A classic picture regarded by many to be ‘the greatest horror film of all time’ is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
Adapted by Alfred Hitchcock from a novel by Robert Bloch, Psycho is the progenitor of the slasher film as we know it.
Its story, for those unaware (shame on you!) follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh – mother of Jamie Lee Curtis) who checks into a remote motel after stealing a heap of cash from her employer.
There she encounters mild-manner owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a troubled soul with an, uh, interesting relationship with his mother.
Released in 1960, Psycho polarised audiences, leaving many traumatised by its then-shocking level of nudity, violence and lurid plot twist(s).
Now? It’s recognised as the foundation of modern horror as we know it, and a work of spectacular importance.
Appalled critics of the time won’t be among those contributing to its 97% ‘Fresh’ score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
This includes The Guardian, who in a 2010 retrospective, called it ‘the best horror film of all time.’
As such, it can frequently be found at the top end of most ‘best ever’ lists – including Variety’s 2024 listicle, where it wound up in third place behind The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Among those singing its praises are The Times, who praised Hitchock’s ‘impeccable craft,’ and NME, who highlighted Perkins’ and Leigh’s ‘career-best’ performances.
‘Hitchcock’s black & white classic is a masterclass in directing, tone and acting performances,’ wrote CineXpress, while Los Angeles Times called it ‘one of [Hitchcock’s] most brilliantly directed shockers and also his most disagreeable.’
The positive sentiment is shared by home viewers, who have contributed to its 95% positive score from audiences online.
In the years since its release, Psycho has gone on to influence many of the greats which followed, including John Carpenter’s Halloween and Brian DePalma’s troubling 1980s film Dressed to Kill.
It also spawned three film sequels, for which Perkins would reprise his most iconic role.
In 1999, Psycho was remade by auteur Gus Van Sant, although the shot-for-shot approach did little to win over doubting audiences… and that’s before we get onto Vince Vaughn as Norman.
In addition to its film legacy, Psycho was also the basis for TV prequel Bates Motel, which starred Freddie as Norman, and Vera Farmiga as his mother.
Psycho hit the headlines again last year, with the release of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
In it, Murphy explored Psycho’s journey from page to screen, with author Robert Bloch being seen to base his novel on the tale of real-life killer Ed Gein.
In reality, Bloch new little about Gein, despite living only 35 miles from Gein’s home in Winsconsin.
Claiming that he’d already written most of the book by the time Gein was written in 1957, Bloch couldn’t deny the similarities.
‘I’d discovered how closely the imaginary character I’d created resembled the real Ed Gein both in overt act and apparent motivation,’ he said, per Galaxy Press.
The series also featured Joey Pollari as Perkins, in an episode which drew a crude, offensive connection between Gein’s crimes and Perkins’ struggle as a closeted gay man.
The series was met with contempt by Perkins’ son, Osgood, director of Longlegs and The Monkey – who told TMZ that he hadn’t seen it, but ‘wouldn’t watch it with a 10-foot pole.’
It may have traumatised its cast and audience, but Hitchcock had originally envisioned the thing as a comedy.
‘A lot of people looked at this thing and said what a dreadful thing to do, how awful, and so forth.
‘The content as such was, I felt, rather amusing and it was a big joke. I was horrified to find that some people took it seriously,’ he said on the TV show Monitor, four years after its release.
Psycho is streaming on BBC iPlayer now.