Yes, Psycho was the first movie to come up with the idea of casting a major star (Janet Leigh was huge then), giving her top billing, marketing the movie around her, then killing her off early. Audiences were shocked because it completely overturned expectations set by generations of films, and it launched this movie into legendary status.

Many believe that it was criminal that Anthony Perkins didn't receive an Academy Award for his portrayal of Norman Bates in this film. I agree.

Psycho got four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Director, but one of the biggest mistakes the Academy ever made was not nominating Bernard Herrmann's score for this movie.

Ames: he has a weird relationship with his mother! Everyone: 👀😬

Amazing performance by Anthony Perkins.

When I worked in casting on a Warner Brothers made-for-tv-movie, Janet Leigh was one of the stars and she was THE SWEETEST lady I've worked with. We were shooting a scene in a small Tennessee town and there were 950 extras and their children, in a scene. When they would break to reset cameras and lights, it would take up to two hours to do the reset. Small children get very irritated when there is nothing for them to do. Ms Leigh would go to her trailer and grab a stack of Little Golden books, grab a director's chair, and drag it to a grassy area, where she would gather all of the small children. Then she would read them the stories, doing the voices as she read. She was SO SWEET!

I love Arbogast. He's such a cool character. The way he flips from his friendly way of interrogating to calmly pushing back on Norman's obvious bullshit. Every moment with him is gripping. And just phenominally well performed.

Marion Crane (bird) from PHOENIX (bird), eats like a bird in a room with stuffed birds, and her room No 1. has pictures of birds. Alfred Hitchcock was British and in Queen's English, a "bird" is slang for a girl/woman. The next movie for Hitchcock was THE BIRDS.

I'm so happy that you picked up on the acting chemistry between Anthony Perkins (Norman) and Martin Balsam (Arbogast). Their back-and-forth dialogues are a master class in rhythm and listening and connection. I've always thought those scenes are underappreciated.

Killer reaction! Hitchcock is as close as film comes to a Shakespeare; a genuine genius. His career spanned the silent era to the early modern era. He worked in several genres but was the undisputed master of the suspense thriller. He was a massively popular entertainer but also a true artist, both a master technician and a visionary that has kept cinephiles and academics analyzing his work. He was relentlessly innovative and experimental, and so much of what we take for granted in film these days either originated with him or was perfected by him. I also think he has more masterpieces than any other director: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, The Birds, North by Northwest... as well as so many underrated gems like Marnie, Rebecca, Sabotage, Spellbound, The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps, To Catch a Thief, Frenzy, Foreign Correspondent, Rope, Lifeboat... it's REALLY hard to go wrong watching Hitchcock! Also, if you have any interest in reading books on film/filmmakers, the Hitchcock/Truffaut book (in which Francois Truffaut interviewed Hitchcock) is one of the classics. Much of that interview you can also hear on KZfaq.

This is hands down the best reaction to Psycho that I've seen. You pointed out cinematic choices that I had never given thought to before. It's so refreshing to see someone react relatively blind, who actually knows something about film, whose reaction is more than, "that was probably really scary for its time!" I dearly hope you react to the rest of Hitchcock's best films. There's a zoom technique in Vertigo that Spielberg definitely used in Jaws! My recommendations for further Hitchcock are Rebecca (1940), Notorious (1946), Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and The Birds (1963)!

Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' - suspenseful, funny and 95% of the movie takes place in one room - it's a great film!

The music in the film is a character as important as the ones played by the actors.

Imagine if Norman took out a roll of “mento’s” and held it up while the car sinks and the “mento’s” theme song kicks in. What a brilliant commercial for “mento’s” that would make.

It's great that you pointed out how glorious the cinematography is, because Hitchcock filmed this with his TV crew instead of his feature crew to keep down costs, and the camera work was pounced on by the critics in 1960... But the whole movie was attacked by the critics then. Every single time you see this film, it actually gets better because there's so much to pick up on. Absolutely, positively, one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. Welcome to Hitchcock country. BTW, all your reviews are just beautiful.

Ames, did you notice the shot at the beginning when Marion's boss sees her in the car as he crosses the street? Same shot was used in Pulp Fiction when Marcellus sees Butch (Bruce Willis), who is also fleeing town after stealing from his boss.

Hitchcock was a genius. Other directors often call him "The Master." He has a lot of awesome movies. You might also like "Rear Window," "Marnie," "Vertigo," "Strangers on a Train," "North by Northwest," "Suspicion," "The Lady Vanishes," and many more. Oh, as you noticed, Arbogast was the jury foreman in "Twelve Angry Men."

