Sunday, October 21, 2012

1768 - Psycho

I saw the Hitchcock trailer the other day and ever since it made me want to revisit this.  I wish I knew someone who saw this film when it was originally released, before it became such a pop culture phenomenon and all of it's sweet surprises were spoilt.  As it stands it's hard to be overly impressed by it given we're fifty years later in the history of cinema and it's techniques are over-used by today's standards and we're so used to twist endings.  I imagine at it's time it was something spectacular.  Even the shower scene now seems tame - although, again, it must have set the standard to beat for all horror films that have come since.  What's most impressive for the time though, must have been the way it shifts it's narrative from characters - to me that's the true brilliance of this film. 
I've never delved into the sequels to the series, never felt the need, and I'm curious if anyone out there thinks it's worth the effort.
If you've never seen this and you're a lover of film you almost have to just out of obligation, but I just can't imagine you'll get out of it what it's original audience must have. 

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