#bernard bloch

[screamscenepodcast]

Anthony Perkins. Janet Leigh. Alfred Hitchcock. It's 1960's PSYCHO! In a nearly three hour long episode, your hosts dig into the novel, its film adaptation, and how everything changes after PSYCHO's release.

General content warning for discussion of transphobia, violence against women, psychosis, serial killers and cannibalism.

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 40:23-44:30; Discussion 1:38:02; Ranking 2:32:39

[cidraman]

Os Trapalhões estão aí!

[brokehorrorfan]

Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection will be released on November 26 via Universal. The 4K Ultra HD + Digital set collects six of the Master of Suspense's classic thrillers: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds.

Limited to 5,150, the six-disc collection is housed in premium book-style packaging featuring artwork by Tristan Eaton along with photos, bios, and trivia.

The uncut version of Psycho is included. Special features are detailed below.

1954's Rear Window is written by John Michael Hayes (To Catch a Thief), based on Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder." James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr star.

Rear Window special features:

Audio commentary by Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film author John Fawell

Rear Window Ethics - 2000 documentary

Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes

Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of The Master

Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock

Masters of Cinema

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Audio recording from filmmaker François Truffaut’s in-depth interview with director Alfred Hitchcock about Rear Window

Production photo gallery

Theatrical trailer

Re-release trailer narrated by James Stewart

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

1955's To Catch a Thief is written by John Michael Hayes (Rear Window), based on David Dodge’s 1952 novel of the same name. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, and John Williams star.

To Catch a Thief special features:

Audio commentary by Hitchcock historian Dr. Drew Casper

Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on To Catch a Thief

Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

A retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.

1958's Vertigo is written by Alec Coppel (No Highway in the Sky) and Samuel A. Taylor (Sabrina), based on Boileau-Narcejac’s 1954 novel The Living and the Dead. James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, and Henry Jones star.

Vertigo special features:

Audio commentary by filmmaker William Friedkin (The Exorcist)

Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece

Partners In Crime: Hitchcock’s Collaborators

Saul Bass: Title Champ

Edith Head: Dressing the Master’s Movies

Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock’s Maestro

Alma: The Master’s Muse

Foreign censorship ending

100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Audio recording from filmmaker François Truffaut’s in-depth interview with director Alfred Hitchcock about Vertigo

Theatrical trailer

Restoration theatrical trailer

A former police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with a hauntingly beautiful woman.

1959's North by Northwest is written by Ernest Lehman (The Sound of Music, West Side Story). Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Jessie Royce Landis star.

North by Northwest special features:

Audio commentary by writer Ernest Lehman

North by Northwest: Cinematography, Score, and the Art of the Edit

Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest

The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style

North by Northwest: One for the Ages

A Guided Tour with Alfred Hitchcock

A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.

1960's Psycho is written by Joseph Stefano (The Outer Limits), based on Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name. Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, and Janet Leigh star.

Psycho special features:

Original uncut and standard re-releases version of the film

The Making of Psycho

The Making of Psycho audio commentary with Alfred Hitchcock and The Making of Psycho author Stephen Rebello

Psycho Sound

In The Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy

Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho

The Shower Scene: With and Without Music

The Shower Sequence: Storyboards by Saul Bass

The Psycho Archives

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Audio recording from filmmaker François Truffaut’s in-depth interview with director Alfred Hitchcock about Psycho

Posters and ad gallery

Lobby card gallery

Behind-the-scenes photo gallery

Production photo gallery

Psycho theatrical trailers

Psycho re-release trailer

A secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother.

1963's The Birds is written by Evan Hunter (High and Low), based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 short story of the same name. Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright star.

The Birds special features:

The Birds: Hitchcock’s Monster Movie

All About The Birds

Original ending

Deleted scene

Tippi Hedren’s screen test

The Birds is coming (Universal International Newsreel)

Suspense Story: National Press Club hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel)

100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics

100 Years of Universal: The Lot

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Audio recording from filmmaker François Truffaut’s in-depth interview with director Alfred Hitchcock about Vertigo

Theatrical trailer

A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

Pre-order Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection.

[girlactionfigure]

Immense pride, tinged with sadness. 

For those who would like to read the full list:

1908 MECHNIKOV, ELIE 

FOR THEIR WORK ON IMMUNITY

1908 EHRLICH, PAUL

FOR THEIR WORK ON IMMUNITY

1914 BARANY, ROBERT

FOR HIS WORK ON THE PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY OF THE VESTIBULAR APPARATUS

1922 MEYERHOF, OTTO FRITZ 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF THE FIXED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONSUMPTION OF 

OXYGEN AND THE METABOLISM OF LACTIC ACID IN THE MUSCLE

1930 LANDSTEINER, KARL 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF HUMAN BLOOD GROUPS

1936 LOEWI, OTTO 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES RELATING TO CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION OF NERVE IMPULSES

1944 ERLANGER, JOSEPH 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES RELATING TO THE HIGHLY DIFFERENTIATED FUNCTIONS OF SINGLE NERVE FIBRES

1945 CHAIN, ERNST BORIS 

FOR THE DISCOVERY OF PENICILLIN AND ITS CURATIVE EFFECT IN VARIOUS INFECTIOUS DISEASES

1946 MULLER, HERMANN J. 

FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE PRODUCTION OF MUTATIONS BY MEANS OF X-RAY IRRADIATION

1947 CORI, GERTY THERESA, RADNITZ 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF THE COURSE OF THE CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF GLYCOGEN

1950 REICHSTEIN, TADEUS 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES RELATING TO THE HORMONES OF THE ADRENAL CORTEX, THEIR STRUCTURE AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

1952 WAKSMAN, SELMAN A. 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF STREPTOMYCIN, THE FIRST ANTIBIOTIC EFFECTIVE AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS

1953 LIPMANN, FRITZ ALBERT 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF CO-ENZYME A AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR INTERMEDIARY METABOLISM

1953 KREBS, HANS ADOLF 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF THE CITRIC ACID CYCLE

1958 LEDERBERG, JOSHUA 

FOR HIS DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETIC RECOMBINATION AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE GENETIC MATERIAL OF BACTERIA

1959 KORNBERG, ARTHUR 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF THE MECHANISMS IN THE BIOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS OF RIBONUCLEIC ACID AND DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID

