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The film that made an entire generation afraid to take a shower in a motel proved to be a triumph of filmmaking and marketing for Alfred Hitchcock. Arguably the film most saliently identified with this director, Psycho made an immediate and indelible impact on the public consciousness.
Another Hitchcockian work that deals with vision, madness, and the dark recesses of the human psyche, Psycho stars Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, and Vera Miles. Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane (just one instance of extensive bird imagery utilized in this film), a woman who steals several thousand dollars from her boss, then makes a getaway in her car. Too exhausted to drive any farther, she stops at the Bates Motel, run by Norman Bates. As the two talk, the viewer learns that Norman lives with his invalid mother in a foreboding house situated behind the motel. While showering before bed, Marion meets an untimely end as Norman’s mother apparently storms in and stabs her, leaving the woman to die in the shower. A distraught Norman cleans up the mess and disposes of the body and Marion’s car. Soon thereafter, an insurance agent inquires about Marion at the hotel. He is killed, too, and Norman cleans up yet again. Marion Crane’s sister and boyfriend eventually arrive, looking for both Marion and the insurance agent. Suspicious, they search the house behind the motel, find Mother’s skeleton, and are confronted by Norman dressed as his mother, wielding a knife. The two escape, Norman is captured, and the film ends with a psychological analysis of Norman’s disorder.
Psycho’s impact on the nation may be partially attributable to the skillful marketing of the film. Hitchcock began to generate buzz about Psycho even before the movie had actually opened, with posters for the film decreeing that no one would be seated for the film after the first 20 minutes had elapsed. The implication, therefore, was that the first portion of the film contained events that simply could not be missed. Once the movie did open, the very shocking nature of the events were enough to generate talk on their own. Janet Leigh, a well-known actress, with her name prominently displayed on posters for the movie, was killed off within the first 45 minutes of the movie. And this death, in which she is stabbed while naked, shocked and disturbed audiences not used to extremely graphic violence or nudity in their movies. Bernard Hermann’s score helped to cement the terror inherent in the film’s events, for the shrill violins that accompany the murders have become as ubiquitous in popular culture as the ominous bass notes in Jaws.
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