Data
Title: Psycho
Year: 1960
Length: 109 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Joseph Stefano, based on the novel by Robert Bloch
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Leigh), Best Cinematography (black-and-white) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white); currently #23 on the IMDb's Top 250
My reaction
Synopsis: a secretary runs off with stolen cash and ends up at an isolated motel
How I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Great. Narrative expectations are for sissies.
Characters: Good.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Indifferent. Similar to Vertigo, he breaks the suspense an hour before the end of the movie and never quite puts it back.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good. Perkins is great, but the rest of them are unnatural.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good). Knowing what's going to happen ruins most of the suspense, but it's still awesome.
Objective Rating: 3.2/4 (Very good).
What a great film. Although the "groundbreaking" special effects are dated, the story is still fun and fantastic. I'm not a huge Hitchcock fan, but I love to watch this often. Thanks for spreading the word. Feel free to join the conversation about films at http://khocolatemoose.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteWe'd love to hear what you think, and often.
Best,
KM
Where are the special effects dated? I didn't notice anything wrong with them, myself.
ReplyDeleteWhen Arbogast falls down the stairs is somewhat laughable by today's standards. Also, the car driving scenes are a bit dated. It's still a great movie.
ReplyDeleteKM
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