"Psycho", the movie that was #18 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Movies, released in 1998. It moved up to #14 when the list was revised in 2008.

A few things you should remember about this movie:

1) It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
2) It starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
3) The motel's name: Bates Motel.
4) The movie was first released in 1960.
5) Hitchcock ordered that no one is allowed into the theatre unless they were there at the start of the movie.

This movie was ground breaking. For starters, it probably broke quite a few movie making rules.

It is the FIRST American movie to flush the toilet!

I won't list them all because that'll spoil the fun of watching the movie.

But I'll point out a few interesting things.

Voyeurism

In many ways, this movie has a lot to do with voyeurism. We, the audience, are the voyeurs.

The movie started with a wide shot of the city (supposedly Phoenix, Arizona because it said no), then gradually narrowing down, finally zooming in on a window of a building and then through the window INTO the room.

We see Marion (Janet Leigh) and Sam (John Gavin) in a hotel room, talking. They'd just finished making love.

It's either that or it's very hot and they just stripped down to cool off! I doubt it.

Marion was in bed wearing a lacey white bra and half slip, Sam was shirtless. They were talking about money, their relationship, they kissed some more, talk about having dinner, etc.

It grabbed our attention because:

1) Janet Leigh is very sexy in that white bra.

2) Only a few minutes into the movie and we're already seeing a love scene...could there be more to come?

Note that Hitchcock used many close-up shots for the scene, which portray intimacy.

A few more minutes later, we see Marion back in her apartment, packing her suitcase to go away. She's semi-naked again, this time in a black bra and black half slip.

Again, Hitchcock could have shot the scene with her packing her suitcase fully clothed but there's a purpose:

In the beginning, Marion wore a white bra because she was still a "good" girl. She wore black later because she'd "turned bad". (That was how Hitchcock intended)

A short time later, she checked into Bates Motel and met the Innkeeper, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).

Now this Norman, he seemed the sweet, shy type. He was very nice to Marion. They even had some heart to heart conversation. She seemed to open up to him a little.

Looking at the poster above, Norman, Sam and Janet all featured in it - would you have thought this movie was about the three of them, maybe a love triangle?

And then, Marion said she's tired, she's going to take a shower and go to bed.

We see Norman taking off a picture on the wall and peeped into a hole...where Marion was undressing - there's that black bra again!

And if you are lucky enough to get the Unrated (or German) copy of the movie, she actually took off her bra!

What did I say about voyeurism?

Marion puts on a robe over her underwear and decided to do some paperwork. Norman, meanwhile, stopped peeping.

Marion then decides to finally take her shower. She took off her robe.

We see her naked, stepping into the shower and then we see her washing herself...more voyeurism.

This is almost 50 minutes in a 108-minute movie. That's 50% of the whole movie.

The rest, if you haven't seen it, you'll have to discover for yourself. I can assure you, it's NOT what you think!

Mystery

From the start, the movie grabbed our attention because it's a mystery. We are curious to know where the story leads to. We see Marion and Sam. We see the natural development of the story. What's happening here? What's the story about? We wondered how the story was going to develop.

It was said that Hitchcock, in order to keep the ending a surprise from the audience, bought as many copies of the book (from which the movie was adapted) as he could get his hands on.

Music

A major factor contributing to the success of the movie, which was made with a very low budget because the studio (Universal) thought the subject matter was distasteful, is the music by Bernard Herrmann.

From the start of the movie and through out, the music played a very important role in creating the tension and the mood for the audience. For one thing, the main theme is not exactly a happy, sing-able tune that will go to the top of the charts!

Instead, it's a series of short notes with some discord and, sometimes, makes quite uncomfortable listening. Certainly not one soundtrack you would be listening going to sleep or when having a quiet romantic evening (unless you have other plans for your date)!

There are many things that I can mention here but I don't want to spoil the fun for you, especially if you don't know what this movie is about.

There are many clever techniques that Hitchcock used, as well as lots of other information you can find, relating to the making of this movie. You can find them from IMDB (click on the logo below) and plenty of other sites from Google search results.

Whether you've seen "Psycho" or not, this is definitely Hitchcock's highest grossing film and if you are a movie buff, this really is a fascinating movie that you must see (again)!

Visit for more information about this movie and its stars.

Photos by:

Tags: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, Vera Miles