.jpg)
[Editor's Note: Writer Andrew Katsis, Wrote This Review On Friday, May 16, 2008 WARNING: According to writer Andrew Katsis...Plot and/or ending details may follow!!!!
Czech Hitchcock - The Birds + Psycho Poster Combination...
Czech poster for a double bill of the Alfred Hitchcock films "The Birds" and "Psycho".
www.hitchcockwiki.com/blog/?p=496
"There's something wonderfully surreal and slightly unsettling about many of the Czech and Polish Hitchcock film posters."
According To Director Alfred Hitchcock...
"Naturally, the knife never touched the body; it was all done in the montage."
Frenchman Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diaboliques
Her cross-country flight ultimately leads her to the Bates Motel, managed by the awkward and mild-mannered Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a man who submits loyally to the wishes of his mentally-ill, domineering mother. Meanwhile, Marion's boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin) and sister Lila (Vera Miles) set out in pursuit, their search ending – inevitably – at the Bates motel.
The story sporadically shifts from one character to the other; after convincing audiences that Marion Crane is "the wrong man" of so many of his previous pictures, Hitchcock deftly strikes at the heart of their sympathies.
In his early film Sabotage (1936), the director had condemned his own decision to murder a character with whom the viewer had been asked to identify, though here he once again dared to break his own rules, and we've never forgotten it.
Though Psycho received a mixed critical response upon its release, its commercial success was extraordinary, and film-goers lined entire city blocks to experience the director's latest. Conversely, fellow British director Michael Powell's thematically-similar Peeping Tom (1960) had been severely trashed by critics and audiences alike just months earlier, and the career of the beloved filmmaker was, for all practical purposes, left in ruins.
Furthermore, the success of Psycho triggered the emergence of the "slasher" flick, and subsequent years saw a slew of inferior, gory and imaginatively-titled knock-offs, such as Maniac (1963), Paranoia (1963) and Fanatic (1965).
Anthony Perkins plays the role of Norman Bates to quirky perfection, and his character {perhaps modelled from Dennis Weaver's jittery hotel night manager in Touch of Evil (1958) – also starring Janet Leigh} is a man who initially demands our pity and understanding. Even after the atrocity in the shower, Hitchcock, as he also did in Frenzy (1972), builds a suspense sequence around a villain's attempts to conceal the traces of his crime.
Martin Balsam is rarely mentioned when discussing the film, but his characterisation of detective Milton Arbogast is letter-perfect, his shrewd but amenable tone successfully lulling Norman into a false sense of triumph, and yet the audience knows full well that the experienced investigator sees the transparency of his lies.
Despite the prevalence of cultural spoofs and references, Psycho is a thriller that still holds up exceptionally well, even though most viewers are fully-aware of the first major twist. When I first watched the film several years ago, I was completely ignorant of Mother's true identity, and I gasped aloud at the revelation in the fruit cellar, the swinging lightbulb casting a shifting luminance on the rotting corpse of Norma Bates, as Bernard Herrmann's intense, imaginative and very memorable musical score screeches in the background.
(Hitchcock talking to Truffaut about the shower scene in Psycho)
Naturally, the knife never touched the body; it was all done in the montage."
According to Dave (The Creator Of Hitchcock's Website Over There On Wikipedia..."I've spent a good hour or so this evening watching those 8 frames over and over again…
However, when analyzed frame by frame, one of the short segments does appear to show a knife piercing
I've spent a good hour or so this evening watching those 8 frames over and over again…
I think the sequence was achieved quite simply — what we are seeing in the final film is reversed footage. What was actually shot begins with the knife held against the flesh, and then it is pulled away (up and out of frame).
Don't believe me? Then have a play with this web page , which lets you run the sequence both ways at two different speeds.
There are two things, which I think, give it away:
• as the knife is pulled away, it leaves behind a steam of small water droplets
• the motion of the shower spray seems more "natural" in the version where the knife is pulled away
In addition, on the final frame, I think we can see the impression on the skin of where the knife was resting.
Finally, the movement of the midriff again seems more natural when the frames are shown in reverse. As the knife is pulled back,
At first glance, the knife does appear to have cut into the belly. However, I think the darkness we see on the left of the end of the blade is shadow (the light source is away to the left of the frame).
In this image, the edge of the blade is highlighted in green, and it's shadow outlined in blue. What we're seeing is the tip of the blade against the skin.
The 7 previous frames show the knife swooping downwards quickly into the frame. How could they ensure the person holding the knife stopped in time to avoid stabbing
Follow The Link To Find Out Why Hitchcock's "Psycho" Gave Birth To "Slasher" Films.
Yes, Director Alfred Hitchcock 1960 film Psycho...Is Available on DVD in order to compare all four versions...just visit...dvdbeaver in order to compare the picture quality of....Universal (2-disc Legacy Series) - Region 1- NTSC vs. Universal Studios - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal Pictures (Benelux) (Psycho Collection) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Universal Tri-Star (Australia) - Region 2,4 - PAL Gary Tooze Compare Hitchcock's Psycho
The Trailer For The 1960 Film "Psycho"....
