Psycho Review By Erik Haley

        If you were going to ask 100 people what the first slasher film was, a lot of people would say Psycho. However, while Psycho definitely influenced the genre itself and has many of the same elements, it misrepresents the film to just label it as a slasher. In truth, the film does not play as a slasher or even completely as a horror film, but rather as a psychological suspense film. While the scenes when they came out were indeed intense, nowadays they have been overshadowed, for better or worse, by special effects that have dulled modern audiences response to gore and violence. Yet still, Psycho is still considered one of the best films of all times and as one of the most frightening. This distinction is rightfully deserved because Psycho scares us the old fashioned way: by making us fear for the safety of characters in a new situation.
        The story of Psycho is not obvious on first glance. We start off with a woman, Marion, in a hotel, having just had sex with her lover, Sam, whose divorce has not been finalized. As she wants to leave to start a new life with Sam, she gets the opportunity when someone gives her $40,000 to put into the bank through her job. She steals the money and leaves to meet her lover. However, paranoia about being followed makes her feel guilty, so she stops at a motel for the night planning to return the money. She meets Norman Bates, the hotel manager, who lives with his home-bound yet controlling mother. He seems nice and acts friendly to Marion, but he blows up when she makes the suggestion that he place his mother in a home. He apologizes afterwards, though, and Marion decides to return to her room to shower. During the shower, however, she is brutally attacked by Norman's mother in the film's famous scene. Norman finds the body and disposes of it. When other people, including a detective, Sam and Marion's sister also turn up at the hotel to unravel the mystery, there lives are also in jeopardy.
       The true strength of the film comes from two things: the suspense and the shower scene. The film does not focus on violence but rather makes us worry for when the violence will come. While the Bates motel may seem like a safe place, we the audience have this suspicion that it is not as safe as at first glance. This suspicion is confirmed as we witness Norman lift up the eye holes of a picture to spy on Marion getting undressed, clearly sexually obsessed with her. This seems to be her downfall, as it causes Norman's mother to savagely attack her in the shower. However, aside from that one scene, more on that later, the film is remarkably free of violence that would identify it as a horror film. Rather, we are afraid more about what will happen to the characters as they explore the house Mrs. Bates occupies, not of the scenes that occur when she does find her victims. The final scene of the film also leaves us with a sense of dread. Even though we have an explanation for the film's events, the killer still is more than willing to kill and is slowly biding their time until they are released.
        Of course, any one who sees Psycho will talk about the shower scene, and for good reason. That scene alone has made the actress, Vera Miles, scared to take a shower, and she is not the only person to make that claim. It may then surprise people when they look back and realize that the knife never enters Marion's skin. A quick series of cuts makes us believe that we see her being impaled, while in reality neither Marion nor her stunt double was in that scene. However, besides this, we all are frightened because we see Marion scream, a knife coming down and Marion fall in the tub with blood swirling around the drain. It also works well because it shows something we all fear: we are very vulnerable in the shower. If any of us were to be attacked in there, it is doubtful that we would end up any different than Marion. HItchcock's genius was preying on this fear as well as our fear of the violence that hides behind innocent faces.
        While the film owes a lot to Hitchcock, it also owes a lot to Anthony Perkins, the man who played Norman Bates. Anthony had previously played only nice boys down the street. Thus, people did not expect his character to be so timid around his mother, while also being so violent towards any one who even accidentally offends her. He is very convincing at shifting from weak and obedient to forceful and scary. While the other actors do a great job of playing their roles, in truth, it is Anthony Perkins who steals the show.
        Psycho was a film that revolutionized the industry when it first came out, making horror films a more respectable genre than it had been in many years. It influenced John Carpenter, who arguably made the first true slasher film of Halloween. It was condemned as being too violent and obscene on release; now people say they are disappointed in how little violence and sex is shown. But that diminishes what Psycho is actually about. It is Hitchcock doing what he does best; making the audience uncomfortable and nervous about what will happen. In that respect, Hitchcock succeeds admirably. Psycho, while neither a true slasher film or true horror film, is a masterpiece of a thriller.