By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
It’s an open secret that movie marketing has gotten out of hand…it seems like every new film that comes out is breathlessly billed as “groundbreaking” and “revolutionary,” only to land with a dull thud among moviegoers. Some films, though, do more than live up to the hype and completely change cinema as we know it. One such movie is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, and you can now watch the famous director’s most famous (and infamous) work on Netflix.
If you want to know what Psycho is about before streaming it on Netflix, here’s a brief synopsis: the movie begins with a young woman on the run after stealing $40,000 from her boss. She just wants to hook up with her boyfriend, but she makes a faithful stop at the Bates Hotel. There, she meets the quirky proprietor of the joint, after which her life (and moviemaking itself) would never be the same.
Psycho is one of the older films on Netflix, and it’s filled with big names from the films of yesteryear. This includes Janet Leigh, best known outside of this film for starring in The Manchurian Candidate and Touch of Evil. It also stars Vera Miles (best known for appearing in John Ford Westerns like The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) and Anthony Perkins (best known for the Psycho franchise and Catch-22).
Long before Psycho landed on Netflix, it churned up more profit than you can shake a knife at. Against a budget of $806,947, this Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece earned $50 million at the box office. This was enough profit that after Hitchcock died, Psycho received three direct sequels as well as a controversial remake starring Vince Vaughn.
Later, the franchise spawned a TV show prequel appropriately titled Bates Motel. Much like the killer horror series Hannibal, Bates Motel served up some wild context for characters and events that we thought we knew. However, we highly recommend you stream the original Psycho on Netflix before you check out the prequel show, as it may betray some of the best surprises of Hitchcock’s opus.
Beyond its commercial success, Psycho proved to be a critical darling. On Rotten Tomatoes, this venerable film has a critical rating of 97 percent. Critics generally praised this film for effectively creating the modern horror genre and how its effects are still felt throughout Hollywood’s scariest films.
While younger film buffs might find Psycho a tad slow when they stream it on Netflix, this film is worth watching for its place in Hollywood history. Hitchcock revolutionized horror films while also popularizing unexpected twists and ghoulish scares from beginning to end. Both atmospheric and viscerally thrilling, this is the scary movie that set the standard for every horror film that came after.
Will you find Psycho as thrilling as we did when you stream it on Netflix, or is this one film that you’d want to stab when everyone least suspects it? You won’t know until you check it out for yourself. Fair warning, though, that you may immediately be tempted to check out its sequels to learn more about Norman Bates, arguably the most frightening and fascinating figure in horror history.
