"I wouldn't hurt a fly"

Today I bore witness to the masterpiece that is Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho... and I really didn't expect what happened to happen. Only Hitchcock could have escaped hilarity, thanks to the bizarre plot (it's not my job to spoil it) involving a, well... unlikely psycho. The film has been looked at from several analytical perspectives (primarily psychoanalytical but also feminist and Freudian) yet to this day seems simply able to slip into the slasher movie category.

Certain parts of the film of course appear dated, but it is because of this that Psycho has managed to retain its charm (the notorious shower scene appearing all over modern cinema as well as repeatedly topping 'THE 50 SCARIEST CINEMATIC MOMENTS OF ALL TIME, EVER!!!' on various channels.) The use of black and white here was very effective, creating an illusion of shadow and doubt. Indeed, Gus Van Sant made a shot-for-shot remake in 1998, which I haven't seen, but which received bad reviews... as everyone had already seen the original, and something was lost in the addition of colour (Van Sant is also a crap director in my opinion. but I am yet to see Milk.)

Sadly as a film student, I already knew that all the blood in the shower scene was really chocolate sauce, and I was squinting throughout just to catch Hitchcock's cameo (all in vain.) But that didn't stop me (excuse my french) shitting myself when the shower scene came along. Although many of my peers claimed to have seen the film, I heard A LOT of gasps coming from the audience- proof that however dated Hitchcock's techniques may be, he still deservedly holds the title of 'master of suspense.'

After a very unpredictable, and slightly unconvincing ending (Lila Crane shed no tears at all for her dead sister) came the most sinister inner-monologue I have seen on screen. One must ask themselves why the shower scene is so poignant when more fear is evoked in the stillness of an individual than in the brutal murder of an innocent woman.