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Dom Robinson reviews

Psycho

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Psycho is one of the late director Alfred Hitchcock's best known thrillers and now makes it onto DVD at the same time as the 1998 remake starring Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche.

Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) gets ideas above her station while having an affair with Sam Loomis (John Gavin). While at work in an estate agents office, she steals $40,000 from a client that she had told them was going to be deposited in the bank. Panic grips the mind as she's tailed by the police - but not for the reason she's thinking. After changing her car to avoid capture, she checks into Bates Motel where she gets a room for the night and a chat beforehand with the hotel manager Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), but after taking a shower, she certainly won't be getting a full night's sleep.

Next to the motel is Norman's house, occupied by himself and his mother, an extraordinary creature of whom we never get to see properly and are told is quite ill, but she certainly manages to holler loud enough as to be heard at great distances. When Marion is no longer around, many people come calling including her sister Lila (Vera Miles), private investigator Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) and Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire).

Most people don't need to be told the story of what happens as they've seen it already, but it must be noted that it stands up well as a film on its own without all the publicity and the hype that did not preceed the original film's release. In 1960, no press screenings were allowed and, in an unprecedented move that I wish was copied today, as soon as the film began, no-one was allowed in. If you were late, tough. You had to wait for the next screening.

It also made the grade in a number of other ways, as it describes in the booklet, such as being the first film to feature near-nudity as Janet Leigh is dressed in only her undergarments, a shower scene and (take a seat before reading the next words) a TOILET ! Yes, this was not the sort of thing to become a star in Hollywood all on its own. Just think - if this film hadn't been made, the bomb might have had to be placed somewhere else in Lethal Weapon 2.

movie pic

# Come on over to my place,
Hey you, we're having a party... #

Being such an old film, there is a level of grain to be found at times during the film, but that and the minor artifacts are nothing compared to what could have been released had the person in charge of the transfer not been doing their job as best as they could be. The PAL Laserdisc was released in an open-matte 4:3 fullscreen transfer, but here we are treated to a matted theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 and the print is anamorphically-enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions which provides 33% higher resolution and the average bitrate is a fine 5.35Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 7Mb/s.

The sound is mono, but extremely well used. Bernard Herrmann's score has been imitated many-a-time, whether for the opening theme or the shower scene music. Effective is the name of the game and that's how it comes across, even when it's in one-channel sound.

movie pic

It's behind you...

Extras :

Chapters and Trailer :

There are 26 chapters covering the 104 minutes of the film. It's four more than were used on the PAL Laserdisc, but only half the number that appears on the Region 1 release. The original theatrical trailer is included and is quite a find if you haven't seen it before. It lasts nearly seven minutes long and features the portly director himself taking you on a tour around the house "where it all happened".

Languages and Subtitles :

The PAL Laserdisc had a dual-mono soundtrack of English and German, but things go one better with a Polish soundtrack added. Subtitles are available in English, Dutch and Swedish. I have one small niggle about the English subtitles - when a car is started, why do the 'hard of hearing' subtitles state "Starts motre" !?

Filmographies, Biographies and Production Notes:

Extensive biographies with accompanying filmographies are available for Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, John McIntire and, of course, director Alfred Hitchcock.

Menu :

Similar to the first batch of Universal releases, the menu is static and silent with a picture mirroring the cover on the main menu while other menus contain pictures of cast members. On playing the disc you see the Universal logo and a copyright message before the main menu appears.

movie pic

Even when threatened with death, Arbogast still found time to wow the crowd with an Al Jolson tribute. Mammy !

Overall, Psycho is very engaging in places, but for me it's far from the best thriller I've ever seen as it does have its slow moments. It does have competition from the American release though. They get a new documentary featuring new interviews with Janet Leigh, Alfred's daughter Patricia, writer Joseph Stefano and Hilton A. Green, plus a censored scene and newsreel footage. However, we get an anamorphic transfer, while the Americans, it appears, do not.

A review of the remake can be found here. 

FILM	 		: ***½
PICTURE QUALITY		: ***
SOUND QUALITY		: ***
EXTRAS			: **
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ***

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.

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