1964 BLOCH, KONRAD 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE MECHANISM AND REGULATION OF THE CHOLESTEROL AND FATTY ACID METABOLISM

1965 JACOB, FRANCOIS 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETIC CONTROL OF ENZYME AND VIRUS SYNTHESIS

1965 LWOFF, ANDRE

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETIC CONTROL OF ENZYME AND VIRUS SYNTHESIS

1967 WALD, GEORGE 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE PRIMARY PHYSIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL VISUAL PROCESSES IN THE EYE

1968 NIRENBERG, MARSHALL W. 

FOR THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE GENETIC CODE AND ITS FUNCTION IN PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

1969 LURIA, SALVADOR E. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE REPLICATION MECHANISM AND THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF VIRUSES

1970 KATZ, BERNARD

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE HUMORAL TRANSMITTERS IN THE NERVE TERMINALS AND THE MECHANISM

FOR THEIR STORAGE, RELEASE AND INACTIVATION

1970 AXELROD, JULIUS 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE HUMORAL TRANSMITTERS IN THE NERVE TERMINALS AND THE MECHANISM

FOR THEIR STORAGE, RELEASE AND INACTIVATION

1972 EDELMAN, GERALD M. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF ANTIBODIES

1975 TEMIN, HOWARD M.

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN TUMOR VIRUSES AND THE GENETIC MATERIAL OF THE CELL

1975 BALTIMORE, DAVID 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN TUMOR VIRUSES AND THE GENETIC MATERIAL OF THE CELL

1976 BLUMBERG, BARUCH S. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING NEW MECHANISMS FOR THE ORIGIN AND DISSEMINATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

1977 YALOW, ROSALYN 

FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RADIOIMMUNOASSAYS OF PEPTIDE HORMONES

1977 SCHALLY, ANDREW V. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE PEPTIDE HORMONE PRODUCTION OF THE BRAIN

1978 NATHANS, DANIEL 

FOR THE DISCOVERY OF RESTRICTION ENZYMES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO PROBLEMS OF MOLECULAR GENETICS

1980 BENACERRAF, BARUJ 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETICALLY DETERMINED STRUCTURES ON THE CELL SURFACE THAT

REGULATE IMMUNOLOGICAL REACTIONS

1984 MILSTEIN, CESAR 

FOR THEORIES CONCERNING THE SPECIFICITY IN DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE

PRINCIPLE FOR PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

1985 BROWN, MICHAEL S. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF CHOLESTEROL METABOLISM

1985 GOLDSTEIN, JOSEPH L. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF CHOLESTEROL METABOLISM

1986 COHEN, STANLEY 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF GROWTH FACTORS

1986 LEVI-MONTALCINI, RITA 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF GROWTH FACTORS

1988 ELION, GERTRUDE B. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES FOR DRUG TREATMENT

1989 VARMUS, HAROLD E. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF THE CELLULAR ORIGIN OF RETROVIRAL ONCOGENES

1994 RODBELL, MARTIN 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF G-PROTEINS AND THE ROLE OF THESE PROTEINS IN SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN CELLS

1994 GILMAN, ALFRED G. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF G-PROTEINS AND THE ROLE OF THESE PROTEINS IN SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN CELLS

1997 PRUSINER, STANLEY B. 

FOR HIS DISCOVERY OF PRIONS - A NEW BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE OF INFECTION

1998 FURCHGOTT, ROBERT F. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING NITRIC OXIDE AS A SIGNALING MOLECULE IN THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

2000 GREENGARD, PAUL 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

2000 KANDEL, ERIC R. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

2002 BRENNER, SYDNEY 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETIC REGULATION OF ORGAN DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH

2002 HORVITZ, H. ROBERT 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING GENETIC REGULATION OF ORGAN DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH

2004 AXEL, RICHARD

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF ODORANT RECEPTORS AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM

2006 FIRE, ANDREW Z. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF RNA INTERFERENCE - GENE SILENCING BY DOUBLE-STRANDED RNA

2011 STEINMAN, RALPH M. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE ACTIVATION OF INNATE IMMUNITY

2011 BEUTLER, BRUCE A. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE ACTIVATION OF INNATE IMMUNITY

2013 SCHEKMAN, RANDY W.

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF MACHINERY REGULATING VESICLE TRAFFIC, A MAJOR TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN OUR CELLS

2013 ROTHMAN, JAMES E. 

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF MACHINERY REGULATING VESICLE TRAFFIC, A MAJOR TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN OUR CELLS

2017 ROSBASH, MICHAEL

FOR THEIR DISCOVERIES OF MOLECULAR MECHANISMS CONTROLLING THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM

Likud Herut UK

[breha]

anne rice, pseudointellectual extraordinaire, managed to squeeze into the tale of the body thief references to: "sailing to byzantium" and "the dolls" by william butler yeats, a tale of two cities, anna karenina, the postman always rings twice, lolita, "the tyger" by william blake, a tree grows in brooklyn, "the thing on the doorstep" by h.p. lovecraft, "eyes of the mummy" by robert bloch, goethe's faust, jeffrey burton russell, mircea eliade, john milton, marcus aurelius, hart crane, george bernard shaw, diogenes, thomas aquinas, jacques maritain, pierre teilhard de chardin, dostoyevsky, albert camus, and john keats. at one point lestat uses the alias "sebastian melmoth," which was a pseudonym used by oscar wilde, itself a reference to melmoth the wanderer by charles maturin. later lestat goes by the last name "wilde." he also references othello and at one point asserts that he is "not time's fool." the alias "sheridan blackwood" might be a reference to sheridan dufferin given rice's interest in art, and i assume she got "alexander stoker" from bram. the movies that appear or are referenced are suspicion (1941), vice versa (1988), all of me (1984), the company of wolves (1984), beauty and the beast (1946), the dead (1987), it's a wonderful life (1946), and body and soul (1947). characters see or reference art by rembrandt (specifically the syndics of the draper's guild), picasso (three separate times), willem de kooning, jasper johns, andy warhol, monet, and edward hopper. there's also a reference to the actor rutger hauer. uhhh i think that's it but holler if you caught one i didn't

[bb-bare-bones]

How We Make Our Psychos: A Psycho Retrospective

By Rebecca Smith

Artwork by Dy Dawson @xgardensinspace

Psycho. For a great many people, that single word is enough to conjure up Bernard Herrmann’s iconic screech of violins and Janet Leigh’s screaming face as a knife arcs towards her in the shower. Whether or not a person has actually seen Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 psychological thriller won’t spare them – in the more than six decades since its release, Psycho has become a cultural touchstone for America and the horror genre. The pivotal spoilers Hitchcock went to much effort to conceal – if you didn’t know, the conventions of cinemas having start times and no late admissions policies are thanks to Psycho – are now so well entrenched in our collective cultural psyche that I wouldn’t be surprised if newborns’ shrieks these days are actually baby speak for “IT WAS NORMAN!!”

