If you weren't one of those moviegoers coming of age during the time of Psycho's release in 1960, it might be that you have no idea of its influence on the modern horror films of today. You have probably seen Alfred Hitchcock's movie, but it might appear tame if you are used to such seminal 80s slasher pics as Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, as well as those more modern terrors that have been depicted within the Hostel and Saw franchises.
But in 1960, Hitchcock's movie masterpiece was game-changing. Before Psycho, there was no such thing as the slasher pic. Movie monsters were literal monsters and not the human monsters that now roam our cinematic landscapes. There were very few rug-pulling twists and turns, as most horror films were straightforward affairs. And there most certainly weren't any films that dared to feature the violent assault on a naked woman while she took a shower.
Today, many horror fans are disappointed if blood and guts are at a minimum. They feel shortchanged if there isn't at least one twist within a movie's narrative. And they become upset if there isn't at least one scene that features gratuitous nudity. But back in 1960, these things weren't commonplace. Audiences weren't expecting the horrors and dirty tricks that Hitchcock played on them. And movie critics weren't prepared for the shift in storytelling that was about to be served up to them either. Psycho was a revelation, and while some hated the film at the time of its release, it has since become recognized as a genuine horror classic!
We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes
Hitchcock's movie was based on a 1959 horror novel by Robert Bloch. Inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein, the book and the film brought to life the motel-owning character of Norman Bates, a fictionalized serial killer who excused his crimes with the now famous movie quote: 'We all go a little mad sometimes.'
At the time of the movie's release, people assumed the same of Alfred Hitchcock. Having loved the mysteries at the heart of North By Northwest, Rear Window, and Vertigo, they probably expected something classy and exciting from the movie they were about to see, despite the title of the film. Instead, they were confronted with a violent shower scene, decaying corpses, a serial killer who got away with his crimes, and perhaps most shockingly of all, a lead actress (Janet Leigh) who was killed off mid-movie.
Had Hitchcock Gone Mad?
The reviewer for the London Evening News seemed to think so. "Hitchcock has tarnished a once-great reputation," he said, echoing the opinion of many other critics and moviegoers at the time.
The movie was unfairly maligned. Yes, there was violence and nudity, but people imagined they saw more than they actually did. In the film's famous shower scene, you see very little of Janet Leigh's naked body, and you never actually get to see the knife penetrate her flesh. The rug pull that was her character's death surprised and frustrated audiences, but it was actually a brilliant move. Predating such films as Deep Blue Sea and Scream that also killed off their 'main' characters early, it skillfully showcased Hitchcock's tendency to mess with audience expectations. And while the shift of genre was surprising for some, it allowed Hitchcock to use every tool in his arsenal to shock, disturb, and thrill audiences, and thus upend whatever expectations they had about his films.
In the same way the knife slashed through the shower curtain, the movie slashed through the fabric of composure that made audience members feel safe. In the same way Marion Crane is killed off mid-movie, the movie killed off any hope of a happy ending from the movie's audience. And in the same way Bernard Hermann's now-classic score jangled the notes of the piano, the musical high notes jangled the nerves of the now frayed viewer.
You see, Hitchcock hadn't gone mad. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he had great fun terrorizing audiences while simultaneously terrorizing the unwitting victims of his film.
Psycho: The Film That Changed Horror Forever
Oh sure, there were certain elements of Psycho that were familiar to audiences. The Bates House, for example, with its cryptlike rooms and dark corners, was not too dissimilar to the castles and eerie mansion houses that had populated other films. But Hitchcock's film stood out from the crowd in other ways.
While serial killers had featured in movies before, none had been as charming or as human as Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins gives a deliberately disarming performance, and it works a treat. When his dark side is finally revealed, we are shocked to discover that the strange but likable figure at the heart of the film is actually an insane monster. We get glimpses of this when we see him perversely spying on his female guests early in the film, but we only start to understand the true horrors of his beastly nature when we later realize that, not only is he behind the motel killings, but that he wears his dead mother's clothes while committing them.
And as already discussed, Psycho also trailblazed with its perceived violence and nudity, and the rug pulling twists that tripped the expectations of moviegoers.
Following the movie's release, its influences became clear, especially within the slasher genre. Hitchcock opened the floodgate for all kinds of violent serial killers in movies, from those of a humankind (hello Hannibal Lecter) to those that have almost supernatural tendencies (Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees).
Nudity has had a part to play in horror movies ever since too, although many of them have been far more exploitative than Hitchcock's Psycho.
And we have now come to expect the unexpected in our horror films, as movies such as The Sixth Sense, Orphan, and Friday the 13th have all surprised audiences with the rug pulling that Hitchcock reveled in with Psycho.
Psycho changed the horror genre forever, and if you're a fan of such films as The Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Jigsaw, and Halloween, you might want to stand and salute Alfred Hitchcock, the man who reconfigured horror storytelling into something that is unrecognizable from the staid and safe horror movies that were made pre-1960.