Post by bruce on Mar 31, 2011 18:15:56 GMT -5
Psycho is a 1960 American psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The novel was loosely inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, who lived just 40 miles from Bloch.
Both Ed Gein and Psycho's protagonist, Norman Bates, were solitary serial killers in isolated rural locations. Both had deceased domineering mothers, and had sealed off one room of their house as a shrine to their mother. Both were transvestites and had multiple personality disorder.
In need of money to marry her lover Sam Loomis, Phoenix secretary Marion Crane steals $40,000 from one of her employer's clients and flees in her car. En route to Sam's California home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, he begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. By the time Marion returns to the road, there is a heavy rainstorm which prompts her to spend the night at the Bates Motel rather than drive in the rain.
Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new highway nearby, and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He then shyly invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about his supposed sexual interest in Marion, and during the meal Marion angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. As she undresses in her room, Norman watches through a peephole in his office wall. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion flushes her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. Suddenly, an anonymous figure, presumably Norman's mother, enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death. Norman finds the corpse, and immediately assumes that his mother committed the murder. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions – including the money – in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a swamp.
Both Ed Gein and Psycho's protagonist, Norman Bates, were solitary serial killers in isolated rural locations. Both had deceased domineering mothers, and had sealed off one room of their house as a shrine to their mother. Both were transvestites and had multiple personality disorder.
In need of money to marry her lover Sam Loomis, Phoenix secretary Marion Crane steals $40,000 from one of her employer's clients and flees in her car. En route to Sam's California home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, he begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. By the time Marion returns to the road, there is a heavy rainstorm which prompts her to spend the night at the Bates Motel rather than drive in the rain.
Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new highway nearby, and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He then shyly invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about his supposed sexual interest in Marion, and during the meal Marion angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. As she undresses in her room, Norman watches through a peephole in his office wall. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion flushes her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. Suddenly, an anonymous figure, presumably Norman's mother, enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death. Norman finds the corpse, and immediately assumes that his mother committed the murder. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions – including the money – in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a swamp.