Psycho (1960)

My daughter and I sat down last night to watch Psycho... the first time for her. Afterwards we re-watched certain scenes and discussed Hitchcock's use of audience expectations to build suspense and misdirect the audience. Hitchcock's genius lied in his ability to effortlessly read and anticipate what the average audience viewer wanted to see and then use that to his advantage. He does this to great effect on Psycho.

Hitchcock had seen the advent of low-budget horror movies and they were all making money, so he thought, "What would happen if I made a horror film?" So, he limited his budget to $1 million and shot the film, loosely based on the book Psycho by Robert Bloch. Hitchcock used books as inspiration, but he never felt compelled to stay true to the source material. After all, as he once said, film and literature are two different mediums. When making a film, staying true to the book is as invalid as staying true to a painting that may inspire you. Would you setup a camera and shoot a painting for two hours? No.

He and screenwriter Joseph Stefano concocted the opening of the film to revolve around Janet Leigh's character, Marion Crane, and her embezzlement of $40,000 instead of about the Bates Motel and the psychos that live there. Hitchcock was a great believer in what he dubbed the MacGuffin, which is basically a plot device that the audience felt was important, but in reality was only a tool to propel the story forward. In Psycho, its following the money.

So, when Janet Leigh shockingly meets her demise in the shower and Norman Bates, played brilliantly as Anthony Perkins, cleans up the crime scene, Hitchcock keeps the folded newspaper holding the stolen money on the end table continuously in the foreground. Why? Because the audience thinks that's what the movies about. At first, the audience thinks the story is about Marion Crane, but she dies, so then the movie MUST be about the money. The audience expects that Norman will stumble across the money and use it to escape his domineering mother. So, Hitchcock lets the audience think that, until Norman picks up the paper and throws it into the back of the trunk with the dead body, unaware the money is even there.

So now we're thrown into a tailspin.

For some reason, I've begun to feel sorry for poor, awkward Norman. I'm actually empathizing with his predicament and appreciate, on some level, his dedication to protecting his ailing mother from the murder.

And, if the main character played by an A list star just got killed off and the story isn't about the money, then now we have NO idea what is going to happen next. And, that's when Hitchcock has got you right where he wanted you all along.

That's why he's a genius and the rest of us are not.

Shot in black and white and with other strong performances by John Garland and Vera Miles, Psycho is a great film not because of the violence or necessarily the editing, but it, along with The Birds, Rear Window and North by Northwest, show how Hitchcock was so adept and using our own emotions and expectations against us.

We go into the movie theater, sit down and let Hitch steer the roller coaster knowing it's going to be an exciting ride. And he rarely disappointed.