Date:1960 Type: Thriller / Horror Rating: 5/5 Colour: Black and White Director:Alfred Hitchcock Producer: Alfred Hitchcock - Uncredited
Comment/Synopsis
Janet Leigh steals some money from her employer and drives off into the country where she stops for the night at the remote Bates Motel. Here she meets motel owner Anthony Perkins and after having dinner with him, she makes the mistake of taking a shower. The film starts off as a typical film noir but when she gets to the motel things change. This is one of Alfred Hitchcock's great horror films. The now infamous shower scene is still shocking even though you know what will happen and reputedly Janet Leigh never had a shower again. The shower scene is frightening but also surprised audiences as the star of the film is killed off early in the film. The whole film is enhanced by Bernard Herrmann's score. This is a classic film, combining quality direction, production, acting and story. Amongst its ground breaking features is Hitchcock killing off the leading lady early in the film. This was not a film people expected Hitchcock to make and so he had to fund it himself as Paramount had refused to make it. Steven Speilberg says it is one of the creepiest movies that was ever made. Hitchcock's positioning of the camera helped to tell the story. The film is absed on the novel by Robert Bloch.
5/5 
Anthony Perkins
Janet Leigh
Vera Miles
Lurene Tuttle