Psycho
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
USA | 1960 | Fiction | 109 min
Presented by Main Street Landing and the Green Mountain Gore Society
While Vertigo is my own personal favorite, no Hitchcock film better walked the line of art-house masterwork and mainstream popcorn fare than Psycho. Immortal for its contribution to cinema, Psycho is constantly hailed as one of the greatest achievements in the history of filmmaking. In Psycho, Hitchcock not only created a blazing masterpiece, he spawned a new cinematic genre – the slasher. How many slasher films have had scenes where an attractive female character takes a shower? How many involve out-of-the-way places where the hospitable locals turn out to be dangerous? How often have you cringed as someone made the foolish decision to go into the basement, or thrown up your hands in frustration as the local police proved ineffective? These modern horror cliches all trace their roots back to Psycho. It’s hard to imagine a movie that will ever change horror history the way the Master of Suspense did when he invited us into the rooms of the Bates Motel to have tea in the raptor room with our host Norman Bates and then left us afraid to shower ever again. ~ MR
