*Psycho* ALFRED HITCHCOCK IS THE BEST!!! (First Time Watching) Horror movies 

There's a reason we still talk about this movie after all these years, it's literally iconic!

The death of Janet Leigh was totally unexpected because she was a huge star, at the time. Imagine going to a Nicole Kidman movie and killing her off halfway through. Hitchcock chose to shoot this in b&w cause the Hays Code wouldn't let him film the blood in color. Instead he chose to use chocolate syrup in an all white bathroom to emphasize the blood.

“It didn’t feel dated at all.” Exactly! A huge reason Psycho holds up is that the dialogue and conversations still feel natural over 60 years later.

The best part about this movie is that Paramount did everything they could to prevent it from being produced: they rejected the proposal, refused to give Hitchcock his usual movie budget, fought him on scenes like the toilet being flushed and the bloodiness, tried to prevent him from even having a space to film it. Hitchcock himself bought the rights to the novel this was based off of, financed the movie himself, did it in black and white to cut costs, and did everything he could to intrigue the public to watch it.

The conversation that Marion has with Norman is fantastic. Favorite part of the movie, you feel the tension getting tighter and tighter the entire scene

Y’all figured it out so fast! But back in the day, things like multiple personalities or D.I.D never crossed anyone’s mind so this was revolutionary and terrifying.

Fun fact: This was the first EVER live action film to feature a flushing toilet 🚽

Vera Miles was an underrated actress. Her reactions in searching the house can’t be understated Her Lila Crane was the first “final girl.” In a horror movie

In my opinion definitely one of the best movie endings, Anthony Perkins knocks it out with his performance.

Anthony Perkins was such an incredibly talented actor, and "Psycho" is a precious gem! Loved to see you guys reacting - and I KNEW Nine-Tailed Brush would figure it out everything!! My second favorite movie from Hitchcock is "Rope" - I would definitely recommend it, it's spetacular!!!

Rebecca is another great Hitchcock film that's super underrated, even though it won best picture and best cinematography in 1941. It's also an adaptation of a book by one of the greatest suspense writers in history.

And, in case you didn't know, that's Jamie Lee Curtis' mother, Janet Leigh, as Marion. Now you see, Jamie Lee was pretty much destined to become a scream queen. Also, Hitchcock chose B&W for a lot of reasons, but the primary reasons were budgetary (to keep costs down) and practical (to give greater prominence to shadows, to overcome effects limitations, etc., but also to make the film feel a little more enclosed, like a TV show or a film noir from the 40s).

The last shot of Norman in this movie is one of my favorites ever. His expression, the lighting, the shadows on his face - amazing! Halloween took a lot of material from this movie, like Michael’s doctor named Sam Loomis. Janet Leigh - Jamie Leigh’s mother makes a cameo in Halloween H20 and she drives the same car that she did in Psycho. Such a great Easter egg. Glad you enjoyed this!

Psycho is literally my favorite film of all time. I took Alfred Hitchcock Film Theory classes years and years ago and I could talk Hitchcock all day every day and watching you guys react to this and listening to your takes on it was just what i needed so thank you for this!!!!!

Trivia. Janet Liegh, Mariane Crane, is the Mother of Jamie Liegh Curtis,star of HALLOWEEN

That last scene with Norman and his mom's voice is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. It's absolutely incredible.

Brilliant remark: "It was horrifying but it wasn't grotesque". Totally! All of your post-movie remarks, spot on! James, love that you already know about how Brando and Dean and the whole "method acting" school deepened acting in movies. This is ten years after that so the influence is definitely there. For instance, Martin Balsam who played the detective, totally came out of the same school, great actor! Happy you liked him! He's in "12 Angry Men", I'm not sure if you guys have done that one yet! He's in tons of movies, lots of classics, and he's always good!). That said, you will definitely find great performances and transcendent actors earlier than those guys: Bette Davis is a perfect example. "Of Human Bondage", oof! Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, etc etc. Even in the silent era: "Passion Of Joan Of Ark"has some of the greatest acting I've ever seen.

Psycho is such a fantastic black & white horror film.

That match dissolve between the shower drain and her eye then the camera move... just an amazing director. Other Hitchcock films to watch: Rear Window, Vertigo, Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Strangers On a Train, The 39 Steps

“OK there’s definitely something wrong going on with him and his mom” Yep, that pretty much sums up this movie

Y'all need to do a good b&w comedy. Either, Some Like it Hot or Arsenic and Old Lace. Both are hilarious!

Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" is pretty spectacular.

Alfred Hitchcock - The Birds. That movies scared the shit outta me when I was a kid.

Definitely the kind of classic that's worth watching more than once and stands on its own even by modern standards.

Another brilliant Hitchcock movie that you should watch is “Vertigo”!! It’s worth it!

Rear Window, Rope, Vertigo, Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest, and To Catch a Thief are all brilliant masterclasses in direction from the master of suspense himself. More classic film reactions please!!!

The murder shower scene was on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and the twist at the end was unexpected! Alfred Hitchcock had a cardboard cut out of himself in the theater, reminding audience members NOT to reveal the ending of the movie until an hour and a half. This was before viral marketing.

Psycho is a masterpiece. I love sharing this movie with anyone new to it. This movie was very racy and the shower scene was very violent for back then. The movie is in black and white because Hitchcock felt the shower scene would be too graphic with color and the red blood. They actually used Hershey syrup for the blood in the shower. This was also one of the first slasher movies, that I'm aware of; at least the first mainstream one. AND it was the first movie to show a toilet flushing!

"Who are you rooting for?" 🤣😂

Premarital sex was not socially acceptable in 1960, that's why Marion and Sam had to meet in secret. The only obstacle to them getting married and having a "legitimate" relationship was money. When Marion was getting hit on by the rich, old guy because she wasn't married, and had her co-worker flash her wedding ring in her face it only ramped up her frustration. So she gave in to the temptation to take the money thinking it would fix all her problems. That's why she didn't really have a plan, she was acting on emotion.

Hitchcock is a MASTER of film and suspense. Even all these decades later, his work remains remarkably powerful and effective. A lot of fun watching y'all take this ride. I'd love to see y'all explore his films more, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Rope, Frenzy, etc.

You should check out Bates Motel -- a TV series that ran 2013-2017 on A&E. Freddie Highmore plays a young Norman and Vera Farmiga as Norma, his mother.

Janet Leigh was nominated for an Oscar, but Anthony Perkins was overlooked -- a crime. When the nominations came out Alfred Hitchcock called him directly and said, "You were robbed".

seeing you trying to figure it all out was AMAZING, thanks so much for this reaction guys!

Anthony Perkins (Bates) is phenomenal. I bought him as a psycho (that iconic stare) and as a somewhat awkward unassuming motel owner. He was creepy for sure yet he balanced that with a thin veil of innocence (not easy to do). Loved what you said about the film not being flashy and this film is definitely a great one to study for how to create suspense. I feel like there is power in simplicity and also intentional filmmaking. It's all about using everything at your disposal (shots, acting, music) to service the story which seems obvious but actually isn't maximised in many films. Anyway I'm so glad you guys liked this...I loved rewatching this back although I still skip the shower part. I'm still traumatised haha. As an innocent 14 I had to analyse that scene over & over in film class and I was hyperventilating taking showers for about 1 week (no joke) 😅 - MORE HITCHCOCK please! I personally love 'Rebecca' :)

I love seeing people see this film for the first time who really GET it, which you guys clearly did. Imagine how shocking this would have been to a 1960 audience. The shower scene is so brilliant - you never see the knife actually piercing the skin, and yet it's terrifying. You're also really right to comment on how natural the acting was. Anthony Perkins, who played Norman, was a brilliant actor in the mold of Dean and Brando, and never got his full due, but he's incredible in this. Glad you posted this. Since you liked this so much, I would definitely recommend Hitchcock's earlier film "Strangers on a Train," which is more suspense than horror, but has the same wonderful creepy feel, and another brilliant performance from Robert Walker.

Janet Leigh the actress who played the woman in the shower scene who stole the money was in real life the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis of Halloween fame, and she was the wife of Tony Curtis another very famous actor of that era.

"...a boy's best friend is his mother." I remember after I bought my townhouse condo and had told people my mother would be moving in after she sold the family home in another city, I was giving a female co-worker of mine a tour of it before I was fully moved in. As we headed down the steps to the basement I turned to her and asked her if she had ever seen the basement scene from PSYCHO. Surprisingly we remained friends .

