Psycho

Written by joseph stefano, based on the book by robert bloch

directed by Alfred Hitchcock

rating: 🏆 most excellent

What Marion (Janet Leigh) desires more than anything is to end the scandalous nature of her relationship with her boyfriend Sam by getting married. Money is tight, so it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the two lovers. But when an opportunity arises at work for Marion to steal $40,000 she takes the risk and packs her bags and the money and heads from Phoenix to her boyfriend in California. Caught in a terrible rainstorm (if you’ve ever experienced a desert rain it’s terrifying to drive in), she takes a turn off the main highway and ends up at the Bates Motel for the night. Overhearing an argument between the quirky but cute proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother, Marion and Norman discuss the traps of life leading our heroine to decide to return the money. However Marion is brutally murdered that very night by an unknown person while in the shower. Missing for days, a private investigator and her sister Lila end up at Sam’s only to find Marion never arrived. The three end up at the Bates Motel searching for answers, but what they find is something no one was expecting.

This movie is a classic for a reason. Beautiful, compelling and suspenseful. The characters are smart and complex in a way that horror generally doesn’t do. Every line, shot, lighting choice, and note in the score is intentional which is what makes this budget movie the masterpiece that it is. 10/10- don’t sleep on Psycho like this Basic Cinephile did for way too long!