$40,000 in 1960 has the same value as $423,000 today.

Fun Fact: The lady that was stabbed in the shower is Jamie Lee Curtis mom. Also, if you haven’t seen the movie The Shining(1980) check it out.

Bernard Herrmann was an absolute genius composer.

"You have an obsession with birds"--Ironic since Hitchcock filmed the equally creepy film "The Birds" three years later. Well worth a reaction.

For someone with no Hitchcock experience, this one definitely opens the door to one of the best rabbit holes in cinema. So many classics to choose from it's ridiculous. Hope to see more of him on the channel!! Love your reactions, keep up the great work!

Vertigo is one of my top 5 films. I already know you’ll love it-possibly even more than Psycho. I can’t wait for you to see it!

Hitchcock paid to have ambulances on hand at the screenings as a form of advertisement. Because the movie was so scary...

"My mother... She isn't quite herself today." Man I love Hitch films. You're in a whole new world now.

The Man who Shot Liberty Valance…. It’s such good western. One of the best movies ever made.

You are correct, the private detective Arbogast is played by actor Martin Balsam who played juror #1/foreman in 12 Angry Men.

42:47 That was absolutely amazing that you caught that Hitchcock super imposed the moms skull over Norman’s face at the end. Almost no one ever notices that. Wonderful reaction. I love your Star Wars shirt.

Marion's boyfriend, played by John Gavin was shortlisted for James Bond. Alfred Hitchcock's daughter Patricia played Marion's colleague in the office. Janet Leigh, who was married to Tony Curtis back then, played Marion. They were regarded as the most beautiful (or sexy) couple in Hollywood. They made Jamie Lee Curtis together.

FYI, in 1960, it was illegal for unmarried adults to be in the same hotel room and it was scandalous to have premarital sex.

The first time I saw “Psycho” it was by accident. It was 1980 and I was 14 and home and sick with the flu, I couldn’t sleep so I went downstairs to watch tv late at night. I began flipping channels looking for something good to watch, and I stumbled onto the part where Abrogast is entering Norman’s house. There was this suspenseful music as he went up the stairs I couldn’t turn the channel. When “mother” suddenly walked out and stabbed Arbogast it was such an unexpected shock that I threw my glass of water. My cat had been on my lap and she scratched my leg deeply when I jumped.

You have to understand how groundbreaking this film was. When this came out, not only had there never been a movie anything like this, all the psychological stuff was totally foreign to everybody watching. Nobody knew anything about stuff like this, which was why the long explanation at the end was necessary. Now you have to watch Vertigo, and North By Northwest, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, and....

I'm one minute into the video, and I already know you're gonna love this movie. Hitchcock was amazing, in the weirdest ways possible.

Pyscho gave birth to modern cinema. A film where the first half is just a big red herring storyline with one lead character getting offed and going in a completely different way with another lead character, a villain.

Lead actors Perkins and Leigh were given the freedom to interpret their roles and improvise as long as it did not involve moving the camera. An example of Perkins's improvisation is Norman's habit of eating candy corn. Throughout filming, Hitchcock created and hid various versions of the "Mother corpse" prop in Leigh's dressing room closet. Leigh took the joke well, and she wondered whether it was done to keep her in suspense or to judge which corpse would be scarier for the audience.

"Are we going to see the mother?" Oh, yes. Yes, we will. :)

The genius of Alfred Hitchcock. The movie was a huge hit. Lines around the block. Hitchcock was the first flimmaker to insist that nobody be allowed in the theater after the start of the movie. Before then, it was common for people to show up in the middle of a movie and stay to watch the beginning. Psycho changed all of that.

The film is a masterpiece and truly the mother of all psychological thrillers. Sir Alfred Hitchcock has done a great job here too. Everyone plays brilliantly, but Anthony Perkins' acting as the “mad” killer is truly incredible. The final scene alone, in which Perkins looks directly at the viewer and grins diabolically, is one of the most memorable final scenes in thriller film history.

My favorite and most satisfying scenes to watch are the confrontational ones between Norman and Arbogast and Norman and Sam. They are electric with the struggle of power dynamics, putting on pressure, and sussing out of information and are brilliantly acted.

That's the CRAZIEST way to take a shower! Getting in with it off then turn it on full blast and then SMILING ...now THATS psycho!