It's perhaps unsurprising that Hitchcock’s Psycho, which was named the greatest movie ever made by Variety in December 2022, is not exactly unexplored territory when it comes to analyses. Whilst the legendary shower scene is one of the most famous movie scenes in history, virtually every shot of this suspenseful masterpiece is familiar to us and, as such, has had interpretation after interpretation, and symbolism after metaphor after allegory, applied to and teased out of it. Fortunately, I’ve still been allowed to write something about Psycho anyway, so do indulge me and read on.

At its twisted roots, Psycho poses the question of how well we truly know other people, and this unsettling thought is where its lasting horror derives from. Lila Crane, Sam Loomis, and Mr Lowrey are all shocked to discover Marion Crane has run off with $40,000 because this isn’t the Marion they thought they knew; likewise, the entirety of Fairvale are shocked to discover Norman Bates has been murdering people while dressed as his mother – who he also murdered – and for years has been looking after her preserved corpse as if she was still alive. This isn’t the Norman they thought they knew, either. As the audience, we’re positioned to be shocked by this reveal about Norman too, as we’ve been encouraged to feel sorry for him as the dutiful, unworldly son of a cruel and possessive mother. Instead, we discover the brutal violence in Psycho is a part of Norman and we were just taken in by Anthony Perkins’ innocent smile – which, of course, was one of the many reasons he was chosen for the role.

In the real world, the people of Plainfield, Wisconsin, probably felt a similar shock in 1957 when it was uncovered that one of their locals had killed and mutilated two women and was living in a house full of stolen human body parts, many of which he’d morbidly fashioned into pieces of furniture. It is widely known that this unassuming local, Ed Gein, was a source of inspiration for Robert Bloch’s original 1959 Psycho novel, of which Hitchcock’s film is an adaptation. After the initial horror of Gein’s crimes, there remained the uncomfortable realisation that something like that could happen right under a community’s nose. A story not a million miles away from Psycho can, and did, happen somewhere it would be least expected to.

In a bold move for its era, then, Psycho explores why its killer kills. Psychoanalysis – the legacy of Sigmund Freud – was popular in America around the time of Psycho’s creation, and both Bloch and Hitchcock incorporated it into their respective works, most obviously through the character of Norman. As well as being one of the most recognisable poster boys for the Oedipus complex, which Bloch actually highlights Norman’s self-awareness of early in the novel, a significant portion of Norman’s dialogue in the Hitchcock film functions as Freudian slips about the horrible truth his unconscious is repressing. The inclusion of psychoanalytic elements in Psycho is an important component in making Norman a complex horror villain rather than one who kills for the sheer evilness of it. We could spend an entire essay debating exactly which mental illnesses Norman is supposed to be suffering from, and it is clear in retrospect that their depiction does not quite hold up to the reality in any case, but the fact that Norman is not well and has been spiralling for some time – while no excuse for murder – means we understand why he is where he is mentally and why he stays in his “private trap” rather than facing reality.

Of course, it is all very good understanding the psychology behind our so-called proto slasher, but Psycho hints towards the external as well as the internal factors that go into making a deranged killer. I am referring here to the place where Norman was allowed to fester: the fictional town of Fairvale, California. In its depiction of the small town, Psycho is critiquing the type of society and community attitude that unwittingly enables someone like Norman. American society in the 1950s was repressed – look what happened when Elvis wiggled onstage – and it is this repression that has disastrous consequences in Psycho.

It is Lila who summarises the issue with Fairvale in Bloch’s novel, in a disappointed observation about Sam: “He had that slow, cautious, conservative small-town outlook.” This outlook, exhibited by both Sam and Sheriff Chambers in their insistence on waiting and not bothering Norman, is perhaps best typified by Mrs Chambers in the Hitchcock film. When Lila and Sam learn Mrs Bates supposedly poisoned herself and her lover in a murder-suicide some ten years past, Mrs Chambers adds, “Norman found them dead together. In bed.” There is a disapproving emphasis on “in bed”, as if this is the most shameful aspect of the incident, which serves to highlight the still dominant conservative Christian outlook on sexuality and marriage prevalent at the time. This societal outlook on sexuality is shown throughout Psycho to be detrimental to its characters: at the beginning of the film, Marion is unhappy she and Sam are unmarried and must meet in hotel rooms for sex; and Norman, of course, has internalised disgust and guilt with his own sexuality to such an extent that, in a misogynistic twist, he projects that disgust and guilt on to any woman he finds attractive, allowing ‘Mother’ to surface and kill her.

In addition to this, Mrs Chambers has two other lines that provide insight into the community Norman grew up in. She mentions she helped Norman choose the dress his mother was buried in, remembering that it was “periwinkle blue”. Then, a few scenes later, she invites Lila and Sam for a meal to make reporting Marion’s disappearance and theft “nicer” for them. Both of these are kind acts, but are they inordinately helpful ones? Neither of these gestures would have illuminated what Norman had done; they were more like putting plasters over gaping wounds. This, it seems, is the Fairvale way: don’t ask, don’t know.

It is true that this effective silence around difficult or taboo subjects was a society-wide issue, but I think we can assume Fairvale, as a small town, was supposed to have its own distinct, concentrated flavour of it. If most people knew of the Bates family who lived like there was nobody else in the world, did no one ever think to query why that was? Did anyone know what Norma Bates was like? Didn’t anybody notice that Norman had lived in near isolation all his life, and wonder what effect that might have on a person? The answers are clearly no, because that was the Bates family’s business. The warning signs were therefore missed or ignored. At this time, and in this kind of place, the structural forces simply didn’t exist to avert crises of mental health, or abuse, or violence before they escalated. Psycho is pointing out the dark side of contemporary, as it then was, American society. The sort of situation that led to Gein. The story of Norman Bates is in part a warning about how pretending something isn’t happening and being unwilling to face reality – and that’s literal reality, in Norman’s case – only causes more harm in the long-term. And, once again, these external factors also do not excuse Norman’s murders. However, they do help explain how he was able to get away with them, unsuspected, for so long.

