Psycho (1960)
96%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: 8 wins & 13 nominations
Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn’t just create modern horror, he validated it.
Psycho, oh boy, where do I even start? You know that shower scene that everyone talks about? Yeah, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This movie is a freakin’ legend in the horror genre. And it’s not just because of the scares, it’s because of how it was made. Hitchcock was a mastermind, and he proved it with Psycho. The way he filmed it was so smooth and elegant, it was like watching a work of art. And let’s be real, he didn’t just create modern horror, he made it legit. So if you haven’t seen Psycho yet, what are you waiting for? Get ready to be scared out of your mind, but also appreciate the beauty of a well-made horror flick.
Production Company(ies)
Am Psycho Productions, Lions Gate Films, Muse Productions,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Shark City Bar and Grill – 117 Eglinton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence, sexuality, drug use and language
Year of Release
2000
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 49m
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Language(s):English, Spanish, Cantonese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 16, 1960 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 4, 2005
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Robert Bloch, Joseph Stefano, horror, box office success, budget, reviewed by Peter John Dyer, Philip K Scheuer, Jake Wilson, Chris Stuckmann, Jack Harrison, Wanda Hale, James Luxford, Jamie Broadnax, Cameron Meier, Howard Gorman, Sarah Brinks, R rating, shower scene, thriller, suspense, tension, surprise, virtuosity, control, taxidermy, heavy rainstorm, motel, mother-son relationship, iconic, Academy Awards, psycho-sexual, music score, top horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV premiere dates, worst horror movies, careers, newsletter, Fandango
Worldwide gross: $34,266,564
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $59,432,469
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,259
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 6,481,185
US/Canada gross: $15,070,285
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $26,138,140
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,320
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,961,015
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $8,604,463
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 994
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $7,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $12,140,910
Production budget ranking: 1,588
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $6,537,880
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $40,753,678
ROI to date (est.): 218%
ROI ranking: 597
Janet Leigh – Marion Crane
Vera Miles – Lila Crane
John Gavin – Sam Loomis
Martin Balsam – Det. Milton Arbogast
John McIntire – Sheriff Al Chambers
Director(s)
Alfred Hitchcock
Writer(s)
Robert Bloch, Joseph Stefano
Producer(s)
Alfred Hitchcock
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
8 wins & 13 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (107) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (4)
Psycho comes nearer to attaining an exhilarating balance between content and style than anything Hitchcock has done in years. Of course, it is a very minor work. But its virtues of tension, surprise, virtuosity and control are all major ones.
January 11, 2020
Peter John Dyer
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
It is one of [Hitchcock’s] most brilliantly directed shockers and also his most disagreeable.
April 22, 2019
Philip K. Scheuer
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
A brilliant technical exercise, an intimate character study, and the ultimate variant on the premise “boy meets girl.”
January 11, 2019
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Psycho continues to be thrilling to this day.
May 31, 2018 | Rating: A+
Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
Paramount won’t let anyone enter theatres where Psycho is playing after the picture starts. No one will want to leave before it is over.
June 16, 2017
Jack Harrison
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
The obvious thing to say is that Hitch has done it again; that the suspense of his picture builds up slowly but surely to an almost unbearable pitch of excitement.
June 16, 2015 | Rating: 4/4
Wanda Hale
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Psycho still works on the big screen. Its success lies in its ability to find horror in the mundane… the true horror of Hitchcock’s masterpiece is that (Norman Bates) could be anywhere, just waiting at that next rest stop.
May 27, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Luxford
City AM
The score alone is a supporting character. It makes various appearances throughout suspenseful moments in the story most notably the shower scene. Those high-pitched, ear-piercing violin strings will forever be associated with fear and catastrophe.
April 10, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Jamie Broadnax
Black Girl Nerds
Psycho allowed [Hitchcock] and his audience to fulfill their desires of observing a fascinating, macabre world by becoming a fly on the wall without being swatted.
November 28, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Cameron Meier
MeierMovies.com
Hitchcock forged career-best performances out of Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
June 10, 2021
Howard Gorman
NME
Any excuse to watch Hitchcock’s film is all right with me. I hope I never find myself in a motel as creepy as the Bates’ but I do enjoy returning there on my television.
March 24, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
For a report on what audiences experienced while watching “Psycho” when it was first released, listen to my own mother. My mom, Geraldine Calleri enjoyed seeing Hitchcock’s films. You couldn’t have found a more appreciative audience.
November 11, 2020
Michael Calleri
Niagara Gazette…
Plot
It’s the late 1980s. Twenty-seven year old Wall Streeter Patrick Bateman travels among a closed network of the proverbial beautiful people, that closed network in only they able to allow others like themselves in in a feeling of superiority. Patrick has a routinized morning regimen to maintain his appearance of attractiveness and fitness. He, like those in his network, are vain, narcissistic, egomaniacal and competitive, always having to one up everyone else in that presentation of oneself, but he, unlike the others, realizes that, for himself, all of these are masks to hide what is truly underneath, someone/something inhuman in nature. In other words, he is comprised of a shell resembling a human that contains only greed and disgust, greed in wanting what others may have, and disgust for those who do not meet his expectations and for himself in not being the first or the best. That disgust ends up manifesting itself in wanting to rid the world of those people, he not seeing them as people but only of those characteristics he wants to rid.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Anthony Perkins delivers a career-best performance as Norman Bates in Psycho.
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