Filmmaker reacts to Psycho (1960) for the FIRST TIME! 

Just want to say I love you guys. Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON first time watching tomorrow!

A huge part of the shock factor was the casting. Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother) was a huge marquee star, the only real star in the movie. Killing her off was mind-blowing at the time because it wasn’t ever done. Killing off Drew Barrymore at the beginning of Scream was an homage to this. She was definitely the biggest star in Scream at the time.

"Why she wouldn't even harm a fly." One of the greatest ending lines ever. :)

As a film student in college, I took a class that was nothing but Hitchcock. The guy was way ahead of his time. A true cinematic genius. If you love film, you can never go wrong doing a deep dive into his work.

Hitchcock hasn't really made much "horror" films, there are only two overly popular among common people i.e Psycho and The Birds that may fall into that category. He's called the "master of suspense" and mainly made suspense, mystery thrillers. He's an icon and his catalogue is as enthralling as it gets.

I love how this movie almost has you worried for Norman when that car stops sinking momentarily.

Such a twist that you follow that Marion character thinking she's gonna be the protagonist only to get killed off like that! Such a classic & hope you react to more of his films since you've seen Rear Window & now this one. Vertigo, The Birds, North by Northwest are a few of my favorites!

When you look at Psycho through the lense of when it came out in 1960 you find a very interesting but important choice that impact the film's importance and shock value, and that is how Hitchcock used casting to trick the audience. Janet Leigh (Marion) was a huge movie star at that point, in 1960 audiences are expecting her to be the lead and to follow her throughout the film, except Hitch kills her off half way through the film, leaving the audience in shock not knowing who would take over the story. The second important casting choice was Anthony Perkins (Norman), now to put in perspective Perkins at the time and in the 50s had made most of his career playing light, comedic boy-next-door types. He could play leading man or young son, but he always had darkness lingering beneath the surface. Audiences at the time are expecting this type of role but are instead given, in my opinion, the best horror villain in cinema history. Seeing Perkins brutally murder people shocked the public and sadly he would be typecast as "psycho" roles for the rest of his career in Hollywood. Hitchcock casting against type was one of his best decisions, something he did 9 years earlier with Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train. Also just shout out to the fantastic actor that was Anthony Perkins!

Rope is a gem. Though you can see the moments where the scenes are cut together, it tries to be 1 continuous scene, which is amazing for the time it was made.

Not sure if you spotted it, but at the very end of the "mother's" monologue when Perkins smiles at the camera, Hitchcock overlaid a couple of frames of the mother's skull.

Alfred Hitchcock and his wife were in bed one night with his wife reading a new book that had come out. she turned to Hitch and said you HAVE to do this film! she dies in the first 30 minutes ! so hitch pitched it and couldn't get financing. he and his wife mortgaged their own home to make it. Plus - the "blood" used in the shower was not blood - it didn't show up properly as blood in black and white, so they used chocolate syrup. Janet Leigh wore moleskin (a beige sticky material) over her private parts for the shower scene which took days to film (hitch was a bit of a torturer with the cool blondes he cast in his films - there have been films and interviews about it, including Tippi Hedren in the birds regarding the attic bird scene where real birds were basically thrown at her for days during filming).

And what's really amazing is that Hitch was 61 years old when he made PSYCHO. At a time when a lot of people have their eyes on retirement, this dude is still innovating, still pushing the art form to places it had never been. Really inspirational.

Hitchcock played a trick on the audience by making the first part of the movie seem like the ones he'd made before. Back then, theaters let people wander into a movie in the middle of a screening, but Hitchcock made theater owners promise not to let anyone in after the movie had started. He also asked audiences not to reveal anything about the plot (the word "spoiler" wasn't used in 1960).This gave the film the maximum psychological impact. You mentioned the music a few times. The score was by the great Bernard Hermann, who also did the music for Citizen Kane, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Cape Fear, Taxi Driver, and many other movies. The music for Psycho is so good that orchestras sometimes play it in concert as a stand-alone piece of music. My favorite Hitchcock movie is Rear Window. Maybe you could react to it sometime.

I remember hiding on the stairs as a kid whilst my mom watched this, it scared me so much I couldn’t sleep the entire night lol. The voice of Mrs Bates scared the crap out of me!

First toilet ever filmed in a major motion picture lol

Pretty cool that Janet Leigh & Anthony Perkins each had kids that would also go on to contribute to the horror genre. Jamie Lee Curtis in the Halloween franchise and Oz Perkins as a director/writer.