Hitchcock used a still photo of Marian then dripped water on it, so there was no movement or blinking in the shot of her dead. He was an absolute genius. His use of light and shadow, every camera angle…. His ability to manipulate the viewer’s psyche was unparalleled.

Hitchcock was the master of creating suspence by showing the audience the peril while keeping the character ignorant of the danger.

I love how Psycho spends so much effort in the first half getting you to think it’s a stolen money thriller about one character and then out of the blue swerves headlong into a totally different thriller with a different character. Imagine the reaction of audiences who saw this in the original theater release when that twist happens. (And that’s on top of the masterful direction!)

"What's with the obsession with birds?" Her name is Marion CRANE. He taxidermies birds. ;)

The blood in the shower scene was Hershey chocolate syrup. Hitchcock didn't like the way red blood looked on screen, so he found a substitute. Since the film was in black and white no one could tell the difference.

Ames, I'm not exaggerating when I say that this movie permanently changed how we watch movies in theatres. Prior to Psycho, it was traditionally accepted for people to just walk in while the movie was playing, and just stay in the cinema until the movie started up again and they reached the part when they came in. Hitchcock insisted that no one be admitted after the movie started, to keep the twist ending secret, and to avoid spoiling the movie experience. Theatre owners found that having published showtimes made it easier to manage crowds and concessions, so they (mostly) kept the practice ever since.

"Lifeboat" is set in--a lifeboat at sea, with a small cast, so how to get in Hitchcock's usual cameo appearance was challenging. He appears in a newspaper ad for losing weight lol

You pick up so many more nuggets of movie making gold the more you watch this. For me the dialogue does it-the natural way people talk, like you or I would in each scene. Brilliant.

"Psycho" was the first time a toilet in a bathroom was shown in a U.S. movie. What an auspicious debut! Since almost no American studio wanted to touch this film's subject matter, Hitchcock saved money by mostly using his production crew from the popular TV show "Hitchcock Presents" and shot the movie on a shoestring budget using a lot of his own money. It's a major Hollywood film created like a made-for-TV movie.

I love how you watch a movie the way that I look at a older movies. You watch it in the context of when it was first shown and you realize how a head of its time this type of flick impacted the viewing audience back then and see its effect and influence of future filmmaking.

I love this film so much. It's so rewarding to see modern audiences still appreciate how good it is!

the sequel, 25 years later, was a good sequel... same actors, and the ending...wow...

The sister is played by Vera Miles, who starred in two of the greatest westerns ever, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, both directed by John Ford.

I definitely think Tony deserved an Oscar for this performance.

No wonder people hate getting up in the morning, when the manufacturer picks the psycho theme song as the alarm sound, reee reee reee reee

Amy, one of the takeaways from this movie is that when you stay in a hotel/motel, you should ask for a room as far away from the manager’s office as possible. 😁 But seriously, thanks for reacting to this one. The way you jumped when Arbogast was about to get stabbed was great!

Back in the 80's, Universal Studios had a tour stop... You walk around the corner of that innocuous hotel, and see that house. I'll never forget that day.

I love your line: "The foreshadow is strong with this one,"

@Hold Down A please go down the Hitchcock rabbit hole for many of us he is the greatest director of all time. Id say The Birds, Vertigo, my favorite North by Northwest and Rope were my favorites but all are worth your time as a lover of films :)

OMG Ames, take a deep dive into this Mans work. He is known as the Master of Suspense for a reason. He once said in an interview, that t's not the BANG that scares you, it's the anticipation of the BANG that gets you. Love your channel and all Ames. Keep up the good job, and I hope you have fun when you react. Oh another tidbit Hitchcock always made a cameo in all his movies. Sometimes just standing there in a scene, never acted. lol I think it's funny, you just have to look for him.

Hitchcock was a genius, the birds, vertigo is such classics

Really hope you’ll do more Hitchcock! There are so many amazing films by him. Even his failures are fascinating to watch. Great reaction!

Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis mother. The Hitchcock film "Rear Window" is really suspenseful too. Great review as always Ames!

Hitchcock was brilliant almost beyond compare. He never storyboarded his films -- he created every single shot exactly the way he wanted them in his mind before shooting began, and then the shooting process was just him recreating his mental images. It's an astonishing way to make a major motion picture.

Amy, you are the epitome of passion. I saw this film as a kid in 1959 and with your reaction, I feel as though I was watching it for the first time. Thank you

Good job. Great to see someone pick up on all the nuances of the cinematography & 'hidden' clues.