I totally recommend Rebecca, it’s such a great film and I’m a massive fan of the book. (It’s my third favourite classic novel so if you ever get the time, I’d totally recommend watching this masterpiece and then reading the book)

I HIGHLY recommend Strangers on a Train. I love that one B&W Hitchcock, and there is one shot in the reflection of someone's glasses that is *chef's kiss*

I studied this in art in high school. Brilliant shots. There is a shadow of a bird beak near her neck at one point and some say she was eating like a bird. Like prey

Anthony Perkins' performance as Norman is amazing. Too bad he never had other roles that were as iconic as this one.

Robert Bloch wrote the novel, which Hitchcock picked up in the airport in LA and read on his flight to London. When he got there he called his Hollywood office and told them to get the rights, this was going to be his next movie. Bloch was good pen-pal friends with H.P. Lovecraft, who encouraged Bloch to submit his stories to "Weird Tales" magazine, where he got his start. Norman is based on Ed Gein, who was arrested for his crimes in Wisconsin in 1957, and went on to inspire this character along with Leatherface in TCM and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. Gein's crimes shocked and horrified the world.

40k back then adjusted for inflation would be about 475k today. Not enough to make running worth it these days probably, but back then it was a lot easier to disappear...

Fantastic reaction!!!! Ninetailedbrush called it! Seeing you guys smile just at the CREDITS made me feel good! Ninetailed, the titles for this (and other) Hitchcock films were done by Saul Bass (also did the title sequences for Scorsese movies like "Cape Fear" and "Casino"). Always dazzling credits, often with great music by Bernard Herrmann/Yes, the black & white was a choice, James is batting 1000 on this one! "Rear Window", for instance was six years earlier. Technicolor actually goes back to 1926 and "The Black Pirate" (great movie), but was definitely in common use by 1960/!LOVED this reaction!

It was the first movie where someone was attacked in the shower. Many people felt vulnerable when they thought about the scene and were cautionary when showering.

@ 43:00 "Whoever the heck played Norman KILLED it!" ...literally.

The dialogue in this still chills and thrills me, let alone the amazing shots, editing and plot twist. Deservedly great. Fun fact: Alfred bought every copy of the book so nobody could read it prior to making this film...

Hitchcock's Frenzy doesn't get nearly as much love as it deserves.

I really think this is Hitchcock's best. His other films, except The Birds, are more suspense/espionage than horror. A classic I would recommend as having aged well is "Casablanca". For older horror try "Rosemary's Baby". It's a little slow for the younger generations but I think you guys will be able to appreciate the slow build-up of paranoia and desperation the main character feels.

So much attention to detail. Starting about 39:05 in this video. When Bates is getting nervous about all the questions. Tapping his finger on the desk. Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Rear Window is another great one ❤️

So good to see you younger dudes recognize and appreciate the brilliance of this film; EVERY frame, every set-up, lighting camera angle, edit, line of dialogue was controlled by Hitchcock, the master of suspense (and this was BEFORE the great composer Bernard Herrmann wrote his amazing score). But NOBODY expected this in 1960 (I remember my mother coming home from having seen it with her friends, Fall of 1960). WOW! Positively traumatic. I think you guys would appreciate the excellent book by Stephen Rebello on the making of Psycho. And now that you've seen the great level of acting in the film, I hope you will explore some of the performers. Didn't you guys do "12 Angry Men'? Martin Balsam (Arbogast, the detective) played Juror #1. Did you guys do "It's a Wonderful Life?" Frank Albertson (Cassidy, the rich guy with $40K) played Sam "Hee-haw" Wainwright. And the excellent John McIntyre (the sheriff) was married in real-life to the distinguished actress Jeanette Nolan, who did Norman's mother's voice the first times we hear her. Then there's Marion's office co-worker, played by Pat Hitchcock, Alfred's daughter. And on and on...... there's so much cinema HISTORY represented by this film...which I hope you'll explore, since you are such effective advocates for "old" films and their validity for younger audiences today. It's our heritage, for Pete's sake!

This is my favorite movie of all time. I live in Los Angeles, and every summer (pre-pandemic, at least) this company called Cinespia does movies at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Basically a grip of people (Probably 1000+) all in one of our most iconic cemeteries to watch movies projected onto a huge mausoleum wall. Everyone brings blankets and food and alcohol, it’s amazing. I always go when they screen Psycho. Also, the secretary in the office with Marion was Alfred’s daughter. Also also, this was the first movie ever to have a flushing toilet on screen. The first tv show to do it was Brady Bunch lol Also also also, not sure if you’re aware, but the lead actress, Janet Leigh (Marion) and Tony Curtis had a child. That child is Jamie Lee Curtis.