Jsmes out here yelling "red flag" like he's Danny from the shining

Vertigo is considered one of the best ever films. The 39 Steps is a great earlier one.

As a companion to this, i'd recommend watching Hitchcock starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. On top of a fun performance from Hopkins as Hitch, it shows the making of Psycho and all the stuff he had to deal with getting it done

Bernard Hermann's music score is masterful. You should do John Carpenter's 1980 film The Fog. It has both Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis (real life mother/daughter).

In my opinion, the ORIGINAL masterpiece of Cinema. Incredibly done! The fact that Hitchcock himself financed the movie because the big wigs are the production company weren't sold on the premise. Resulting in this movie being filmed in B&W, to keep costs down. The camera angles, the foley work and the soundtrack. Iconic. James, you are knocking these out of the park! Love and Respect from Scotland

I’m so happy you’re watching this!! I love Hitchcock! My absolute favorite of his is Shadow of a Doubt. Joseph Cotten is so good in it. He’s also in another fave of mine that I think you would really enjoy, The Third Man. Yay for old movies! Also, Hitchcock and his team had a real knack for playing with casting choices and casting against type.

Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock movie as well, with Psycho being an extremely close second. Next down from there would either be North by Northwest or Rebecca. If you haven't seen those ones yet, they are two more you should definitely add to your reaction list.

I remember seeing the poster for the remake, and thinking this film was about killer showers. Oh, to be young. It was fun to get older and learn about all the details that went into making this, like the film being adapted from Robert Bloch's 1956 novel, which was loosely inspired by Ed Gein. Also, Hitchcock's extensive battle with the Production Code, and him using the "no late admission" policy to heighten the mystery of the twist, and push moviegoers to see it for themselves.

I love how James is all about the camera work in the opening scene. How new the technique is. In a scene were there is a man and a woman who are not married, kissing in bed together. For the first time on film.

Suspense, not horror. That’s what Hitchcock did brilliantly.

13:34 "sower sheen", okay I laughed at that only because I said the exact same thing during my horror film class.

"That's a big knife". Well, as a general rule, I consider ANY knife that stabs me to be a big knife.

I managed to see it in a movie theatre during a Hitchcock mini-festival when I was in my early twenties. It's not less scary on a huge screen with a full sound system blaring the amazing score at you from all sides. :)

So great to hear about your mom’s influence on your film love. My mom also loved Hitchcock and introduced me to his films young and they become hugely influential in me going to film school. My mom died last year and every rewatch of these movies is bittersweet.

Psycho's impact can not be overstated. It started modern horror, moving it away from the campier movies made more for kids, and bringing it into a more real, disturbing and adult realm. Psycho, along with the underrated Peeping Tom, was the seed planted, then everything after tried to one-up Psycho being the growing plant, but Night of the Living Dead was the bloomed flower of modern horror.

This is why film history courses are nice. You can get comparisons to what was common in the day and then how this is groundbreaking. But it also seems to stand up pretty well so many years later.

Alfred Hitchcock really squeezed screams out of chocolate syrup, BUT John L russel as director of photography and the 19 people in the camera and electrical roles for this slice of history are the unsung heroes

Oh yes, a true classic in every sense. So good and unexpected several times over.

For some earlier Hitchcock, check out "The Lady Vanishes" and "Notorious". Also, if you haven't seen "M" by Fritz Lang (1931), you should add it to the list. It is a German movie from which so many movie tropes originate, including serial killers and police procedurals.

I just watched this in a movie theater with my dad for my first ever viewing. It's one of his favorites. Gotta say, when "Mrs. Bates" came flying out ready to stab the inspector, the violins gave me a straight up heart attack! I loved this film so much that it almost became my favorite Hitchcock movie over The Birds. Would love to see you react to that one!

You should look into the music composer of this film, Bernard Herrmann, the best film composer of all time. There is a good bio of him on RU-vid. His first film was Citizen Kane, and his last was Taxi Driver, with many all time classics in between.

Anthony Perkins' line about "being trapped in our own prisons" really hits a lot different once you learn he was gay.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm going through a few things but optimistic I'll get through it and come back stronger. Enjoy your videos and glad to hear your mother's influence made a positive impact on your life!

As always, I love the things you notice and the information you provide in your commentary. Thanks!!

It's absolutely amazing that you know so much about film making but haven't seen so many of the big movies. You're like an ultra rare gem!