            This is not to say there is one single set of circumstances which would enable the story of Psycho to play out in some way. The whole point of Psycho is that it could happen next door, to anyone, because we might not know someone as completely as we think we do. The story could only critique the world it found itself in at that moment, but the passage of time prompts the question: could Norman Bates exist today? After all, not only have taboos around sexuality and mental health weakened considerably in a general sense over the last six decades, but there have also been huge advancements in the technology used to catch criminals. Giving your bloody crime scene a quick wipe down with some water and a mop might not cut it now. The internet too is encroaching further and further on our lives. It is fast becoming impossible to exist without at least a small online presence – and once you have an online presence, there is something about you there for people to pry into.

Then again, while the internet can be a tool to help people in bad situations, we all know what a double-edged sword it is. Never mind the overtly dark corners of the web, someone as well-established in presenting a false state of affairs to the world as Norman is would surely excel in doing the same thing in the supposedly safer online places. In fact, doing it online would be child’s play in comparison to real life. And, inescapably, security cameras would be a modern-day Norman’s scopophilic dream, there is no denying that. There are also still parts of society that cling harder to the values and social etiquette of the past. Who is to say Fairvale would have kept to the average rate of progress?

            Thus, the exact circumstances Psycho painted as aiding Norman’s murders in a small 1950s town might well have been altered in some way in the years since Hitchcock’s untouchable film first hit cinema screens, but the central fear in Psycho about how well we truly know other people remains. In Psycho, the two key characters of Norman and Marion, so often compared as two sides of the same coin, are being dishonest with those around them. Norman is even being dishonest with himself. Today, in our world of chronic oversharing, I’d wager there are still very few people who would – or even could – reveal every part of themselves to other people. Should that really be an aim for anyone? I would argue no, definitely not.

The inevitable consequence of personal privacy is that, in our imperfect world containing messed up people who sometimes do terrible things, there will be a few Normans. Likewise, not everyone can be the Lila who exposes and stops them. We can only exist inside our own heads; we can’t ever truly know the entirety of another person. In the end, the perversion of the familiar, of the people we tell ourselves we know – such as Norman – and the places we think are safe – such as our showers – is what continues to frighten and unnerve us in Psycho.

And Norman’s creepy smile at the end, of course; although that’s my favourite bit.

[driftwork]

names, mostly surnames (1)

let me apologise for this partial list of names in the library,  titles available on request...