Hitchcock couldn't get a studio to finance PSYCHO, so he invested his own money in the production. Brilliant! 👏👏👏👏

This score gave Paul McCartney the inspiration for "Eleanor Rigby"

So glad you enjoyed this classic film. It is amazing! Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren play in the 2012 film Hitchcock which focuses primarily on the making of this film. Excellent performances.

Like many other Hitchcock movies, "Psycho" is technically a masterpiece. How this guy never got an "Oscar" is absolutely beyond me.

Wow. You nailed the whole movie at around 11:00 with your remark about “two sides of oneself.” Nicely observed! Great reaction, Ames. I’d recommend “North By Northwest” and “Vertigo” for your next Hitchcock viewings.

Now you understand why Hitchcock was known as a master of suspense. Fun fact: Hitchcock makes a cameo appearance in most of his movies. During the office scene, near the beginning of the film, you didn’t show it here, but he can be seen briefly on the sidewalk, through the front window. Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh and actor Tony Curtis. Some other great Hitchcock movies you should see are Rear Window, North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief, and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Wonderful reaction. I remember showing this film to my young nephew years ago. He dismissed it at first because it was in b&w, but quickly became mesmerized by it. When it was over, he was like "What a great movie!" Of course I had to laugh at this. Many, if not all, of Hitchcock's films were experiments in filmmaking in one way or another. In "Psycho," the killing of Marion, the protagonist, disorients the viewer by eliminating someone the film spent some time investing itself in, disrupting the classical model of narration. The film sustains its momentum by transitioning the viewers' interest to Norman before settling on Lila and Sam. The thematic elements present in Psycho are classic Hitchcock cinema: psychotic behavior, voyeurism and motherhood. These themes are also explored in Hitchcock's Rear Window, Notorious, Vertigo and Shadow of a Doubt. Indeed, "Shadow of a Doubt" may be regarded as an early "Psycho" precursor. In "Psycho" these themes are explored in greater depth. Hitchcock's studio, Paramount, refused to fund "Psycho" because it had no faith in the source material. So, the film was an experiment in its production. "Psycho" is based on a 1959 novel by Robert Bloch of the same name. Today, both the novel and the film are considered masterpieces of the horror genre. Paramount also would not agree to distribute the film without major concessions from Hitchcock. These included Hitchcock personally financing the project himself while foregoing his usual director’s fee. For his part, Hitchcock retained 60% ownership of the film. Hitchcock mortgaged his own house to finance the film and shot it using his tv crew. Hitchcock had a popular weekly tv anthology series at the time. Clearly, he had a lot of confidence in his tv crew. This low-budget film quickly made millions and made Hitchcock a lot of money. The music for "Psycho" was by Bernard Herrmann, regarded as one of the greatest composers for film. Because the film was low-budget, Herrmann scored it for strings only as opposed to full orchestra. So, the effect in tone-color is also rather b&w. I think if you look at the score, say, of the shower scene, the notes resemble a slash! The dialogue in the film is also fantastic. I love how when Marion is eating, Norman drops a hint that his mother is like his stuffed birds. "She's has harmless as one of those stuffed birds." Marion's last name is "Crane," like a bird. This film is chock-full of all sorts of allusions and symbolism. Circa 1960, just about every car had bench seats. The gear shift was on the steering wheel column so that wouldn't have hindered you. Most cars were manual transmission, too, and without power steering or aircon. Also, by this time, seats were primarily vinyl and fairly slippery. So, it was especially easy to slide across them. The ignition, lights, and wiper knobs were on the dash. It was no problem to just slide across and exit the car on the other side if you wanted to. It could also be safer, if you were parking on the street. You could slide across and get out curbside instead of in the street. Or even because it was quicker to get where you wanted to go rather than walk around the car. Maybe the ground was muddy, too. Lots of reasons to do this. Ah, the younger generation. They don't know so much. They should go to old car shows and check out these beautiful old cars. By the way, if there's ever an EMP, I believe these old cars would still work, the new ones for sure wouldn't. Oh, by the way, that $40,000 would today be over $400,000. So not chump-change.

This movie is simply amazing. The level of detail in this is perfect. The shadows, the mirrors, the placement/names of birds littered throughout the movie. Hitchcock really was the master of suspense because the tension in this movie is unreal and I love how absolutely creepy they make Norman at times. One moment he seems like a shy, sincere guy, but later on he's smirking as if pleased with hiding the evidence. It's just such a great performance. And of course there's the reference they used in "Scream" when Billy uses the quote. "We all go a little mad sometimes. Anthony Perkins - Psycho."