Thanks for saying what you did in the beginning. I'm going through an awful time in my life right now. Just hearing someone offer some reassurance means so much to me. It sounded so genuine it just might get me through today thanks man

My favorite Hitchcock film is "Rope." Just brilliant, script & filmcraft-wise. Definitely would be a great reaction for you.

Dude, I know your channel for 5 days now, and I already watched EVERY reaction. Your analysis and know how of film making techniques are mind blowing. Great work, man! Keep up. Greetings from Kassel, germany

Your videos definitely help me, James. They help me focus on something else for awhile instead of my problems, and I always smile watching your reactions to certain things.

I love how he talks about his mama with such love and adoration. I hope I can be the kind of mama deserving of that someday; that my son would talk about me like this 💕

The death of the detective is my favorite scene of the movie... Most of the people who watch the film nowadays have been spoiled the shower scene... But the staircase scene is practically untouched... When Mrs Bates came out of the right side of the door... I almost crapped my pants... It was so quick... So well done... It was perfect

A singular film for sure. Later in the 60's, the scariest movie was Wait Until Dark, starring Audrey Hepburn. Terence Young directed and Henry Mancini scored it. Like most of Hitchcock's films mentioned here, it's also suspense rather than horror.

Something I learned from the RLM Re:View of this film. Mr. Hitchcook had been out of films for years when this was made. He was working 100% on his anthology horror TV series. This was filmed for budget reasons, was shot by his TV crew. This also explains why the shot's dressing and composition is SOOOO different than most films.

Right on James. A classic pick. So glad you select movies like this. I haven't watched yet, but as a filmmaker, I know you're going to love this.

“The Birds”..... another Hitchcock masterpiece! 💯🔥🤙🏽😎

Another great video, been enjoying them a lot last couple months, keep it up man!

This movie is one of those that will always be underrated. People assume its just one of those classics but it has such an affect that it always takes you off guard with how real and present it feels.

By the way, the son of Anthony Perkins(Norman Bates/the psycho) is horror movies director. His name Osgood Perkins and he made an excellent horror movie called The Blackcoat's Daughter, highly recommend it if you're into atmospheric horror.

a new subscriber here from having watched your Mulholland Drive reaction some days ago and then so many more videos of yours in between! a little surprising to me that you hadn't watched Psycho until now but it's not my place to say that since i only watched my first Hitchcock film this year, aha. my favorite works of his are Rope, North by Northwest, Vertigo and this! got 2 other friends of mine to watch this movie for the first time as well and it's always fun to see reactions to it. looking forward patiently to more of your content!

When she's being questioned by the cop on the side of the road, the camera angle shows him looming over her. It kind of reminds me of how the house looms over the motel later in the movie. Now that I think of it, the guy with all the money looms over Marion when she's at her desk. It creates an oppressive atmosphere. "She got punished for her sins" well yeah. This movie was made with the Hays Code still in effect and a woman who is sexually active outside marriage and steals money will be punished in the movie, thems the rules. Hitchcock used those rules in his favor though. He shocks the audience by following the rules, it's genius.

Tony Perkins was just such an incredible actor, stage and film, and a slim kind of gorgeous, he got typecast after this, but he LIVED in the theater! Plus, Robert Bloch's book was revolutionary for the time, pointing out that mental illness can come from things beyond our control, that one can do nightmarish things in response to what happens in their life, rather than Crazy being a Moral Failing, our fault.

New subscriber here. This was a very enjoyable reaction and analysis of such a classic film. I also want to show some appreciation for your sound quality and sound levels. I'm quite sensitive to sound and find it really uncomfortable to watch a lot of youtubers due to bad sound quality of various varieties, whether it be the movie and commentary sound being way off (where one or the other is either too loud or too quiet), or bursts of unnecessary shouting into crappy distorted microphones, among numerous other issues that make me wanna' throw my headphones out the window, lol. Whereas your sound in general is perfect. :)

when i did media studies in secondary (high) school, this was the first movie we had to study and analyse. probably increased my love of thriller films!

One thing I love about Hitchcock movies is that he makes a cameo in every one of his movies. Usually just for a second or two. Also he was known as the master of suspense.

I remember in film class when we got around to this film. We had been watching films that were shot around this time and I immediately remember being shocked at how different this film felt compared to other films of this time and how the camera moved. Hitchcock was so ahead of his time. Rear window is a great one too! I personally really like Vertigo as well!

