Film Bulletin (27/Jun/1960) - Psycho
Details
- article: Psycho
- author(s):
- journal: Film Bulletin (27/Jun/1960)
- issue: volume 28, issue 13, page 45
- journal ISSN:
- publisher: Film Bulletin Company
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins, Bernard Herrmann, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, John L. Russell, Joseph Stefano, Martin Balsam, Psycho (1960), Robert Bloch, Vera Miles
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Article
"Psycho"
Business Rating: $ $ $
Hitchcock put aside subtle suspense for gruesome shock effects. Not for kids, but looks like good grosser in general market.
Alfred Hitchcock, undisputed master of suspense, the whimsical and the macabre, has gone in for the gruesome in this chiller. Definitely not for the kiddies, but it should prove a strong grosser in the adult markets. A fair marquee cast (Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh) an abundance of sex, terror, mayhem and some touches of sardonic Hitchcockian wit are the plus factors. On the debit side is a supposed surprise ending that will be too transparent for veteran mystery fans. The famed director employs shocker effects and weird camera angles for effect, rather than his more subtle suspense technique as the events in an isolated motel unfold with many twists and turns. Perkins delivers an off-beat (for him) performance as a strange young taxidermist who runs the isolated motel and lives in a sinister-looking Victorian mansion with his possessive mother. Miss Leigh registers sensitively as a runaway woman who has stolen $40,000 from her boss, and ends up slashed to death in a bathtub in Perkins' motel. Gavin and Miss Miles are good as Miss Leigh's boyfriend and devoted sister. In a supporting role, Martin Balsam is superb as a private investigator, especially during his interrogation scene with Perkins. Joseph Stefano's literate script, from a novel by Robert Bloch, the angular black-and-white John L. Russell photography and Bernard Herrmann's effective music add to the eerie atmosphere. After Miss Leigh is murdered by Perkins' maniacal mother, Perkins disposes of body, money and car in a nearby swamp. When Balsam comes to investigate, he meets the same knife-slashing end and swampy burial. Gavin and Miss Miles are saved from a similar fate in a terrifying, but not very surprising, ending.
