Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who doesn't have
both oars in the water, lives in the "old, dark house,"
next to the adjoining hotel, which he owns as well. His mother
has overbearing control over him, telling him what to do in great
detail, and he is obsessed with her. "A boy's best friend
is his mother. "
Janet Leigh plays a Phoenix office worker Marion
Crane, who is tired of working in her dead-end job, and is given
an opportunity to get some needed cash to marry her lover, Sam,
when she is entrusted by her boss to deposit 40,000 dollars into
a bank. She puts the money in her purse and heads out toward Sam's
place in California, making a run for it. Because she was tired,
and a big storm was brewing. Unfortunately, trouble and terror
await Janet Leigh, who decides to stay at the Bates Hotel, which
turns out to be an ill-fated choice.
After the quiet, well-mannered Norman makes her
dinner, she retires to her hotel room for a shower, that turns
out to be her last. Norman Bates attacks her with a knife, killing
her in the shower, which is brilliantly filmed and directed by
Hitchcock. This infamous shower scene has
terrified many viewers, making them avoid the shower for some
time.
Of course, others who are on the trail of embezzler
Marion Crane wind up at the Bates Hotel, and have terrifying adventures
of their own. How this crime is solved,
and the twists and turns leading up to finding the truth and the
terrifying ending makes it one of Hitchcock's best efforts; a
truly compelling and terrifying film, that frightens the audience
silly, without the usual gore found in today's films.
Screenplay by: Joseph Stefano, Based on the Novel
by Robert Bloch. Stephano was a close friend
of Alfred Hitchcock, and wrote many great horror-thriller screenplays
in the 1960's and '70's, and a few in the '80's and '90's.
The wonderfully scary musical score was composed
by Bernard Herrmann, whose most memorable work was done for nine
Alfred Hitchcock films. He was a prolific composer, who proved
to be one of the most original and distinctive in his field of
work.
Anthony Perkins does a stunning portrayal of
the creepy, criminally insane, crazed killer, Norman Bates.
This classic suspense horror movie is wisely
rated R, as it is still very scary even today for most people.
Norman Bates would give anyone under 17 or sensitive in nature
nightmares for weeks.
|