, Adorno, horkheimer, anderson, aristotle, greta adorno, marcuse, agamben, acampora and acampora, althussar, lajac kovacic, eric alliez, marc auge,  attali, francis bacon (16th c), aries, aries and bejin, alain badiou, beckett, hallward, barnes, bachelard, bahktin, volshinov, baudrillard, barthes, john beattie, medvedev, henri bergson, Jacques Bidet, berkman, zybmunt bauman, burgin, baugh, sam  butler, ulrich beck, andrew benjamin and peter osbourne, walter benjamin, ernest bloch, blanchot,  bruzins,  bonnet,  karin bojs,  bourdieu,  j.d. bernal, goldsmith,  benveniste, braidotti,  brecht,  burch, victor serge, andre breton, judith butler, malcolm bull, stanley cohen, john berger, etienne balibar, david bohm, gans blumenberg, martin buber, christopher caudwell, micel callon, albert camus, agnes callard,  castoridis, claudio celis bueno, carchedi and roberts, Marisol de la cadena,  mario blaser, nancy cartwright, manual castells, mark  currie, collingwood, canguilhem, mario corti, stuart hall, andrew lowe, paul willis, coyne, stefan collini, varbara cassin, helene cixous, coward and ellis, clastres, carr, cioren,  irving copi, cassirer, carter and willians, margeret cohen,  Francoise dastur, guy debord, agnes martin,  michele bernstein, alice, lorraine dastun, debaise, Gilles Deleuze, deleuze and gattari, guattari, parnet, iain mackenzie, bignall, stivale, holland, smith, james williams, zourabichvili, paul patton, kerslake,  schuster, bogue, bryant,  anne sauvagnargues, hanjo berresen, frida beckman, johnson, gulliarme and hughes, valentine moulard-leonard, desai,  dosse, duttman, d’amico,  benoit peters, derrida, hinca zarifopol-johnston, sean gaston,  discourse, mark poster, foucault,  steve fuller, markus gabrial, rosenbergm  milchamn, colin jones,  van fraasen,  fekete,  vilem flusser, flahault, heri focillon, rudi visker, ernst fischer,  fink, faye, fuller, fiho, marco bollo, hans magnus enxensberger, leen de bolle, canetti, ilya enrenberg,  thuan, sebastion peake, mervyn peake, robert henderson, reimann, roth,  bae suah,  yabouza, marco bellatin, cartarescu, nick harkaway, chris norris, deLanda, regis debray, pattern and doniger,  soame jynens, bernard williams, descartes, anne dufourmanteille, michelle le doeuff, de certaeu , deligny, Georges Dumezil, dumenil and levy,  bernard edelman, victorverlich, berio, arendt, amy allen, de beauvior,hiroka azumi,  bedau and humphreys,  beuad,  georges bataille, caspar  henderson,  chris innes,  yevgeny zamyatin,  louis aragon, italo calvino, pierre guirard,  trustan garcia, rene girard, paul gilroy, michal gardner,  andre gorz, jurgan gabermas, martin gagglund, beatrice hannssen, jean hyppolyte, axel honneth, zizek and crickett, stephen heath,  calentin groebner, j.b.s. haldane,  ian hacking,  david hakken,  hallward and oekken,  haug, harman, latour, arnold hauser, hegel, pippin, pinksrd, michel henry, louis hjelmslev,  gilbert hardin, alice jardine, karl jaspers, suzzane kirkbright, david hume,  thomas hobbes, barry hindus, paul hirst, hindess and hirst, wrrner hamacher,  bertrand gille,  julien huxley, halavais, irigaray, ted honderich, julia kristeva, leibnitz, d lecourt,  lazzaroto, kluge and negt, alexander kluge, sarah kofman, alexandre kojeve,  kolozoya, keynes,  richard kangston, ben lehman, kant,  francous jullien, fred hameson, sntonio rabucchi, jaeggi, steve lanierjones, tim jackson,  jakobson,   joeseph needham, arne de boever,  marx and engels, karl marx, frederick engels, heinrich,  McLellen , maturana and varuna,  lem, lordon, jean jacques-lecercle,  malabou,  marazzi,  heiner muller,  mary midgley, armand matterlart, ariel dorfman, matakovsky, nacneice, lucid,  victor margolis, narco lippi,  glen mazis, nair,  william morris,  nabis,  jean luc nancy,  geoffrey nash,  antonio negri,  negri and hardt, hardt, keith ansell pearson, pettman, william ruddiman, rheinberger, andre orlean, v.i. vernadsky,  rodchenko,  john willet, tarkovsky, william empson,  michel serres,  virillio, semiotexte, helmut heiseenbuttel,  plessner, pechaux, raunig, retort,  saito,  serres, dolphin, maria assad, spinoza,  bernard sharratt, isabelle stengers,  viktor shklovsky,  t. todorov,  enzo traverso, mario tronti,  todes, ivan pavlov,  whitehead, frank trentmann, trubetzkoy, rodowink, widderman, karl wittfogel, peter handke, olivier rolin, pavese,  robert walser, petr kral, von arnim,  sir john mennis,  ladies cabinet,  samuel johnson, edmund spenser,  efy poppy, yoko ogawa, machado,  kaurence durrell,  brigid brophy,  a. betram chandler, maria gabriella llansol, fowler,  ransmayr,  novick, llewellyn,  brennan, sean carroll,  julien rios, pintor, wraxall,  jaccottet, tabucchi,  iain banks, glasstone,  clarice lispector,  murakami, ludmilla petrushevskaya,  motoya, bachmann, lindqvist,  uwe johnson, einear macbride,  szentkuthy,  vladislavic, nanguel,  mathias enard,  chris tomas, jonathan meades,  armo schmidt, charles yu, micheal sorkin, vilas- matas, varesi, peter weiss,  stephenson, paul legrande,  virginie despentes, pessoa,  brin,  furst, gunter trass, umberto eco, reid, paul,klee, mario levero, hearn, judith schalansky, moorhead,  margert walters, rodchenko and popova, david king, alisdair gray, burroughs, ben fine, paul hirst, hindess,  kapuscinski, tchaikovsky,  brooke-rose, david hoon kim, helms,  mahfouz, ardret,  felipe fernandez-armesto,  young and tagomon,  aronson,  bonneuil and  fressoz, h.s. bennett, amy allen, bruckner brown, honegger, bernhard,  warren miller, albert thelen,  margoy bennett, rose macauley,  nenjamin peret, sax rohmer, angeliki, bostrom, phillip ball, the invisible commitee, bataille and leiris,  gregory bateson, michelle barrett and mary mcintosh, bardini, bugin, mcdonald, kaplan, buck-moores,  chesterman and lipman,  berman,  cicero, chanan,  chatelet,  helene cixous, iain cha,bers,  smirgel, norman clark, caird, camus,  clayre, chomsky, critchley,  curry,  swingewood,  luigi luca cavelli-sforza,  clark, esposito, doerner,  de duve, alexander dovzhenko, donzelot,  dennet, doyle, burkheim, de camp,  darwin,  dawkins,  didi-huberman, dundar, george dyson, berard deleuze, evo, barbara ehrenrich,  edwards,  e isenstein, ebeking, economy and society, esposito,  