CULT MOVIE: PSYCHO( 1960 )

"Wimpy", as this production was known during filming, is both typically Hitchcockian and something of a departure for the director. He made it for just $800,000, using the crew for his TV show, in a deliberate (and successful) attempt to recreate the feel of the exploitation thrillers which were developing a cult audience. He was quite shameless about the effect his film had, telling Truffaut he played the audience like an organ. As usual, there is a lot else going on. The way the audience is led to beleve that the real story is what happens to Janet Leigh's character is clever. There are squillions of references to birds (a plug for his next film?) and, of course, there's Norman Bates and his mother. For Perkins, this role was a breakthrough and a trap: he would usually play Bates ( in name or in character) from now on. By the way, the slashing noise you hear in the shower is the sound of a knife slashing into a melon.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock Cast : Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles

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