I'm so here for the classic movies reactions. 30s to 60s have so many brilliant movies.

How you jumped when the detective got attacked 👌😆 We watched that movie in school for music class and in that moment I touched my best friends earring to joke around, but she screamed and everyone in class thought it was because of that scene. She's still talking about it today even though it's been over 10 years 😅

The Private Detective getting it at the top of the stairs one of the best jump scares ever

Norman was played by the legendary Anthony Perkins.

That last shot of Norman is absolutely great. Great reaction gents!

I think you guys would enjoy the sequel "Psycho II" from 1983. Norman Bates is released!

Psycho is in my Mt. Rushmore of Horror films! Truly and iconic classic!

Man. It's been decades since I've watched this and I had totally forgotten how amazing it is.

The incredible Anthony Perkins, he was type cast in the role, he could never break out of it and his career was very stunted.

The shower scene is used a lot in fim school as a study of how shots can be used to set tension and tell a story. Plus the "blood" is really chocolate syrup/ In black and white brown reads more "red" than an actual red.

If y’all haven’t watched Bates Motel, it’s SO good. It’s a 5 season series. Based on Norman Bates when he was a teen. Vera Farmiga plays his mother. Freddie Highmore plays Norman. It’s just so good and so underrated.

Hitchcock recommendations Rope (1948) The Trouble With Harry (1955) Vertigo (1958) North By Northwest (1959)

Anthony Perkins was Norman Bates. My uncle met him once at a party and said he was kinda creepy. Janet Leigh was Jamie Lee Curtis’ mom (Jaime of Halloween fame). I understand Hitchcock wanted to do this in black and white so as to not show all the blood from the stabbing. There were no movie ratings back then. (By the time the Birds came out more blood was shown in color). Martin Balsam played the detective. He’s a good actor. The movie is so good. You’re not spoon fed everything like nowadays and no gory stuff and it’s still scary. Did you hear the psychologist at the end say those girls? He killed more than one woman. Classic! Good reaction.

"It was horrifying but it wasn't grotesque.' You captured the mastery of Hitchcock. This movie gets your skin crawling and throws so many curve balls at you.

Great reaction guys!! The actor who played Norman Bates is 'Anthony Perkins'.

That was great. I love it when young people appreciate old movies and music.

Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock's favorite movie that he made), North By Northwest, Rear Window, The Birds, Notorious (absolutely beautiful to look at). With Hitchcock, every shot was preplanned.

There is an extremely underrated Hitchcock movie you guys would love called Rope. It's comprised of 10 long shots. Great movie, you should check it out!

The famous shower scene was shot in December 1959 and took 7 days to complete. Containing as it does the most iconic corpse stare in movie history. 🚿

The actor portraying Norman Bates was Anthony Perkins. He did a terrific, errie, fascinating job, and I think it not only typecast him , but I think it could have scarred him for life. One of the fascinating things about Psycho is that, once Marion dies, we root for Norman, because he's our only connection to the movie! Some other great Hitchcock movies, thrillers,p including some with comedy: To Catch A Thief, North By Northwest, The Birds, Vertigo, Suspicion, The Wrong Man, The 39 Steps, Rear Window, Rope, Strangers on A Train, for a start. In many of these iconic movies, Hitchcock does a cameo shot. In North By Northwest, he's a passenger, getting on or off of a train.😢

The other girl working in the office with Marion is Alfred Hitchcock's Daughter Pat!

“Lifeboat,” by Hitchcock. The entire movie takes place in a lifeboat.

From an old lady who grew up in the 50s: This film was made during the black and white era, otherwise called "film noir" which is "film black" in french. IF you see an old movie in color from the 40s 50's and early 60's it was probably colorized later on. HItchcock was a master with film noir. Technicolor came along soon but we had a mix of black and whites and color films during the 60s. I don't know the first film in color in the theatres, but when I saw Dr Zhivago in the theater in the 60s it was full color. Janet Leigh who stars for Hitch is the mother of Jamie Curtis who later on starred in the Halloween series. THe skreatching sound of the stabbing originated in Psycho. It was copied by everyone else. Thanks guys.

This movie is much more complex than people know...

