Ask Movie Slate - Episode 227 - Psycho  
*Today’s Movie Slate is brought to you thanks to ssjcharon
 
I really like the way this one came out, and I don’t say that often. It was fun to have Movie Slate, in the shower, with her cousin asking about the knife sharpener, and even funnier to have her screaming her head off. I think she needs to put a lock on that bathroom door, ponies keep walking in and bothering her all the time. I also really like how the steam came out, and the translucent nature of the shower curtain, also Movie’s face and Cotton Bucket’s deadpan expression. I think it came out rather humorous and I’m quite happy with the end result.
 
Also, yes, the shower stream is hitting Movie Slate right in the crotch. She’s not screaming just because of the knife.
 
“Psycho. Oh boy. Here we go. This movie is one of those sacred cows of the media, where if you say anything remotely negative about it you get chewed out and people grab their torches and pitchforks to chase you through the forest. To say I’ve had experiences with this movie that made me reticent to talk about it would be to put it lightly. So, what do I think of it? I think it’s very, very good. I don’t love it. I don’t think it’s Hitchcock’s best. It’s not my personal favourite of mine (it’s a tie between “The Birds” and “North by Northwest”). But I appreciate and admire the film for everything it does. I love those camera angles, and the way everything feels so claustrophobic and controlled but at the same time manic and insane. It is like being trapped inside the head of Norman Bates, and in that aspect the movie works really well. But right after the murder in the shower, to me the movie loses all of its steam and instead of pacing itself towards the conclusion instead it stumbles towards it.
 
Hitchcock was good at the slow boil (“Vertigo”, “Rear Window”, “Frenzy”), where the entire movie is a build up for an event that can’t be stopped because it’s already too late. Here he shortened said build up and, while the shower scene is appropriately shocking, the second twist (the reveal of Mrs. Bates’ corpse) isn’t nearly as shocking or satisfying as the first one. Hitchcock played against his own cliché and it paid off! Everyone brings this movie up when it comes to horror classics. I don’t think it’s a corner stone of the genre though.
 
Anything I could say about “Psycho” comes more from a purely personal place than anything else. While it played with the way movies worked back then, and thus broke new narrative ground, its achievements no longer feel as impressive. This could be said of every other movie directed by Hitchcock, but being this one his most popular one I can’t help but notice the wrinkles better.
 
And now, my thoughts on the 1998 remake directed by Gus van Sant! It’s shit.
 
I hope you guys enjoy the picture!
 
You can check Movie Slate’s post on Tumblr right here.
 
You can also check the Making of Post right here.
 
Please, let me know what you think of it in the comments. I appreciate and every single one I receive.
 
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