You got it! Great insight and your expertise from the production side is very much appreciated. Now subscribed! Looking forward to more.

Rear Window is my favorite movie not just my favorite Hitchcock. Vertigo is an amazing movie from a film-maker's perspective. So intelligent and innovative. Gorgeous cinematography and score.

I love seeing your reactions to these films. This is one of my favorites, and I find it funny when you and others react to these older films, but I think a lot of that stems from the fact that I, through my parents, grew up on a lot of older horror films. Can't wait to see what you've got next on the list.

James always got the best background music.

You're the best reviewer on youtube. I always enjoy your insight and comments.

Never thought about it before, but the Andrew Garfield resemblance in looks and acting style is spot on. We need an Andrew Garfield horror movie now😁

Love to hear you talk film, James! Though mentioned in few other comments, I didn't see any that really focused specifically on "Vertigo" -- it is in not only my opinion, but in the longest running international film critics poll ("Sight & Sound" poll that first began in 1952) voted the best movie of all-time. It was ranked #2 behind Citizen Kane in the 2002 poll, and #1 in the most recent (2012) poll. Will be interesting to see how it ranks the next poll (2022). Hope you get to it at some point James.

What a treat! Excited to watch you react to this masterpiece.

A lot of people have said that Andrew Garfield looks like Tony Perkins they've said that for at least 10 years now

I always like to think of Psycho kicking off the decade and of Rosemary’s Baby in 68. Just 8 years and the state of movies and horror changes so much.

Alfred Hitchcock was a master with shadows in his black and white films.

Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock film, too. I love how the whole movie never leaves Jeff's apartment. My second would probably be North by Northwest.

Super excited to see this in my notifications! For Hitchcock films, I'd recommend The Trouble With Harry and Lifeboat. I don't see them referenced as frequently, and I really enjoy that they are bit out of "the norm" for general expectations for his works.

Excellent pick! I projected this at a halloween movie marathon a couple years ago. It always kills. By the way, James... If you slow down the fade from Norman's face to the excavated car at the end, you can see his mother's skull briefly fade over the outline of his own face.

I think Birds is my favourite Hitchcock horror, its not the best made but just the concept of something you generally find so benign you never even think about becoming this giant threat is great. The Marion twist is rarely done well but when it is you find its generally very effective. The other big version of this that I can think of is in scream where the first girl was in all the promotion material and a big name actor and wham she's dead in the opening scene >< such a good homage to this.

I swear by a book called “Hitchcock’s Notebook” as it deals specifically with his craft of filmmaking. Highly recommended to a film student.

I remember stumbling across this movie as a kid and being terrified lol. Now it’s pretty high on my list of favorite movies. I really like the way you call out the more technical aspects of the filmmaking while still getting invested in the story being told. Liked and subscribed 👍🏾

24:48 yeah it was groundbreaking that’s why they had to throw in that whole explanation scene at the end because they were so worried about audiences being upset at not being able to wrap their heads around it

Marion Crane was played by Janet Leigh. Janet Leigh’s daughter Jamie Lee Curtis dressed up as Marion Crane with a bloody shower curtain at the last Halloween premier.

78/52 is a documentary about the shower scene, the title refers to the 78 camera setups, and the 52 cuts.

Notorious, Rear Window and North by Northwest are other brilliant movies by Hitchcock. 1 down 2 to go!

Anthony Perkins was so perfect for this role. close to a perfect film. When Janet Leigh saw this on film she was never able to take a shower ever again and only took baths. Recommend watching Psycho 4 and the show Bates Motel...such a great movie!

if you’re into watching more classic films- i recommend gaslight (the 1944 US version), the term gaslighting originates from this story so you could imagine what its about- i thinks its very cleverly written, and i Love how dramatic old films are. of course, if you haven’t already seen it~~ P.S. in case somebody tries to fact check me- the term comes from the original british play yada yada P.P.S. i watched psycho about 2 years ago, somehow unspoiled and as a fan of thrillers i LOVED it~~ its such good mystery, suspense and so DRAMATIC

Rope and Strangers on a Train are perfect thrillers by Hitchcock! I really recommend, Rope was one of the first films to be done in the style of being a single take and Strangers on a Train is just iconic!

Soothing voice, great analysis... You are one of a few reactors that deserve to get my notification bell!

I can't imagine watching this back then. I imagine it would have been truly shocking to audiences, there was nothing like it as far as I'm aware. It's interesting to see how 'modern' eyes view older works especially when so many films try and borrow from the past.