frederick gross,  david edgeerton,  douglas,  paul,feyerband,  jerry fodor,  gorrdiener,  tom forester, korsgaard,  fink,  floridi, elizabeth groscz, pierre francastel,  jane jacobs,  francois laplantinee,  gould,  galloway, goux,  godel, grouys, genette,  gil, kahloo, giddens,  martin gardner,  gilbert and dubar, hobbes,  herve, golinski, grotowski, glieck,  hayles, heidegger, huxley, eric hobsbawn, jean-louis hippolyte,  phillip hoare, tim jordan,  david harvey, hawking, hoggart,  rosemary jackson,  myerson,  mary jacobus, fox keller, illich,  sarah fofman, sylvia harvey, john holloway, han,  jaspers, yuk hui,  pierre hadot, carl gardner,  william james, bell hooks,  edmond jabes,  kierkegaard, alexander keen, kropotkin, tracy kidder,  mithen, kothari and mehta, lind,  c. joad,  bart kosko, kathy myers,  kaplan,  luce irigaraay, patrick ke iller, kittler,  catherine belsey,  kmar,  klossowski, holmes, kant, stanton,  ernesto laclau, jenkins, la mouffe,  walter john williams, adam greenfield, susan greenfield, paul auster, viet nguyen, jeremy nicholson,  andy weir, fred jameson,  lacoue-labarthe,  bede,  jane gallop, lacan,  wilden,  willy ley,  henri lefebvre, rob sheilds,  sandra laugier, micheal lowy, barry levinson, sylvain lazurus, lousardo, leopardo, jean-francois lyotard, jones,  lewontin,  steve levy,  alice in genderland,  laing, lanier, lakatos, laurelle, luxemburg,  lukacs, jarsh,  james lovelock, ideologu and consciousness, economy and society, screen, deleuze studies, deleuze and guattari studies,  bruno latour, david lapoujade,  stephen law, primo levi,  levi-strauss,  emmanuel levinas,  viktor schonberger, pierre levy, gustav landaur,  robin le poidevin,  les levidow, lautman, david cooper,  serge leclaire, catherine malabou, karl kautsky, alice meynall,  j.s. mill, montainge,  elaine miller, rosa levine-meyer, jean luc marion, henri lefebrve,  lipovetsky, terry lovell,  niklas luhmann,  richard may, machiavelli, richard mabey, john mullzrkey,  meyerhold, edward braun,  magri,  murray, nathanial lichfield, noelle mcafee,  hans meyer,  ouspensky, lucretius, asa briggs, william morris, christian metz, laura mulvey, len masterman,  karl mannheim, louis marin, alaister reynolds,  antonio  munoz molina,  FRAZER,  arno schmidt,  dinae waldman,  mark rothko, cornwall, micheal snow, sophie henaff, scarlett thomas,  matuszewski, lillya brik,  rosamond lehman , morris and o’conner,  nina bawden, cora sandel, delafield, storm jameson,  lovi , rachel ferguson,  stevie smith, pat barker, miles franklin, fay weldon,  crista wolff, grace paley, v. woolf, naomi mitchinson, sheila rowbotham,  e, somerville and v ross, sander marai,  jose  saramago,  strugatsky, jean echenoz, mark robso,  vladimir Vernadsky,  chris marker, Kim Stanley Robinson,  mario leverdo,  r.a. lafferty, martin bax, mcaulay, tatyana tolstaya,  colinn kapp,  jonathan meades,  franco fortini,  sam delany, philip e high, h.g. adler, feng menglong,  adam thorpe,  peeter nadas,  sam butler, narnold silver,  deren,  joanna moorhead, leonara carrington,  de waal,  hartt, botticelli,  charbonneau, casco pratolini,  murakami, aldiss,  guidomorselli, ludmilla petrushevskaya, ,schulz,  de andrade, yasushi. inoue, renoir,  amelie  nothomb,  ken liu,  prynne,  ANTIONE VOLODINE, luc brasso,  angela greene,  dorothea tanning,  eric chevillard,  margot bennett w.e. johns, conan doyle,  samuel johnson,  herge,  coutine-denamy, sterling, roubaud,  sloan, meiville,  delarivier manley, andre norton, perec, edward upward, tom mcCarthy,  magrinya,  stross,  eco, godden,  malcolm lowry,  derekmiller,  ismail kadare,  scott lynch, chris fowler, perter newman,  suzzana clarke,  paretky, juliscz balicki,  stanislaw maykowski, rajaniemi, william morris, c.k. crow,  ueys,  oldenburg,  mssrc chwmot,  will pryce,  munroe,  brnabas and kindersley, tromans,   lem, zelazny,  mitchinson, harry Harrison,  konstantin tsiolkovsky,  flammerion,  harrison, arthur c clarke, carpenter, john brunner,  anhony powell,  ted white, sheckley,  kristof, kempowski, shingo,  angelica groodischer,  rolin,  galeanom  dobin,  richard holloway,  pohl and kornbulth,  e.r. eddison,  ken macleodm  aldiss,  dave hutchinson,  alfred bester, budrys,  pynchon,  kurkov,  wisniewski_snerg, , kenji miyazawa,  dante,  laidlaw,  paek nam_nyong, maspero, colohouquon, hernandez,      christina hesselholdt, claude simon, bulgaakov,  simak,  verissimo,  sorokin,  sarraute,  prevert,  celan, bachmann,  mervin peake,  olaf stapledon,  sa rohmer,  robert musil,  le clezio,  jeremy cooper,  zambra,  giorgio de chirico,  mjax frisch,  gawron,  daumal,  tomzza,  canetti,  framcois maspero,  de quincy, defoe, green,, greene, marani,  bellatin,  khury, tapinar,, richmal crompton,  durrenmat,  fritz,  quintane,  volponi,  nanni balestrini,  herrera,  robert walser,  duras,  peter stamm,  m foster,  lan wright,  their theotokism  agustn de rojas, paul eluard,  sturgeon,  hiromi kawakomi,  sayaka murata,  wolfgang hilbig,  hmilton,  z  zivkovic,  gersson,  mallo,  bird,  chaudrey, Toussaint, Can Xue, Lewis Mumford, neitzsche, popper, zizek, scott westerfield, rousseau, lewis munford, tod may,  penelope maddy, elaine marks,  isabelle courtivron, leroi, massumi,  david sterritt, godard, millican and clark, macabe, negri,  mauss, maiimon, patrica maccormack, moretti, courtney humphries,  monad, moyn, malina, picasso, goldman, dambisa moyo,  merleau-ponty, Nicholson, knobe and nichols, poinciore, morris, ovid, ming, nail, thomas more, richard mabey,  macfarlane,  piscator,  louis-stempal,  negrastini, moore,  jacquline rose,  rose and rose, ryle, roszick, rosenburg, ravisson, paul ricoer,  rossler,  chantl mouffe,  david reiff, plato, slater, rowlands, rosa, john roberts,  rhan, dubios and rousseau, ronell,  jacques ranciere, mallarme,  quinodoz, peterpelbert, mary poovey, mackenzie, andrew price, opopper,  roger penrose, lu cino parisi,  gavin rae, parker and pollack,  mirowoski, perniola, postman, panofsky, propp, paschke and rodel, andre pickering, massabuau, lars svenddsen,  rosenberg and whyte, t.l.s. sprigger,  nancy armstrong,  sallis,  dale spender,  stanislavski,  vanessa schwartz,  shapin and shaeffer, sally sedgewick,  signs,  