I think Norman was talking about the way that the birds are display is passive. They are sitting pretty on a branch. Whereas with carnivores a lot of times you see them in an aggressive, fangs out type pose. I think this line tells a lot about Norman's personality. And definitely about how he picked his victims.

There is so much to talk about in this movie. The stuffed birds, Marion "Crane" eats like a bird, the license plate on her car also mentions a bird ("jay"), the movie starts in Phoenix, which is a bird...The shower scene music cue repeats when we see Norman running down the steps from the house immediately after, connecting him to the murder...When Norman is talking to someone outside the office, his image is reflected in the glass as if he's 2 people...I also think that one of the reasons Anthony Perkins was so good in this role is that as a closeted gay man in the late 1950s/early 1960s he probably knew exactly what it was like to live a double life--to be a different person in private than you were allowed to be in public.

Anthony Perkins played this part so well that he was typecast. Prior to this he had played characters who came across as innocent, not sinister, in movies like On the Beach. He was gay, but married a woman in 1973. They remained married until he died from AIDS complications in 1992. Perkins' wife, Berry Berenson, died in 2001 when the plane she was on crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

The fact that this was one of Janet’s first big movies and her daughters first breakout role was in Halloween is awesome. Yes her daughter is Jamie lee Curtis😊

Oh lordie. When Mother came out of the bedroom, I thought we'd have to get the defibrillator for James.

Dammit Ninetailbrush you're gooood

You guys do the best reaction videos. Love that you split screen it. Almost no one else has done "the Hustler," 1961, Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. I don't know why because it is definitely worth doing and considered one of the all-time classics. GREAT acting.

Great reaction! I was 14 when this movie came out and it scared the crap out of me. I immediately invited a girl to the movie. During the shower scene, I didn't watch the movie, I watched her. Worth paying for her admission!

Strangers on a Train. The Birds. Vertigo. Incidentally, 1960 audiences didn't see any of that coming. The blood was Hershey's syrup.

Color was definitely available but it was cheaper to film in b&w, so possibly an artistic choice or maybe just due to budget constraints. "Roman Holiday" (1953) was going to be filmed in color until the director got the opportunity to film on location in Italy. So he choose to film in b&w to be able to afford the location shoot.

One of the best movies ever! There's a whole series based on this called "Bates Motel". It's so weird

SUGGESTIONS: -Strangers on a Train -Vertigo -Suspicion

The $40,000 in “Psycho” is a MacGuffin. Alfred Hitchcock coined the term MacGuffin to describe an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The MacGuffin is usually revealed in the first act and thereafter declines in importance. It can reappear at the climax of the story but may actually be forgotten by the end of the story.

Saul Bass's opening credits and Bernard Herrman's score are so immediately jarring that by the time you see the first shot of the film you're completely pulled in.

5:05 -- The other secretary is Hitchcock's daughter Pat. Composer Bernard Herrmann's classic score is done with strings only. He wanted to create a black and white score for a black and white movie. Hitchcock wanted to prove he could make a hit movie on a low budget, so he used all the facilities from his weekly television show. The supporting players are all familiar faces from various television shows of the time. PSYCHO's twists have been so thoroughly spoiled over the years that it's great fun to watch you guys react to it without knowing anything in advance. BTW, beautiful full-color movies had been done for decades before 1960. The 1930s boasted such Technicolor extravaganzas as THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, and SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, and many more. Black and white was often an artistic choice and as such there are many films which can be enjoyed particularly for their moody, atmospheric monochrome photography. It's unfortunate that these films are so widely shunned today just because they aren't in color.

Your reactions were incredible, i love seeing reactions to this and yours is one of the best. Congrats too, that is the earliest i've seen anyone guess the big twist. One of you guys said you have seen Rear Window, a couple of other Hitchcock's you might like are Frenzy, Dial M For Murder and Rope. Also the non-Hitchcock sequels made in the 1980's, Psycho 2 and 3 also starring Anthony Perkins after Norman was released.

One of my favorite black and white movies very good the lady that is playing Maron is Jamie Less Curtis Mom

There is a terrific movie called 'Hitch' about Hitchcock and his wife and details how they managed to get it all together to finance this film etc. starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, well worth a watch...

Hands down this was both of yours BEST reaction! And I was here for it!!!! Sooo Good!

This movie can only be described as “timeless”

Guys, please check out Psycho II. It is a great sequel that continues Norman's story.

The closeup of Janet Leigh's eye was done with a still photograph because you could see her move when she breathed.