Wow thank you for saying what you said in the beginning of this video..Im going thru something right now and not for nothing when im feeling down I go to watch your movie reactions because they truly put a smile on my face...but those words you said before you got into the review, I really needed to hear that so , thank you😌

Excellent cutting! James: "Kinda looks like Andrew Garfield, just a little bit!". Cut to Norman Bates: "No, not really*! Love it!!!!!

Oh dang this would make me so curious for you to see 1962 Carnival of Souls. Its hands down my favorite horror art house movie, I dont know why but its honestly scary for me. The director of the movie was the main "bad guy" I guess you could call him, his makeup was pretty simple but he is so horrifying to me. We watched it in one of my film classes

I had the absolute privilege of seeing this film with the NY Philharmonic playing the score live. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, prepares you for watching the violins hack and stab that shower scene into existence. It was incredible.

The sequel is worth your time. The same actress plays "mother". Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis are the only mother-daughter scream queens, and both films are iconic. Tony Perkins was already a movie star, always cast as the likeable boy next door type, and Janet Leigh was a legit leading lady superstar. No one expected her to go out that way, much less that soon. Before this, the horror villain was always a vampire or a ghost or a werewolf or something. Hitchcock showed everyone that the scariest monster is the guy in the mirror.

This movie like no other horror movie before it even from Hitchcock himself, properly combined story, character development, score, effects, suspense/scares, and atmosphere. Quite a few had nailed several of these, but not all of them. This movie basically solved the puzzle, at least for non supernatural horror. Hitchcock was kind of the Shakespeare of horror film. Fun fact, Sephiroth's theme was partially inspired by the soundtrack!

Rear window is another amazing Hitchcock film. It's my favorite movie of all time.

The Bad Seed (1956) is a great film with one of the all time psychopaths in film history. You can tell it was a play (very successful) also even with the cast being introduced at the end.

Great reaction. There are all sorts of technical bug-a-boos throughout Psycho. Hitchcock was shooting quickly and decided to let some of these errors go by without reshooting. As noted in other comments, Hitchcock was financing Psycho himself and to further save money, he utilized his TV crew from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. You noticed the shadow of the camera on Marion's bed but some others are a light in frame lighting the Bates Motel as Marion drives up and the camera going slightly out of focus when Arbogast is going up the stairs. One major one that was fixed was in Marion's death stare into the camera, Janet Leigh blinked. Amazingly, no one caught it except Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville (an unsung hero who had tremendous influence on every aspect of Hitchcock's work). That's why there is a cut to the shower head again. Interestingly enough, there was a shot removed from the film that might have been a way for Hitchcock to remove something for the censors while keeping other things in. There was a shot of Marion slumped over the side of the tub and her rear end was visible. Naturally the censors went nuts over this and Hitchcock removed it. What the censors didn't ask to be removed was the shot of Marion's hand reaching for the shower curtain. If you look in the background, you will very clearly see Marion's nipples, but out of focus.

This is definately one of my favorite films of all time. The whole thing is so masterfully put together. For example, in the scene as Norman and Marion talk within his office the camera angles change as the power dynamic does. Hitchcock was meticulous with details like that. His wife as well. Their daughter, who appears in the film as the young lady at the beginning offering Marion pain medicine, mentioned her mother catching a frame where you could see Marion taking a breath as she was laying on the floor. No one else had caught it. Definately check out the making of documentaries if you are interested as they are well worth it. Another fun fact: at the time of the film "bird" was slang for a young lady. When Norman causes the picture of one on the wall to fall when he sees the body, it was a subtle nod to the viewer that Norman knocked off/killed the girl.

I am a 90s kid and I love these older movies. It is extremely saddening that the better the graphics and tech gets in movies, the lack of story quality and dumb down a ting we get. Its honestly worrisome for me bc I enjoy film so much. But a great director from the 50s and one of my all time favorites is Billy Wilder. Check out some of his movies sometime even if its just for your own personal entertainment. You'll be shocked at how good the story and acting is in his movies.

So nice when a youngster truly appreciates film, camera work, and even knows some of the best known directors, etc. By the way Janet Leigh is Jamie Lee Curtis mother. Hope you know who that is. Kudos to your mom!

Hey James I just wanna say thank you for making these videos. Helping me recover from 2 strokes. I am Learning how to talk again.I absolutely love film and love these videos. Your analysis is spot on. Have a Happy Halloween 👻 🎃