Psycho on PAL Laserdisc

• Cat.no: PFLEB 35991
• Cert: 15
• Running time: 104 minutes
• Sides: 2 (CLV)
• Year: 1960
• Pressing: UK, 1997
• Chapters: (11/11)
• Sound: Dual Mono (English and German language versions)
• Presented in fullscreen
• Price: £19.99
• Extras : Original Theatrical Trailer
  

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  Director:

  Alfred Hitchcock

Cast:

Anthony Perkins
Vera Miles
John Gavin
Martin Balsam
John McIntire
Janet Leigh

Basedon Robert Bloch’s novel (recently published by Bloomsbury – astrange though nonetheless compelling read if you’ve seen the film andknow the major plot twist), Hitchcock’s 1960 shocker was made on ashoestring and reaped a bigger box office than any other film he made.So much has been written about Hitchcock in general and this movie inparticular that it’s difficult to know where to start.

This disc is presented in dual audio – you can watch the movie either in theoriginal English or in a dubbed German version. This disc also includes theoriginal trailer (of which more in a second) which for some reason isNOT dubbed into German and can only be viewed in English.

Actually, the trailer is a great place to start. Hitchcock being themaster of publicity he was, he teases his preview audience with glimpsesof this and that, giving away a little here, a little there, but neverenough to know exactly what’s in the film. To jocular music, he gives aguided tour of the setspecifically the old gothic house on the hill andthe motel chalets in front of it. He drops hints like a convivial dinnerparty conversationalist. Indicating the house, “the single window infront – that’s where the woman was first seen” Or the second murder atthe top of the stairs. “His back broke immediately” (makes disconnecting motionswith his two hands) “well, I won’t go into it”. “This is the bathroom”(Hitch shuts the door quickly.)

Then on to the hotel parlour where the owner “was dominated by thismaniacal woman, enough to drive anyone to..well, let’s go in”.Cabin number one is “all tidied up you should have seen the blood it’s tohorrible to describe”.He indicates the lavatory with great relish. “A very important clue was foundhere.” And so on, up to a brief shot of a woman screaming in a shower and thetitle “Psycho”.

Its a very funny little short in its own right which you’ll want to watch overand over. Not to mention a brilliant trailer for the film.

Staying in the same spirit, we don’t want to give too much away. Let’sjust say that there’s an infamous shower sequence involving Marion Crane(a strong performance by Leigh), on the run from Phoenix with $40,000driving a recently purchased used car, finding herself off the rain-drenchedhighway and signing into the Bates Motel under a false name. There’s a privatedetective named Arbogast (a great bit part by Balsam) and a second murder atthe top of the stairs. There’s Marion’s sister Lila (the underrated Miles) onthe trail of her missing sister about to discover something nasty in the fruitcellar.

There’s also the motel proprietor, a nice, gum chewing all-Americanyoung man named Norman Bates (the role which would typecast Perkins forhis subsequent career) who appears to be dominated by his mother.However, as she herself notes at the end of the film, “why, I wouldn’teven harm a fly.” But things are not as they seem – the local sheriff,for instance, is convinced that Norman’s mother has been dead for years.And as he asks, if the woman up there is Mrs Bates, who’s that womanburied out there at Greenlawn Cemetary?

What the above may possibly not give away is that Psycho remains aseffective as ever even thirty five years on – and this disc is aterrific way to see it either for the first time or the umpteenth rerun.

Presented in it’s original 4:3 Academy aspect ratio (i.e. as per normalTV screen) the picture looks as crisp as you’d expect. Images such aslights on the road surface and moments such as the first drop of rainhitting the windscreen during Marion Crane’s all-night drive are simplystunning on this transfer. The graphic crispness of Saul Bass’ titledesigns is a joy.

But where the disc really scores is the in clarity of the sound mix -drawers opening in offices, crisp paper sounds wherever Marion guiltilyhandles the paper envelope containing the $40,000, the bubbling of aswamp before the car sinking into it stops sinking. Bernard Herrmann’sextraordinary and groundbreaking music score (no instruments other thanstings, staccato and creepy) sounds good too and adds much to theoverall atmosphere.

In the years since its release, Psycho spawned literally hordes ofimitations, not least in the largely inferior slasher movies of theseventies (if you want to see a better than average example, werecommend Halloween) but it’s still the original and best of its type.These days, laserdisc may well be the best way to see it.

Film: 5/5
Picture: 5/5
Sound: 5/5