Psycho: Difference between revisions

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There was also an unrelated 1987 TV movie, ''Bates Motel'', involving a man who'd befriended Norman while being institutionalized with him, and on his release learns that the now-deceased Norman has willed the motel to him.

In 1998, Gus Van Sant released an almost shot-by-shot remake starring Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn. To the extent that it was the same as the original, it was widely regarded as pointless, and to the extent that it was different, it was widely regarded as inferior (probably the most notable difference being a shot of Norman [[A Date ~~With~~ Rosie Palms|masturbating]]). But the fact that somebody thought it might be a good idea suggests what a big place the original film has in the public memory. Indeed, Van Sant may have been doing us a favor: in his own words, he did it "so no-one else would have to". Look at the current trend of horror-film remakes (''[[~~The Amityville Horror (Film)|~~The Amityville Horror]]'', ''[[~~The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film)|~~The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]'', ''[[Halloween (~~Film~~)|Halloween]]'', ''[[~~The Hitcher (Film)|~~The Hitcher]]'', ''[[Friday the 13th (~~Film~~)|Friday the 13 th]]'', and even a new version of Hitchcock's own ''[[The Birds]]'' came close to getting made at one point), and you'll notice he was ahead of the game in preventing Platinum Dunes from touching this one.

In 1998, Gus Van Sant released an almost shot-by-shot remake starring Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn. To the extent that it was the same as the original, it was widely regarded as pointless, and to the extent that it was different, it was widely regarded as inferior (probably the most notable difference being a shot of Norman [[A Date with Rosie Palms|masturbating]]). But the fact that somebody thought it might be a good idea suggests what a big place the original film has in the public memory. Indeed, Van Sant may have been doing us a favor: in his own words, he did it "so no-one else would have to". Look at the current trend of horror-film remakes (''[[The Amityville Horror]]'', ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]'', ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'', ''[[The Hitcher]]'', ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'', and even a new version of Hitchcock's own ''[[The Birds]]'' came close to getting made at one point), and you'll notice he was ahead of the game in preventing Platinum Dunes from touching this one.

The shower scene is now part of movie culture, and the music used, along with the film itself, is used in many scholarly courses as prime examples of their chosen subject. It's also [[Trope Namer]] for [[Psycho Strings]] and [["Psycho" Shower Murder Parody]].

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{{quote| I suddenly saw a tender, vulnerable young man you could feel incredibly sorry for.}}

* [[Affably Evil]]: Norman. Movie-Norman/Anthony Perkins-Norman, that is.

* [[Alone ~~With~~ the Psycho]]: The scene where Norman and Marion have dinner. It works so much better if you pretend you're watching it without spoilers. You begin the scene wondering what the clearly-going-psycho Marion is going to do to the helpless mamma's boy. As the scene progresses you begin to fear Norman just a little bit more than her.

* [[Alone with the Psycho]]: The scene where Norman and Marion have dinner. It works so much better if you pretend you're watching it without spoilers. You begin the scene wondering what the clearly-going-psycho Marion is going to do to the helpless mamma's boy. As the scene progresses you begin to fear Norman just a little bit more than her.

* [[And Starring]]: "And Janet Leigh as Marion Crane"

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Specifically, bird motifs: the stuffed birds in the parlor and bird pictures on the walls, Norman comparing himself and Marion to caged birds and noting that she "eat(s) like a bird", Marion's surname is Crane, Norman eats candy corn in a birdlike manner, Marion's robbery happened in Phoenix. Even the trademark [[Psycho Strings]] (see below) are reminiscent of a bird's shrieks.

* [[Anticlimax]]: The scene in which the audience finds out the truth about Norman's mother forms an effective climax to the film, but as noted under [[Viewers are Morons]], the scene immediately following it (in which the psychologist details every aspect of Norman's psychosis in exhaustive detail) has been described as "an anticlimax taken almost to the point of parody".

