What are your favorite things about Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho?

Every October, people get situated on their couch and binge-watching thriller/horror films like Psycho. What are your favorite things about the classic?

One director who made masterpieces that are always watched around Halloween is Alfred Hitchcock. When you think about horror and iconic films in the genre, Psycho is always one that immediately comes to mind. This is a movie that everyone should see, even people who aren’t fans of horror and thriller films. It’s a classic, leaving the viewer creeped out forever. If you haven’t watched it yet, make this October when you finally experience the film.

Spoilers ahead! If you have NOT seen the film yet, watch it!

Psycho Synopsis

"Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), is overcome by exhaustion during a heavy rainstorm. Traveling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother."

— Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Oh, God. Mother

One of the most talked about scenes in Psycho is the shower scene. Marion Crane is stabbed to death by Norman Bates. It’s an iconic scene and in the list of most iconic scenes ever for any genre. It’s just so intense, dramatic and sad. The music that accompanies the scene is terrifying and unsettling. The sounds of violins screeching as Marion is stabbed to death is something that haunts us always. Whether you do actually watch it or close your eyes and listen to the screeching violins, you will 100 percent envision the scene. It will shake you to your core.

Also, it will make you feel like you’re in the film and the one getting stabbed to death. The way it’s directed also adds to the terror. It’s a bunch of different angles of Marion getting stabbed and trying to fight off Norman’s “Mother” and it not working. The music continues to get louder and louder as the stabbing worsens. Right as “Mother” leaves the room, Marion slowly falls to the floor while grasping the wall, taking the shower curtains down with her. There’s also a circling shot of Marion’s eye that expands to her scared and shocked face.

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Another great scene is right at the end when we get a creepy smile from Norman Bates. It’s just downright unsettling just like the entire film in general. It’s the perfect ending to a movie that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Anthony Perkins was really the most incredible actor to play Norman Bates.

When we find out the real truth about Mother, that’s another great scene. This film is filled with scenes that you will never forget. Scenes that you’ll want to look at over and over again to see if you’re either missing something or use them to study filmmaking.

The direction in Psycho is superior to many films in horror. Hitchcock always knew how to create unusual, scary and creepy ways to direct scenes. They make you feel uncomfortable. They make you feel feelings that other films might not have made you feel at all.

What are your favorite things about Psycho? Does the direction fascinate you? The scenes leave you in awe? Does the music affect you in any way? Have you ever seen Psycho? Let us know!