This was really the first film to get into the mind of a deeply disturbed individual and give the public an almost psychoanalysis of a dysfunctional family relationship resulting in split personality and psychiatric compensation. Hitchcock knew how to get into the center of your mind and scare you.

I was watching other Psycho reactions and this shows up, Nice!

Bernard Herrmann's score is a masterpiece on its own. It, and just about everything else in this film, makes it a classic, and one I've watched many times, because it reveals depth of the many facets of the characters. By the way, it's candy Korn that Norman is constantly eating. Corn, like a bird, and I love the very amazing camera angle as Arbogast is looking at the motel register. Norman looks down and we see under his chin as he's nervously chews on the candy. I would go to "Rear Window" "Vertigo" "North by Northwest" and "The Birds." OH, and "Strangers on a Train."

The jaunty camera shifts and angles are brilliant. Instills a great deal of paranoia. Shadowing becomes foreshadowing. Darkness becomes fear. The classic band of light across the eyes in a dark room revealing a thought process either sinister or clever. I miss this kind of camera work.

It's not just, "Scream", this and Peeping Tom were the proto-slashers before the canonical stuff like Texas Chainsaw and Halloween solidified the formula in the 70s. And, yes, Hitchcock is a master.

My favorite Hitchcock is Rebecca.... Very sophisticated...brilliant.

They had an intermission with a ticking clock, giving you 5 minutes to leave the theater if you were too afraid to stay.

Btw this film was Soo ahead of its time and the dialogue at the end explaining his mental illness was Soo tastefully and intelligently done.

Hitchcock’s triumphant accomplishment. It’s withstood the test of time. So many movies were compared to this and have fallen short. It is a masterpiece and is considered a top ten movie!!

Check the story of Ed Gien, the real life killer who inspired Psycho. Robert Bloch, the author, used Gein as a basis

I'm happy for her that she has so many Hitchcock movies to see for the first time. Rear Window, Vertigo, Rope, etc. Hitchcock is the best.

Love your little comic collection in the background. I have all the #1 X-Men covers from '92.

You really need to see Psycho 2. it was made over 20 years after the OG... It is an amazing example of a really great follow up to a classic, where it lives up to the original while doing it's own thing! it is a MUST SEE

Hitchcock made plenty of good films. The three must-watch ones are Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo - which is his crowning glory.

The match dissolve between the shower drain and Marian's eye might be my favorite shot of all time.

This was the by far the best reaction I have over seen with this movie. I learned a lot about this movie from you even though I have seen it many times. Awesome! 😊

The first 10 minutes of Scream are absolutely inspired by this. The genius about Psycho is that you feel bad for Norman because we're not introduced to anyone else even somewhat relatable until *after* we start suspecting Norman. Up until that point we feel for Norman.

Psycho 2 (1983) Psycho 3 (1986) Psycho 4 The Beginning (1990)

I love how you picked up on the mirrors so quickly. That's extremely perceptive!

My mom told me this movie freaked out so many women that some were terrified of taking a shower unless their husband or a family member was home and standing by the bathroom door.

Actually shot/filmed by a TV crew.

I Actually got to see the Exterior Set of the Original Bates House at a Studio Tour before it was accidently Burned down. They Rebuilt a Copy of it for "Psycho 3". FOR THE SHOWER SCENE, For a ASMR, they were stabbing a Melon. They tried Several for the effect, and when asked which one he preferred, Mr. Hitchcock simply said "The Casabas... Definitely the Casabas". Ms. Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis's Mother) wore a Body Stocking for the Shower Scene, but because of the Camera Angles, the Audience thought they were seeing her Naked.

Hitchcock may not have invented suspense in films, but he mastered it. His pacing and his visual style gives you all the details and keeps you on edge. So many people have learned from his style, people as diverse as Spielberg, DePalma and Scorsese. Now that you've broken your cherry, just go all in with films like 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (1956), 'Rear Window', and 'The Birds'. But 'Psycho' is just an unforgettable film from his canon. So damned creative.

"Rope" is one of my favs Hitchcock movies. Although u can't go wrong with him.

Alfred Hitchcock was a master of his craft. Rear Window was his masterpiece

"Rear Window", "Dial M for Murder", and "The Birds" are great Hitchcock movies too!