Psycho Alfred Hitchcock

Critical reception

Initial reviews of the film were mixed.[154] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "There is not an abundance of subtlety or the lately familiar Hitchcock bent toward significant and colorful scenery in this obviously low-budget job". Crowther called the "slow buildups to sudden shocks" reliably melodramatic but contested Hitchcock's psychological points, reminiscent of Krafft-Ebing's studies, as less effective. While the film did not conclude satisfactorily for the critic, he commended the cast's performances as "fair".[132] British critic C. A. Lejeune was so offended that she not only walked out before the end but permanently resigned her post as film critic for The Observer.[155] Other negative reviews stated, "a blot on an honorable career", "plainly a gimmick movie", and "merely one of those television shows padded out to two hours".[154][156] The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the film a B rating, meaning "morally objectionable in part".[157]

Critics from other New York newspapers, such as the Daily News, Daily Mirror, and Village Voice were positive, writing, "Anthony Perkins' performance is the best of his career ... Janet Leigh has never been better", "played out beautifully", and "first American movie since Touch of Evil (1958) to stand in the same creative rank as the great European films", respectively.[154][158] A mixed review from the New York Herald Tribune's review stated it was "rather difficult to be amused at the forms insanity may take [but nonetheless] keeps your attention like a snake-charmer".[154] The Los Angeles Times' Philip K. Scheuer remarked, in another mixed review, that the film was "one of his most brilliantly directed shockers and also his most disagreeable".[159] The film ranked 9th on Cahiers du Cinéma's Top 10 Films of the Year List in 1960.[160]

It was also well received in Florida, where the Miami Herald's Jack Anderson wrote that "the pudgy master of suspense has dished up a real shocker. And I mean shocker. Psycho saws away at every nerve right from its first scene with Janet Leigh in her unmentionables to its last gruesome moment."[161] Robin Barrett of the St. Petersburg Times wrote that "it's got all the ingredients of a typical Hitchcock, if Hitchcock can be termed in any way "typical," and it's definitely his best effort to date, but it's unlike anything he's done in the past. Mr. H. has pledged us not to reveal the shocking ending or talk about the bizarre plot and shaking fear of diabolical Hitchcock reprisals — we won't."[162]

A critic who used the Mae Tinee pseudonym in the Chicago Daily Tribune wrote that "the old pro really poured it on in this production. I'm sure the wily Mr. Hitchcock had fun making this one. He used his camera with a sharp skill to achieve shock value the staring eye, the flowing blood, the sudden plunge of a knife. Audiences react much as they do on a high ride, giggling with nerves and excitement."[163] In Buffalo, Jeanette Eichel of the Buffalo Evening News remarked that "Alfred Hitchcock, master of mystery, fuses fear and suspense in his shiver-and-shock show "Psycho" in the Paramount Theater. His pride is that he does not let an audience down by misleading it. His clues are honest and few persons guess the outcome. He especially asked in an epilogue that patrons not betray the ending."[164] A more mixed review came courtesy of Marjory Adams of the Boston Daily Globe, who wrote that it "is far more macabre and mysterious than any of his previous full-length features. However, the settings are dreary and lack those magnificent backgrounds which Hitchcock employed so effectively in North by Northwest, Vertigo and To Catch a Thief. Perhaps the old mystery master has been more influenced in Psycho by his television programs than by his own classics such as 39 Steps and Notorious. However, he gives the audience its money's worth. You see two murders committed, with accompanying gore and grisly details. There are so many shocks the theater might be connected to an electric battery."[165] Helen Bower of the Detroit Free Press was appalled by the film, opening her article by writing, "Gee, whiz, Mr. Hitchcock! Stick to making pictures like North by Northwest, instead of one like Psycho at the Palms Theater, will you, huh? So okay, Psycho gets some nervous laughter and a couple of yips of shock from the audience. But when even the great Hitchcock tries to make visual the dark side of star Anthony Perkins psychopathic personality, the effect is ridiculous. Perhaps the get-up would be the only thing a young man in Perkins' state of mind could produce. All the same it makes this phase of Hitch's horror movie look laughably corny."[166]

In the United Kingdom, the film broke attendance records at the London Plaza Cinema, but nearly all British film critics gave it poor reviews, questioning Hitchcock's taste and judgment and calling it his worst film ever.[167] Reasons cited for this were the lack of preview screenings; the fact that they had to turn up at a set time as they would not be admitted after the film had started; their dislike of the gimmicky promotion; and Hitchcock's expatriate status.[168][167]

