i loveee psycho
"what's your favourite scary movie?" do you have 3 hours i'm sorry in advance
i recently ordered this book about the ed gein case and learning that it was (quite notoriously) poorly documented is very interesting to me. this advanced sort of criminal profiling and forensic analysis wasn't utilized at all. because of this fact a sizeable amount of people think that he inspired psycho. let's not forget that the story of psycho was not hitchcocks creation and was first a book written by robert bloch—who stated that ed gein wasn't an inspiration for the character of norman bates. but that's not to say that there isn't a large similarity, because there is!
before talking about the movie itself i feel like its advertising is extremely important. hitchcock made it so it looked like there was an actress playing norma bates; made anthony perkins' character look shocked and scared on most posters; made it so people couldn't walk into the cinema in the middle of the movie. i love that amount of dedication! and it worked! that iconic twist. norman having a sort of split personality with his mother is so ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist it's hard to watch the movie without knowing what happens. it's such a shame.
and the casting!! anthony perkins is soooo pretty and cute and handsome. he's great as norman. of course i adoreee the shower scene probably a little more than the next person but the parlor scene is my first love. i can recite it from memory.