Factual error: When Janet Leigh is shown lying dead on the floor of the shower, there is a close-up of her open eye. The pupil is contracted to a pinpoint (obviously due to the bright lighting) where it should have been dilated. After the film was released, Hitchcock heard from several ophthalmologists who pointed this out and suggested he use belladonna eye drops in the eyes of "dead" people in future films, as the chemical prevents the pupils from contracting. (00:48:30)
Psycho (1960)
2 reviews
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin
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The original version with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins as a desperate woman fleeing with $40K to a old, off the road motel where a very lonely and dangerous Norman Bates festers and worships his mother while lusting and fearing others. His dark designs turn to murder in this Horror/thriller by Alfred Hitchcock and, though dated and in black and white, Psycho still scares with the best of them. Beware the basement or the shower, and especially "mother."
9.7/10. Possibly one of the best made horror movies of all time and one to watch around Halloween. It's intense, dark, and moodiness make for a perfect horror atmosphere. I would highly recommend it as I watched it on TV once, quite scary.
More mistakes in Psycho
Mother: No! I tell you no! I won't have you bringing some young girl in for supper! By candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap, erotic fashion of young men with cheap, erotic minds!
Norman Bates: Mother, please...!
Trivia: Although it lasts for only 45 seconds on screen, the stabbing scene in the shower took seven days to shoot and used 70 different camera angles.
Question: I'm doing horror movies in my Media Studies course and we're looking at this film in great depth. There were many themes that came up a lot in the film, mainly mirrors, birds and eyes. I've had loads of interpretations of all of these, but does anyone know what they symbolise?
Chosen answer: Birds are just a favourite choice of spooky animal that Alfred Hitchcock seems to use hence the film "The Birds". Eyes show the window to our soul where our deepest fears originate and who isn't scared of getting knifed in the shower. The mirrors i can't explain but I can suggest that it just looks creepy.