Critics later reassessed the film far more positively. Time magazine switched its opinion from "Hitchcock bears down too heavily in this one" to "superlative" and "masterly", and Bosley Crowther changed his initial opinion and included it in his Top Ten list of 1960,[168] deeming it a "bold psychological mystery picture.... [I]t represented expert and sophisticated command of emotional development with cinematic techniques".[169]

Psycho was criticized for inspiring other filmmakers to show gory content; three years later, Blood Feast, considered to be the first "splatter film", was released.[170] Inspired by Psycho, Hammer Film Productions launched a series of mystery thrillers including The Nanny[171] (1965) starring Bette Davis and William Castle's Homicidal (1961) was followed by a slew of more than thirteen other splatter films.[170]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Psycho has an approval rating of 97% based on 115 reviews, with an average score of 9.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn't just create modern horror, he validated it."[172] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 97 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[173] In his 1998 review of Psycho film critic Roger Ebert summarised the film's enduring appeal, writing:

What makes Psycho immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers.[174]

Box office

In its opening week, Psycho grossed $46,500 at the DeMille and a record $19,500 at the Baronet.[137] Following its expansion the following week, it grossed $143,000 from 5 theaters.[137][175]

Psycho broke box-office records in Japan and the rest of Asia, France, Britain, South America, the United States, and Canada, and was a moderate success in Australia for a brief period.[154]

It went on to become the second highest-grossing film of 1960, behind Spartacus,[176] earning a box office gross of $32 million,[177] which generated approximately $9.1 million in North American theatrical rentals.[178]

Psycho remains the most commercially successful film of Hitchcock's career.[176] Hitchcock personally earned in excess of $15 million from Psycho. He then swapped his rights to Psycho and his TV anthology for 150,000 shares of MCA, making him the third largest shareholder in MCA Inc., and his own boss at Universal, in theory; this did not stop them from interfering with his later films.[179][180]

Accolades

In 1992, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[11] In 1998, TV Guide ranked it No. 8 on their list of the 50 Greatest Movies on TV (and Video).[190]

Psycho has appeared on a number of lists by websites, television channels, and magazines. The shower scene was featured as number four on the list of Bravo Network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments,[191] while the finale was ranked number four on Premiere's similar list.[192] In the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the greatest films ever made, Psycho was 35th among critics[193] and 48th among directors.[194] In the earlier 2002 version of the list the film ranked 35th among critics[195] and 19th among directors.[196][197] In the 2022 edition of BFI's Greatest films of all time list the film ranked 31st in the critics poll[198] and 46th in the director's poll.[199] In 1998 Time Out conducted a reader's poll and Psycho was voted the 29th greatest film of all time.[200] The Village Voice ranked Psycho at No. 19 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.[201] The film was listed as one of TCM's top 15 most influential films of all-time list.[202] Entertainment Weekly voted it the 11th Greatest film of all time in 1999.[203] In January 2002, the film was voted at No. 72 on the list of the "Top 100 Essential Films of All Time" by the National Society of Film Critics.[204][205] The film was included in Time's All-Time 100 best movies list in 2005.[206] In 2005, Total Film magazine ranked Psycho as the 6th-greatest horror film of all time.[207] In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as "the best horror film of all time".[208] Director Martin Scorsese included Psycho in his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.[209] The film was named as the third best horror movie of all time in a readers' poll by Rolling Stone magazine in 2014.[210] In 2017 Empire magazine's reader's poll ranked Psycho at No. 53 on its list of The 100 Greatest Movies.[211] In an earlier poll held by the same magazine in 2008, it was voted 45th on the list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time".[212] In 2021, the film was ranked at No. 5 by Time Out on their list of "The 100 best horror movies".[213]

In 2012, the Motion Picture Editors Guild listed the film as the twelfth best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.[214] Psycho was ranked 8th in BBC's 2015 list of the 100 greatest American films.[215]

In 2022, Variety named Psycho the greatest movie of all time.[216]

American Film Institute has included Psycho in these lists:

• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies – No. 18
• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills – No. 1
• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Norman Bates – No. 2 Villain
• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes:
  • "A boy's best friend is his mother." – No. 56
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – No. 4
• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 14