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Features: Collector's Edition, DVD, English, Spanish, French, Mono Audio
Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the notorious "shower scene." As first a private detective (Martin Balsam), then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) and boyfriend (John Gavin) search for her, the horror and the suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. It took seven days for Hitchcock to shoot the shower scene--employing seventy camera set-ups for forty-five seconds of this now famous footage--and not an actual bare breast or plunging knife is to be found in the final cut, just illusion through montage.
"...will grip audiences from beginning to end." Boxoffice Magazine
"...played to perfection by a top-notch cast..." BBC Online
"...still terrifying after all these years..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"...one of the most frightening films of all time." James Berardinelli's ReelViews
Editor's Note
Credited with inventing the genre of the modern horror film, PSYCHO has had its share of sequels and imitators, none of which diminishes the achievement of this shocking and complex horror thriller. Alfred Hitchcock's choreography of elements in PSYCHO is considered so perfect it inspired a shot-by-shot remake by Gus Van Zant in 1998. However, Hitchcock's black-and-white original, featuring Anthony Perkins's haunting characterization of lonely motel keeper Norman Bates, has never been equaled. Bates presides over an out-of-the-way motel under the domineering specter of his mother. The young, well-intentioned Bates is introduced to the audience when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a blonde on the run with stolen money, checks in for the night. But Momma doesn't like loose women, so the stage is set for this classic tale of horror--and one of the most famous scenes in film history. PSYCHO was initially received by audiences with shock and amazement--and it still terrifies today. Though it is now considered prototypical Hitchcock, its setting, pace, and emphasis on terror were major departures for the director at the time, coming after the more classically grand NORTH BY NORTHWEST.
Plot Summary
PSYCHO is the horror film that spawned a thousand imitations, not to mention three sequels. A busty blonde pockets $40,000 in stolen cash following a tryst with her divorced lover. Afterward, she heads up to a remote rural motel run by psychotic mama's boy Norman Bates. The stage is now set for a classic tale of terror and depravity that includes a cross-dressing murderer, stuffed corpses, the ultimate Oedipal conflict, and, of course, the most notorious shower scene ever filmed. |Based on the novel by Robert Bloch, PSYCHO is generally considered the progenitor of the horror genre--and an unmitigated masterpiece.
| Features | Interactive Menus | | English Subtitles | | Spanish Subtitles | | Scene Access | | Widescreen Version | | English Dolby Digital Mono | | French Dolby Digital Mono |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 5/5/2009 |
| Running Time: 109 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1960 | | Catalog ID: 20251 | | UPC: 00025192025129 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1961) | | | Robert Clatworthy, et al., Nominee, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-And-White | | | John L. Russell, Nominee, Best Cinematography, Black-And-Whie | | | Alfred Hitchcock, Nominee, Best Director | | | Janet Leigh, Nominee, Best Supporting Actress | |
Golden Globe (1961) |  | Janet Leigh, Winner, Best Supporting Actress |
| Memorable Quotes| "Mrs. Bates? Mrs. Bates?"----Lila Crane (Vera Miles), looking for Norman's (Anthony Perkins) mother |
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| | Professional Reviews | Premiere
"The most brilliant bait-and-switch proposition in motion picture history..." 12/01/2003 p.10Total Film
"Hitchcock's only out-and-out horror flick -- and possibly the most important ever made." 01/01/2004 p.134-5 Empire
5 stars out of 5 -- "It's such an essential film -- remaining fresh, shocking, perversely funny and tragic..." 02/01/2009 Los Angeles Times
"[N]early 50 years after its release in 1960, the 45-second shower scene in PSYCHO is still terrifying and paralyzing." 03/12/2009 Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
...no other Hitchcock film had a greater impact. ...What makes Psycho immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers. - Roger Ebert
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  5 | | Plot | 5 | | Acting | 5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 5 |
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1 of 1 customers found this review helpful.
5 of 5 From A Students Perspective Sunday, July 18, 1999
DBucherie from Lake Worth,Fl.
To say the film was great would be limiting it to a very passive viewing. In viewing this master-piece from many angles, and many times over, one
would begin to notice many subtle changes in not only lighting and camera angle, but in the very character acting itself. Watching this artistic composition I began to notice the many artistic stylings of Perkins, Leigh, and Hitchcock, as the master of noir took us from scene to scene keeping every molment a suspensefull thrillride into the mind of Norman Bates and his 'Mother' I was kept intransed by Brochs story, the idea of a paranoid schizophrenic and his mother who you never really know exists until the end. This story kept you on the edge of your seat, truly ahead of it's time, Psycho, the thriller
Psycho, the great film, Psycho, the masterpiece!
Excellant!! Was this review helpful?  
1 of 5 customers found this review helpful.
5 of 5 THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE Friday, June 11, 1999
WALOOMPA from Northport, NY
Psycho is the best movie ever made. As a filmaker myself, i see this work as a cinematic masterpiece. Don't watch it as a movie -- Watch it as a film. Was this review helpful?
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