Movie Review: Psycho, a classic that got it right first time round
- Jurgen Smith
- Mar 15
- 6 min read
Updated: May 11
Yeah, this is a classic flick from the '60s that got a modern remake. When it first came out, it totally shattered the storytelling norms of the industry. Standards have shifted since then, but usually, when rules get tossed out the window, things don't come together as perfectly as they did in this movie. That's why, as someone who loves storytelling without all the rules, I absolutely loved this movie. It even surprised me.
Heads up: I'm all about stories that dive into the strange, dark, and mysterious, especially when psychology comes into play. I've put together a bunch of similar short stories in my book, The Illusion of Normal. Don't worry, I'm not trying to sell my book here—just mentioning the unique world I love to escape to now and then. I'm really into psychology, so I might see things a bit differently from the norm. I've also written a couple of movie scripts in this style. These stories are still on paper while I work on bringing another tale to life—it's been stuck in my head, and the only way to shake it off is to write it, share it, and get it out there. I want to do this story justice by honing my skills to tell it right. Maybe it's a special kind of weird, but hey, that's just me.
Psycho is seen as a classic movie where Director Alfred Hitchcock broke the rules of suspense/ horror movie making. I came across the movie without any expectation, other that the title is Psycho so I kind of expected to see some form of a psychotic episode.
I magine my surprise when I watched the movie and every part was exciting. Not the opening or the end’s plot twist, but the whole thing. The plot is so simple it’s laughable, but it’s executed so brilliantly that it excited me enough to rave about the movie. To be honest, I havent seen the original of the 1960 first movie, as I only came across the 1998 adaptation which rocked names like the following.
Except that the star-studded cast could lift nearly any dead script to a respectable position, matching them to a brilliant script would most certainly produce some magic. …But I didn’t know it then.
Short recap from Jürgen's perspective
Since the cast is known for comedic roles, one tends not to take the movie too seriously from the start. The movie opens with Anne Heche having some sort of friction with her boyfriend, portrayed by Viggo Mortensen, as she gets an envelope with cash and seems to flee, suggesting that it’s stolen money. Heche takes a road trip and the camera zooms in on her perfectly sculpted eyes and pixie-like face, maybe enough to make the audience wonder whether she is supposed to be the psycho.
This idea is rooted in the feeling that she’s not blinking much and keeps her eyes on the road. Everybody she encounters seems to know something the audience doesn’t, as they all view her as suspicious. At some point, to get rid of a police officer tailing her, she decides to trade in her car and pay the rest in cash to get a new vehicle. The officer notices this, but she speeds away.
She stops at what looks like an abandoned motel with a freaky Beetlejuice-type house next door. The motel caretaker, played by Vince Vaughn, has peculiar habits which are memorable but not enough to raise any suspicion. He eats candy in a peculiar way and seems to force a childish smile, even when confronted in pressured situations. He and Heche have dinner with a bit of flirting, but she heads back to her room to hide the cash in a newspaper on top of a side table. The audience still assumes that she might soon show signs of being the psycho, but they never appear. She only acts in a manner that suggests something could be off with her.
Next, she takes a shower and the famous shower scene plays out where a blurred figure of a woman stabs her to death. Vaughn dumps her body together with the cash and all her belongings in her car’s trunk at the bottom of what looks like a swamp pit. Now the movie still has a ways to go and surely the main character and the primary suspect of being the psycho can’t already be dead, but your attention goes to who the killer was.
Quickly, the following events suggest that it was Vaughn’s mother who was hiding in their house. She could be the psycho with an unusual relationship with her son, who is doing her bidding at every beck and call. Events suggest that she’s supposed to be dead, but oh well, this is the story. Next, the brilliant actor from Shameless who cleaned up brilliantly is William H. Macy, who portrays the detective looking for the money. Quickly, he’s being killed off too. Next, it’s Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen looking for our dead heroine, and we expect to see their end just as quickly, but somehow they stick around.
They find that all isn’t well with the motel and suspect the innkeeper's mother to be the murderer because they quickly find that the keeper’s lines don’t add up.
Near the end, the innkeeper moves his mother and by the camera angle, it is clear that the mother doesn’t have the physique to be the killer. Later, we see that the mother is a preserved corpse, so who is the killer?
The plot twist at the end is that Vaughn, the innkeeper, somehow accepted his mother’s personality as being his split personality and he was the killer all along. The fascinating part is that he diverted to being his mother when he was in danger, and at the end, he fully changed to his mother’s personality.
Thoughts worth exploring
These topics might have been discussed to boredom, but I haven’t read them and maybe you haven’t read all of these either. I believe even exploring these will clarify the world’s peculiar behaviors better and make us more accepting of those.
How did Norman Bates’ dad die? Maybe this is in the book, but it could give an insight into the mother’s psychology.
How did Norman’s mother die? I’m sure there was a hint in the movie, but from experience, you only see what the video editor wants you to see.
This is most probably the one that actually drives me to find the book and read it. What kind of relationship with his mother caused this weird behavior in Norman? There are several aspects that interest me, like was there a sexual aspect between them? Split personalities usually develop in kids that experience significant trauma, so what caused Norman to adopt his mother as a personality?
What caused Norman’s peculiar habits, like his weird and forced smile, why he seems to have a permanent sweet tooth, or even why he puts the candy in his mouth in an awkward way? It seems like a self-soothing habit like a woman curling her hair with her finger.
I think it would be interesting to understand the first victim’s relationship with her sister, played by Julianne Moore. It seems like they are pretty close.
Even though the hotel seems to survive while there are barely any customers, what kind of financial situation causes that and is the peanut butter sandwich an indication of a budget diet?
Does the peanut butter sandwich for dinner suggest Norman’s childish tendencies? Again, why and if so, how does that reflect on Norman’s sense of self-preservation?
What is Norman’s perspective on cleanliness? Everything seems to be cleaned with an almost kind of obsession.
Why were so many known comedians used for such serious roles in the movie? Did their background in popular characters contribute to some strategy in the movie? Maybe even if only to tip the balance of the audience’s comfort level.
What background makes the detective so dedicated in his role? It is a shame that William H. Macy’s screen time is so short, but it clearly is a significant role that demanded the respect of Macy’s talents.
Back to Sam and Marion, why is their relationship strained?
Were there contributing factors to the motel’s minimalist decor? It seems practical but what does the decor design reflect on the owner’s personality? Why did they choose a motel as a business option?
What influenced the house’s design next to the motel?
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