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II or III.]] Marion steals $40,000, [[Kick the Son of A Bitch|but the man she steals from isn't the nicest fellow.]] Also Norman in ''II'' (Type V) as he has to deal with a couple of rabble rousers trying to [[Gaslighting]] him back into a mental hospital (to say nothing of the copycat killer that waited until the right moment--his release--to strike), and in ''IV'' (Type IV) as he has worse problems than a mommy complex to deal with--namely, fears that his coming [[Adult Fear|firstborn could inherit his chronic insanity]]--{{spoiler|and eventually incinerates the Bates Motel that had given him such bad memories as to erode at his sanity BIG TIME}}.

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II or III.]] Marion steals $40,000, [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|but the man she steals from isn't the nicest fellow.]] Also Norman in ''II'' (Type V) as he has to deal with a couple of rabble rousers trying to [[Gaslighting]] him back into a mental hospital (to say nothing of the copycat killer that waited until the right moment--his release--to strike), and in ''IV'' (Type IV) as he has worse problems than a mommy complex to deal with--namely, fears that his coming [[Adult Fear|firstborn could inherit his chronic insanity]]--{{spoiler|and eventually incinerates the Bates Motel that had given him such bad memories as to erode at his sanity BIG TIME}}.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Both played straight and averted. Considering how genuinely terrifying Marion's death is, and how unexpected it is when it comes, there's only one other casualty for the rest of the movie. Hitchcock reels you in twice with this trope.

* [[Asshole Victim]]: Lila becomes this in ''Psycho II''.

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** Gus Van Sant pops up in the same location in the remake, along with a Hitchcock lookalike.

* [[Creepy Basement]]

* [[A Date ~~With~~ Rosie Palms]]: Implied in the original; lamentably explicit in the remake.

* [[A Date with Rosie Palms]]: Implied in the original; lamentably explicit in the remake.

* [[Dead Hand Shot]]

* [[Dead Star Walking]]

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* [[Genre Shift]]

* [[Genre Killer]]: Many film historians consider ''Psycho'' to the be movie that killed [[Film Noir]], as the purpose of the first hour or so is to continuously set up and avert the tropes of that genre.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: We see Norman go in to stare at the dead Marion, then later see him leave the room and wipe his hand on his shirt. [[A Date ~~With~~ Rosie Palms|Yeah]].

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: We see Norman go in to stare at the dead Marion, then later see him leave the room and wipe his hand on his shirt. [[A Date with Rosie Palms|Yeah]].

** Towards the end of the shower scene, when Marion reaches out and grabs the shower curtain, the naked breasts of body double Marli Renfro are visible in the background out of focus. (Picture [http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/blog/?p=274 here], possibly NSFW).

* [[Gollum Made Me Do It]]

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** It's pretty obvious he suffers from this based on dialogue from the first film.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Arbogast clearly gets a moment of this.

* [[Peek a Boo Corpse]]: Even if you already know Norma Bates is dead, her corpse ''will'' freak you out. No eyes!

* [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]: Even if you already know Norma Bates is dead, her corpse ''will'' freak you out. No eyes!

** It's worse than that. Every bird in the movie was literally a [[Chekhov's Gun]] staring right at you.

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]]: Norman. It becomes more apparent when Lila Crane snoops through Norman's room and finds his toys.

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* [[Ur Example]]: Of the [[Slasher Movie]]

* [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story]]. One of 1,000 films based on good ole Ed Gein.

** To put this in perspective, the other movie famously based on this is ''[[~~The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film)|~~The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]''. {{spoiler|The primary difference is that ''Psycho'' reflects more on how seemingly harmless and normal Norman was, while ''TCM'' dwells primarily on the grisly nature of Gein's crimes.}}

** To put this in perspective, the other movie famously based on this is ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]''. {{spoiler|The primary difference is that ''Psycho'' reflects more on how seemingly harmless and normal Norman was, while ''TCM'' dwells primarily on the grisly nature of Gein's crimes.}}

* [[Viewers are Morons]]: Surely the only explanation for the psychiatrist scene.

** [[Roger Ebert]] criticized that scene in his 1998 review of the film, saying it "marred the ending of a masterpiece" and was "an anticlimax taken almost to the point of parody." Hitchcock, having made ''Psycho'' before villains as psychologically screwed up as Norman Bates were commonplace, may have believed that the audience would be unable to accept his behavior unless the motives were spelled out in explicit detail. Knowing that doesn't make the nearly-five-minute speech any easier to sit through, though.