is shot, it’s important to look at the power of Herrmann’s score for the famous shower scene and how it contrasts with Hitchcock’s other pictures. For instance, The Birds, a scoreless picture used silence to its advantage to give everything a more eerie overtone. However, it could be argued that the terrifying violin instrumentals play just as big of a role in why the scene is so infamous – hence why Hitchock immediately doubled Herrmann’s salary upon hearing it for the first time.

After losing our protagonist, it is Norman who then serves as the movie’s main character, and we are immediately thrown into that of a murder mystery as he does everything to cover his and his “mother’s” tracks.

Hitchcock, renowned for his ability to build suspense, manages to simultaneously build it, but also catch you completely by surprise without a moments notice. Even when you’re watching Psycho for the umpteenth time, you still find yourself trying to lead the characters in the right direction and even find yourself being just as terrified when they meet an untimely end.

One of the final details that truly allows the movie to live up to its title is the fact that Norman was never aware of the money Marion Crane was in possession of. Instead, he was simply a schizophrenic controlled by an insanely jealous, interpretation of his mother. A sentiment which is then echoed by the psychiatrist in the final act “these were crimes of passion, not profit.”

In conclusion, whether it’s seeing a horrifying Norman in his mother’s clothing in the cellar finale or that last sinister stare he/she gives to the camera, rest assured, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho doesn’t just stay with you after you’ve left your seats, but as time has proven, has influenced and continues to inspire in the world of cinema over sixty years after its release.

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