31 Days of Horror: Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock was a masterful director. Psycho is certainly one of his defining pictures and a horror classic in its own right.

Marion Crain (Janet Leigh), fed up with the hand that life has dealt her, seizes the opportunity to abscond with $40,000 and start a new life with her lover, Sam. Only 24 hours into a 'life of crime' Marion finds out that it's not just all it's cracked up to be. A series of events during the long drive to California has left the poor girl's nerves short. Capping it off is a torrential rain storm that leads her to an derelict motel in the middle of nowhere. Before long, stealing 40 grand is the least of her problems.

Psycho is much more than the shower scene. Under Hitchcock's direction, the film elements take on a terror like no other. The first viewing is always the most memorable because the film is so unassuming-so simple. Sure, we all 'know' what happens {how can you not, in this day and age}, but it is in Hitchcock's delivery that we find brilliance.

Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkin (Bates) are pitch perfect. Perkins plays out Norman with such nonchalance, right down to the facial tics. Leigh is a nuanced charmer--beautifully mundane. When she meets her demise halfway through, you are equally terrified and sad, such a creature dies a horrible death.

The B&W aspect enhances the film amid all the 'Technicolor' of today. Hitchcock uses it to his advantage. Notice also how he manipulates camera angles and shadows to belie Bates' madness and Crain's deception. I love how he also plays out Bates' mother. And the score can't be overlooked--equally Gothic and haunting, it's a masterful compliment.

Decades later, Pyscho still charms. Without big-budget special effects or whizz-bang technical production, Psycho is flawlessly executed.