gabriel tarde,  charles singer, adam smith,  simondon,  pascal chablt,  combes, jon roffee, edward said,  sen,  nik farrell fox, sartre,  fred emery,  scholes, herbert spencer, ruth saw, spinoza,  raphael sassower, henry sidgewick, peter singer,  katarznya de lazari-radek,  piaget,  podach,  van der post, on fire, one press,  melossi and  pavarini,  pearl and mackenzie,  theirry paquot, tanizaki, RHS,  stone,  richard sennett,  graham priest,  osborn and pagnell, substance, pedrag cicovacki, schilthuizen,  susan sontag, gillian rose,  nikolas rose,  g rattery taylor, rose,  rajan,  stuart sim,  max raphael,  media culture and society,  heller- roazen,  rid, root, rossi, gramsci, showstack sasson, david roden,  adrew ross, rosenvallion, pauliina remes, pkato, peter sloterdijk, tamsin shaw, george simmel, bullock and trombley, mark francis,  alain supiot, suvin, mullen and suvin, stroma,  maimonides,  van vogt,  the clouds on unknowing, enclotic, thesis 11,  spivack,  kate raworth,  h.w. richardson,  hillial schwartz, stern, rebecca solnit, rowland parker,  pickering,  lukacs,  epicriud, epicetus, lucrtious,  aurelies,  w.j.oates,  thor Hanson,  thompson, mabey,  sheldrake,  eatherley,  plato, jeffries,  dorothy richardson,  arno schmidt,   earl derr biggersm  mary borden, birrel, arno schmidt,  o.a. henty,  berhard steigler,  victor serge,  smith,  joyce salisbury, pauer-studer,  timpanaro,  s helling, schlor, norman and welchman,  searle, emanuele severarimo,  tomasello, sklar, judith singer, walmisley,  thomas malthus,  quentin meilassoux,  alberto meelucchi,  mingione, rurnbull,  said, spufford and  uglow,  zone,  j.j.c. smartt, sandel, skater, songe-moller,  strawson,  strawson, strawson, raymond tallis,  toscano,  turkle,  tiqquin, diggins,  j.s. ogilivy, w.w. hutchings,  rackgam,  deiter roth,  dowell,  red notes,  campbell and pryce,osip brik, lilya brik, mayakovsky, zone, alvin toffker, st exupery, freya stark, warson, walsh, wooley, tiles and oberdick, timofeeva, richardson, marcuse,  marder,  wright,  ushenko, tolson, albebers and moholy- nagy, alyce mahon, gablik, burnett, barry, hill, fontaine, sanuel johnson,justin, block, taylor, peter handke, jacques rivette,  william sansom, bunuel and dali, tom bullough, aldius huxley, philip robinson, spendor, tzara,  wajcman, peter wohlleben,  prigogini,  paolo virno,  jeremy tunstall, theweliet,  taussig,  tricker,  vince,  thomss, williams,  vogl, new german critique,  e.p. thompson,  jean wahl, paul virilio, lotringer, christy wampole, verhaeghe, janet wolff, anna kavan, vergara,  uexkull,  couze venn, barry smart, vico,  vatimo, vernant, raoul vaneigem,  ibn warraq, vertov,  williams,  meiksins wood, norbert weiner, peter wollen,  h.g. wells,  michelle walker, , jeanne waelit  walters,  shaw and darlen, whorf,  ward and dubois,  john wright,  weinart, wolff, willis, wark, cosima wagner, j. weeks,  judith williamson,  welzbacher, erik olin wright, wittgenstein, kenny,  zeldin, wenders,  henry miller, wenkler, arrighi,  banks, innes, ushereood, kristeva, john cage, quignard,  t.f. powys, siri hustveldt, lem,  zelazny, mitchonson,  tsilolkovsky, toussaint, heppenstall, garrigasait, de kerangal, haine fenn, jean bloch,  geoff ryman, reve, corey, asemkulov, ernaux,  gareth powell, cory,  deleuze and guattari studies, cse, allain and souvestre, apolinaire, jane austen, john arden, aitmatov,  elizabth von arnim, paul auster, abish,  ackroyd, tom gunn, lorca, akhmatov, artuad,  simon armatige, albahari, felipe alfau, audem auden and soendor, varicco, barrico, bainbridge, asturias, ronan bennett, beckett, paul bowles, jane bowles, celine, bukowski,  wu ming, blissert,  kay boyle,  andrei  bely,  hugo barnacle,  BOLL,  isak dineson, karen blikson,  brodsky,  richmel crompton,  berry, barthleme,  mary butts, leonora carrington, cage,  chevhillard,  canetti,  cendres,  butor,  cortazar, danielewski,  bertha damon,  dyer, havier cercas, micheal dibden, marguerite duras, john donne, duras, durrell,  dorrie,  Fredric durrenmatt,  heppenstahl, eco, enzensberger, evanovich, fruentes,  farrell,  alison fell,  alisdair gray,  hollinhurst,  andre gide,  jean giono, gadda, henry green,  grass,  andre gorz,  william gibson,  joyce,  gombrowitz,  alex laishley, murakami,  herve guibert,  franz kafka,  juenger, junker, kapuscinski, laurie king,  kundera,  mcewan, ken macleod,  ian macdonald,  moers,  meades,  vonda macintyre,  nalmstom, maillert,  havier marias,  jeff noon,  anaus nin,  david nobbs,  peter nadas,  nabokov,  iakley, oates,  raymond queneau,  cesare pavese, paterson, ponge,  perte, perec, chinery, ovid,  genette,  kandinsky, robert pinget, richard piwers,  rouvaud, sloan, surrralist poetry, ilya troyanov, paul,raabe,  julien rios, arne dahl, pierre sollers, rodrigruez,  chris ross, renate rasp, ruiz, rulfo, tove jannsson, cabre,  vladislavic, tokarczuk, pessoa, jane bowles, calvino, lispector, lydia davis, can xue,  sebald, peter tripp,  hertzberg,  virginia woolf,  zozola, sorrentino, higgins,  v.w. straka, cogman, freud, jung, klein, winnecot, lacan,  fordham, samuels,  jung, freud, appignesai,  bjp, pullman, magnam, sybil marshall, mccarten,  galbraith, jewell,  lehmann,  levy,  levin, jung,  spinoza,  fairburn,  jung, sandler,  lacan,  laplanche,  pontalis, can, xue,  klein, cavelli, hawkins, stevens,  hanna segal, bollas,  welldon,  williams,  sutherland, buon,  symington,  morrison,  brittain,  sidoli, sidoli,  holmes, bowlby, winnecott,   bollas,  kalschiid,  malan, patrick casement,  anna frued, wittenburg,  liz wright,  fordham, fairburn, symington, sandler,  jung, balint,  coltart,  west, steiner,  van der post,  stern,  green,  roustang,  adrew samuels,  d.l. sayers,  salom, krassner,  swain,  rame and fo,  storr,  cogman,  hessen,  penelope fitzgerald,  cummings, richard holloway,  juhea kim,  glenville, heyer, cartland,  kim, cho,  atkinson,  james,  king, audten,  hartley,  du maurier,  bronte,  thomas, plath, leon,  camillairi, kaussar, fred fargas, boyd,  sjowall and wahloo,  pheby,  morenno-garcia, perrsson,  herron, nicola barker, arronovitch,  karen lord, stephen frosh, ernest jones, flamm o’brien, shin, mishra, chin jin-young and so on to the warm horizon

