Tanya’s Score: Good-and-a-half*
Rated: PG (now) R (then)
Starring: the respective parents of Oz Perkins and Jamie Lee Curtis
Plot: When a woman (Janet Leigh) suffers a momentary lapse in judgement, she ends up crossing paths with the ultimate mama’s boy (Anthony Perkins) and his sinister mother.
Tanya’s Verdict: Despite showing its wear and tear of the last 60 years (in terms of a sometimes slow and stilted plot and unintentional humour), Psycho still holds up. The story is slow to build, the characters well-developed which leads to several chilling and (once upon a time) quite gruesome and frightening scenes. Anthony Perkins is perfectly cast as the boyishly charming yet awkward and turmoiled Norman Bates.
And it’s not just a cut-and-dried horror movie – there are a couple of underlying themes present including morality versus immorality and family dynamics – both of which ultimately lead to tragedy.
When I saw the original Psycho was playing at my local theatre, I jumped at the chance to watch this classic again – on a big screen, no less. And to introduce it to my kids before the surprise twist is revealed to them. Sure it’s a bit hokey here and there, even laughable. But ground-breaking and risqué for its time. We all enjoyed it.
*Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great