Jordy has ever so lovingly left me home alone this Halloween night, at least until much later. And as it is there is nothing to do until peak bar hour so, I have decided to bring you the original Psycho.
The first time I saw Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho I was a tiny little kid running around screaming as my mother tried to put my little brother and myself to bed after the insane amount of sugar we consumed on Halloween night. I remember my mom and dad sitting down after we were "in bed" and hearing the music of Psycho. I love, though it did always frighten me, the perfection the pieces of movie fit into the music. I remember pulling tricks like; "Mommy, I'm thirsty", "My belly hurts" anything to catch a glimpse at the master piece I wasn't allowed to watch. Don't misunderstand, we were raised on horror flicks, the best too! Psycho was just one of the ones my mom left from the box for a while. Other than that specific night I can't honestly say I remember too much of where my love for Alfred Hitchcock movies and shows came from.
Psycho is the sort of incredible you couldn't anticipate. The man and woman of the hour are Marion Crane played by Janet Leigh and Norman Bates by Anthony Perkins. Marion Crane embezzles 40K from her employer, she is supposed to deposit the money and takes a little trip instead. Marion's boyfriend Sam lives in another town and she decides she is going for a little vacation and picking Sam up on the way. She drives all through the night and pulls over for sleep on the highway, a knock on the window and a police officer has questions. The officer lets Marion go after checking her license and she's off to the next town to buy a new car, clever girl. She then drives on, then comes Bates Motel.
Marion is so exhausted she pulls in to the motel this time instead of the shoulder of the highway. She is immediately met by Norman Bates, a very backward, sheltered mama's boy. Norman gives her cabin one and invites Marion up for dinner, she accepts and he runs up to the house atop the hill behind the motel to prepare sandwiches. Marion hides the money in a newspaper and over hears Norman being yelled at by an older woman claiming no whore is welcome into her home! Norman then runs sandwiches and milk down to the motel and the two eat together in the parlor.
They talk and some things seem to agitate Norman and Marion says she is going to bed. Norman watches as Marion gets undressed and ready to take a shower, soon after a woman runs into the bathroom knife in hand and Marion is stabbed repeatedly, Michael Myers style. Yes, yes the infamous shower scene. This part is the most widely remembered and talked about part of the movie.
Norman, up in the house with his mother keeps repeating that there is blood and runs to cabin 1. He then proceeds to clean up the body and blood and puts Marion, car and all into a swamp sharing land with the motel. Of course, then come those pesky family members looking for their loved one. Marion's sister Lila and boyfriend Sam hire private detective Milton Arbogast to find her. Lila, hoping if Arbogast finds Marion first she will return the money and be in less trouble, waits with Sam patiently for her missing sister. The detective calls and says he's checked the Bates Motel, knows she stayed there and things seem a bit fishy, he is going to look around more. Milton Arbogast goes into Norman's home wanting to speak to his mother and is met instead on the steps to the upstairs by a woman slicing his face open with a knife. Hours later, after no word from Arbogast, Lila and Sam go to the sheriff. They are then told the next morning the sheriff went to see Norman, nothing suspicious happened AND file a missing persons form. Lila won't give up on her sister and the two check into the motel as husband and wife. Sam distracts Norman while Lila goes up to the house where she discovers Norman dresses up as his dead mother, whose skeleton he has hidden in the fruit cellar. A Psychiatrist sees Norman and finds that Norman thinks he is his mother and goes back and forth between the two personalities.
Who knew it had nothing to do with 40,ooo dollars? I love this movie!! I must admit I'm not a HUGE black and white fan but this is a movie I could watch over and over! There of course is a remake...I can't say the same for it. Psycho was remade in 1998 with Vince Vaughn cast as Norman Bates. I love Vince he's that awesome obnoxious funny but backward psycho is not his strong suit. Anthony Perkins is a MUCH better Norman Bates!
-EK