[byneddiedingo]

Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh in Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson, Patricia Hitchcock, Vaughn Tyler, Lurene Tuttle, John Anderson, Mort Mills. Screenplay: Joseph Stefano, based on a novel by Robert Bloch. Cinematography: John L. Russell. Art direction: Robert Clatworthy, Joseph Hurley. Film editing: George Tomasini. Music: Bernard Herrmann.

I think the most Hitchcockian moment in Psycho is the scene in which Norman disposes of the evidence by sinking Marion Crane's Ford in the swamp with her body and the slightly less than $40,000 she stole in its trunk. We watch as the car slowly settles into the murk with a comically disgusting blurping sound. And then it stops, and we watch Norman's face as he anxiously bites his lip. But just as he is starting out to see if he can help sink it farther, the blurping noise returns and the car sinks to the depths. Who doesn't feel Norman's anxiety and relief in that scene, even though he's a psychotic murderer? This trick of alienating viewers from their own moral values is essential to the greatness of Alfred Hitchcock. On the other hand, I used to think that the least Hitchcockian moment in the film was the psychiatrist's long-winded explanation of Norman's dual-personality disorder, which tells us nothing that we don't already know. But now I think it's a bit of masterstroke. Simon Oakland's performance as the psychiatrist is so florid and self-satisfied that it reveals the character as a pompous showboater, which only heightens the cool, ironic smugness of Norman/Mother in the film's chilling final moment. He/she wouldn't hurt a fly, indeed. What is there to say about Psycho otherwise? That Anthony Perkins is nothing short of brilliant as Norman? Of course. That Janet Leigh's Marion is so well-crafted that we wish she'd been given roles this good throughout her career as a mostly decorative actress? Yes. That Bernard Herrmann deserved all the Oscars he never got for his work on Hitchcock's films? His score for Psycho, for which Hitchcock rewarded Herrmann with a screen credit just before his own as director, didn't even get a nomination -- but then, neither did his scores for The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Wrong Man (1956), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Marnie (1964). For that matter, Psycho didn't receive a nomination for George Tomasini's film editing, despite the shower scene, a literal textbook example of the art. (That the scene had been storyboarded -- perhaps with the aid of graphic designer Saul Bass, who later even claimed that he had directed it -- doesn't deny the fact that someone, namely Tomasini, had to lay hands on the actual film.) Yet Psycho remains one of the inexhaustible movies, those in which you see something new and different at each viewing, even if it's only to add to your stock of trivia. The last time, for example, I was struck by the fact that one of the cops guarding Norman at the end looked vaguely familiar. I checked, and he was played by Ted Knight -- The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter. How can you not love a film that provides revelations like that?

[mylifeinfiction]

Psycho by Robert Bloch

"In a way I can almost understand. We're all not quite as sane as we pretend to be."

This very well might've been a 10/10 if this was 1959, and I hadn't already been inside the mind of Norman Bates and his mother many times through Alfred Hitchcock's masterfully executed, unbearably suspenseful film.

But still, Robert Bloch's Psycho is a compelling piece of noir-ish pulp-fiction; a psychological thriller that delivers on the chills and thrills by bringing us into the world of the titular psycho in a way that humanizes them through their horrific acts rather than in spite of them. It's not that these acts are normalized or celebrated that creates our understanding of the disturbed psychology behind them, but the exact opposite; the acts of violence are so excessive and deplorable that they shine a blinding—if semantically outdated—light on the desperate, tortured mind committing them.

Bloch does wonders in structuring the narrative so that—even when you already know the ending—each beat of the plot pounds thunderously through the reader as they compulsively devour page after page. I read this in two sittings, and found myself so completely captivated that I immediately revisited Hitchcock's film upon finishing the book.

In my opinion, the film's Norman is better than the book's in that he's a more unassuming figure than the Norman described in the book. That and Hitchcock's truly epic handling of tension, an iconic score by Bernard Herrmann and George Tomasini's utterly flawless editing all make the film win out in the end. But in the handling of the supporting characters, the structural execution of plot and the calculated reveal of the book's twist, Bloch's work is unmatched on screen.

Mothers sometimes are overly possessive, but not all children allow themselves to be possessed.

8.5/10

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[agendaculturaldelima]

#ProyeccionDeVida

🎬 “PSICOSIS” [Psycho]

🔎 Género: Terror/ Intriga / Thriller / Asesinos en Serie / Slasher / Película de Culto

⌛️ Duración: 109 minutos

✍️ Guion: Joseph Stefano

📕 Novela: Robert Bloch

🎼 Música: Bernard Herrmann

📷 Fotografía: John L. Russell (B&W)

💥 Argumento: Marion Crane, una joven secretaria, tras cometer el robo de un dinero en su empresa, huye de la ciudad y, después de conducir durante horas, decide descansar en un pequeño y apartado motel de carretera regentado por un tímido joven, Norman Bates, que vive en la casa de al lado con su madre.

👥 Reparto: Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates), Janet Leigh (Marion Crane), Vera Miles (Lila Crane), John Gavin (Sam Loomis), Patricia Hitchcock (Caroline), Martin Balsam

(Milton Arbogast), John McIntire (Sheriff Al Chambers), Simon Oakland (Dr. Fred Richmond), Mort Mills (Oficial de Patrulla de Carreteras), John Anderson (Vendedor de Autos) y Frank Albertson (Tom Cassidy)

📢 Dirección: Alfred Hitchcock

© Productora: Paramount Pictures

🌎 País: Estados Unidos

📅 Año: 1960

📽 Proyección:

📆 Martes 13 de Agosto

🕗 8:00pm.

🎦 Cine Caleta (calle Aurelio de Souza 225 - Barranco)

🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️ Ingreso libre

🙂 A tener en cuenta: Prohibido el ingreso de bebidas y comidas. 🌳💚🌻🌛

[byneddiedingo]

 Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson, Patricia Hitchcock, Vaughn Tyler, Lurene Tuttle, John Anderson, Mort Mills. Screenplay: Joseph Stefano, based on a novel by Robert Bloch. Cinematography: John L. Russell. Art direction: Robert Clatworthy, Joseph Hurley. Film editing: George Tomasini. Music: Bernard Herrmann.

Psycho dir. Alfred Hitchcock | 1960

[featurefilms]

A Self-Made Hero (1996) dir. Jacques Audiard

[brokehorrorfan]

Studiohouse Designs has a new Psycho two-sided design available on short-sleeve ($25) and long-sleeve ($30) tees.

[guillotineman]

[kino51]

Psycho  1960