Day 2 of my Halloween Film Fest. This is my favorite Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece! This, above all other films this master made, really is a testament to this gentleman's genius. I remember the first time I saw this film was in college at the age of 18. Of course, by that time I had heard and seen scenes of the famous shower scene so I really couldn't relate to this film the way the audiences of 1960 did when it premiered in theater's on the 8th of September. No one was giving away it's secrets, and even Hitchcock himself ordered all theater's showing the film to admit no one after the film had started. It worked. If you really want a fun look into the making of this classic, I highly recommend the film "Hitchcock" starring Anthony Hopkins as the man himself. The best way I was finally able to really begin to understand was when I watched this for the first time with my mother, who, almost to the day she died, always locked the bathroom door when she took a shower.
She explained to me how in 1960, the morays of the day and the sensors that controlled the film industry, almost made this film not come to life on the screen. Even the flushing of a toilet in one scene caused the sensors to almost shut down filming permanently. She explained to me how Janet Leigh and her then husband, Tony Curtis, were Hollywood's dream couple, and to kill her character off within the first 20+ minutes of the film was so utterly shocking to audiences. She remembers when that shower curtain was pulled, the blood-curdling screams that came from the theater was so bone chilling, that she still could remember that feeling as she sat in the theater with my father. Upon viewing the film from that perspective, yes, I can see going into the film never knowing about that scene, how "out of nowhere" shocking a scene like that could be, particularly to a 1960 audience.
Now onto the film itself. Anthony Perkins, who was so shocking in the role of the famed Norman Bates, because up to that point in his career, he had only played the "boy next door" type. Anthony Perkins shines in this role. This role actually became his most famous role. He is so innocent but at the same time so creepy. This is truly one of the most significant and honest performances in the history of the horror genre. Janet Leigh is equally convincing in her role of the "good girl" gone bad, Marion Crane.
The rest of the incredible cast are equally stunning; John Gavin (Sam Loomis), Marion's lover; Vera Miles (Lila Crane), Marion's sister; Martin Balsam (Detective Milton Arbogast) the private detective, and John McIntire as Sheriff Al Chambers.
Hitchcock, like in "The Birds" which followed this film three years after in 1963, defies expectations and leads you down paths only to create twists and turns that are so jarring, even by today's standards. During last night's viewing, the film still creeps me out and is such a horror masterpiece. The script is impeccable and brilliantly adapted from the novel by Robert Bloch.
If you haven't seen this film, sit down and watch it this Halloween season. It's one of the best horror films ever made! If you already have, sit down and revisit this masterpiece of suspense and horror!
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