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“Kindly, Unlikely, Cool-blooded Murderers” Psycho After everything I had already heard about and knew in regards to this Hitchcock thriller, I was still very eager to see this film unfold before my eyes. I clearly could understand how this film, when released, made a huge impact on the film industry and an even bigger influence on the audience. I liked how Hitchcock once again used all of the bird references throughout this film, connecting it to his other film in this section “The Birds.” I really enjoyed the film with all of its plot twists and the ultimate resolution. It was actually refreshing to be told exactly why everything happened the way that it did. I don’t recall ever seeing a film that I didn’t have to actually think about and uncover the ending, so it was a real treat for me. I must admit however, that Hitchcock had me completely fooled until the very end when the psychologist revealed the truth. Anthony Perkins plays the character of Norman Bates, a younger, seemingly quiet man, who runs a small, old motel just off the main road and lives next door in a large, oversized mansion of a house with a “sick, elderly and reclusive mother” (Spoto, p.314). His character gives off the initial impression of a man who is fairly quiet and reserved, probably quite lonely yet eager to meet this new guest, Marion Crane played by Janet Leigh, and talk to her. Early on, he discloses a significant amount of information about himself and his mother, yet gets a little defensive when Marion suggests placing his mother in a senior home might be a good solution for him. It is at this point when his character seems a little less innocent than he originally appeared to be and slightly suspicious. Marion Crane is a woman on the go, who stole $40,000 from her employer and took off for California to find her boyfriend and start a new life. When a storm unexpectedly delays Marion on the road, she is forced to stay at the Bates’ motel in which she spends her last hours. As she is getting ready to take a shower, we see that Norman has cut a peephole through the wall in the office to the first room where Marion is. As he watches her undressing, I also start wondering what kind of a guy Norman really is. His character is a peeping Tom as well as a pervert- not so innocent anymore. While taking a shower, a shadow appears at the bathroom door, resembling a little old lady and Marion is stabbed to death. Norman returns only moments later to find the body, and disposes of all evidence that she were even there. Of course, people are not just going to forget about Marion, especially since she stole $40,000 dollars. So a detective, her sister and her boyfriend all take trips to the motel to look for her. After each visit, Norman’s character gets more and more evil so-to-speak. He has completely lost of all his innocence that he had initially and gets downright creepy. The detective wanders into the old mansion, and finds his way into the mothers’ room. Only moments later, he is being stabbed and thrown down the staircase. Once again, Norman cleans up the mess, disposing of the detective along with his car into a swamp, which also contains the car and corpse of Marion too. So I began to think that this Norman character quite often had to clean up after his mother’s messes and was possibly some sort of co-conspirator. Throughout the movie, I am making these types of analyses. In one of the closing scenes, where the sister discover the old woman’s rotten body in the wine cellar and is almost murdered by Norman who is now dressed up as an old woman, with a wig, dress and all, it all begins to come together.
Approximate Word count = 2495
Approximate Pages = 10
(250 words per page double spaced)
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