Psycho (1960) ♥Movie Reaction♥ First Time Watching!

This movie was made over sixty years ago, and is the highest up on the list (besides Terminator 2) we have ventured yet! If you like this movie, please join me because we've got a lot to talk about!
00:00 Intro
00:30 Reaction
30:04 Outro/Discussion
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/ whimsory
See ya in the next one!

[@Stevarooni]

"Everyone's so smart. That's so refreshing." Movies that assume that you're not an idiot are rare, but wonderful.

[@chrisbiebel6205]

Another movie where the people aren't stupid is Tremors. In that movie, all the characters' actions make sense based on what they know at the time.

[@jerryhall5709]

I mst horror movies the characters are too curious for their own good. Even if it's a murderer knocking at the door they have to open it. Also they can never stay together.

[@vilefly]

@@jerryhall5709 "Quick! Let's go hide in that barn with all the sharp tools!" (killer shakes his head and sighs, weary of the predictability of stupidity)

[@jerryhall5709]

@@vilefly Yes, and even if they have the whole Amazon rainforest to hide in they still can't get away. Somehow they always bump into the enemy no matter how unlikely it is.

[@fh854]

Watch more films…

[@jerryhayes9497]

A woman wrote a letter to Hitchcock "My daughter saw a film where a girl was killed in the bathtub, and she refuses to take a bath. Now she has seen Psycho and won't take a shower either!! What do you recommend?" Hitchcock wrote back " Send her to the dry cleaners" 😂

[@TwilightLink77]

I heard that in 1995 in the studio tour.

[@Dirkus17]

"She was really enjoying that shower, too. That makes it so much worse." And this is why Whimsory is one of my favourite reactors.

[@Starchdread]

And the way she points out how dumb movie characters usually act as opposed to this.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I think that's what made Psycho shower scene so iconic. Being in the shower everyone and especially women are totally vulnerable and showing a murder, even with the gore only suggested was probably very shocking in 1960, and remains so today.

[@dadoleyna]

With the way you were so impressed with Arbogast, you are now contractually obligated to watch (1957, NOT the remake) "12 Angry Men." Martin Balsam is also in that one. It is also black and white, number 5 on IMDB's list , and features 12 all-star performers in an absolute classic drama. Every single line of dialog is natural and believable, and the story line is great.

[@billolsen4360]

And, don't miss Martin Balsam in "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" from 1974. Scary, funny, frustrating all in one!

[@Strider91]

12 Angry men is sooooo good

[@hughdavidvisor1769]

Also, in Catch 22, Balsam plays the base commander who berates & dominates Captain Tappman the chaplain, played by Tony Perkins.

[@kinokind293]

Yes, 12 Angry men is one of the greatest films. All brilliant actors at the height of their abilities. Brilliant direction and cinematography. It never ages with repeat viewing.

[@Madbandit77]

​​@@billolsen4360I like him in that, "All The President's Men" (reunites with Juror #7, Jack Warden), "The Anderson Tapes", "A Thousand Clowns" (won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) and "12 Angry Men".

[@dan_hitchman007]

Janet Leigh was Jamie Lee Curtis' mother. Her father was actor Tony Curtis. Both Janet and Jamie starred together in John Carpenter's creepy classic "The Fog."

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

A young Jamie Lee was considered for the role of Regan in The Exorcist, but her mother objected to the content and language, so she turned it down.

[@rockero1313]

they were together in "Halloween H20" and Leigh character ever drove the same car from Psycho

[@dan_hitchman007]

@@rockero1313 Never saw past the original "Halloween."

[@waterbeauty85]

My little sister went to University Of the Pacific when Jamie Lee Curtis was a student there and played pool with once at the student union. Jamie Lee Curtis won. When I asked my sister what she was like, she said "She seems like a very nice thug" meaning she seemed nice but earthy and tough.

[@dan_hitchman007]

@@waterbeauty85 You have to be a little tough to survive the Hollywood system.

[@bjhagan]

"He has a special blood mop!" That may be my favorite thing I've ever heard someone say about this movie.

[@davidgildert5841]

Cc XXrr

[@rdawgo14]

Such a brilliant performance by Perkins!

[@fredkrissman6527]

Can't go wrong with Hitchcock, Whim... RearWindow, Vertigo, Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious are just some of the absolute classics.

[@fredkrissman6527]

Great outro, btw!!!

[@icepee9252]

Fine selection, there. Though, to that I'd also add The Lady Vanishes and Rope.

[@davidmckie7128]

Also North by North West.

[@tommcewan7936]

I recommend chasing Hitchcock with Fritz Lang's M, or maybe one of the classic pulp film noirs of the 40s like Farewell My Lovely ("Murder, My Sweet" is the US title, they had a whole thing of releasing films with entirely different titles in the UK and USA back then...), for some contrast.

[@joebloggs396]

Of those mentioned in this thread I'd agree on Vertigo and Rope. But he did many other films that are underrated. Why is Shadow of a Doubt ignored so much?

[@mehim2893]

For me the ending is the scariest part. With norm in the cell thinking to himself in his mothers voice. "I'm not even gonna swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They'll see. They'll see and they'll know, and they'll say, why, she wouldn't even harm a fly." That piece of writing is terrifying.

[@themotleycollector]

Coupled with the image of his (her) glowering smile, that morphs into a quick image of Mother's desiccated skull (just before the car is towed out of the swamp), it's a heartstopping moment.

[@Mr-gg8ek]

Hope to see you watch more vintage masterpieces like this.

[@cstowe81]

Rear Window from Hitchcock would be amazing. Another Classic would be the original 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda.

[@zedwpd]

@@cstowe81 All of Hitchcock's collection is great, but my favorite is also Rear Window. Grace Kelly is gorgeous and I love Jimmy Stewart.

[@tubularap]

@@cstowe81 - Totally agree: Rear Window, and 12 Angry Men

[@tubularap]

And to add to that list: "Some Like It Hot"

[@Zombie-lx3sh]

Definitely gotta do 12 angry men. It's #5 on imdb after all!

[@ThomasKnip]

So refreshing to see "Psycho" still hasn't lost its touch. 😄

[@fynnthefox9078]

I mean, it's a classic, helped inspire slashers later on. Psycho walked so Black Christmas can run and so Halloween can speed walk.

[@todderickson2435]

Also refreshing to see that some people still know how to use "its" possessive without an apostrophe. Thank you. 😊

[@BuffaloC305]

One thing that amazes me is the stupid arrogance of so many reactors - wonderfully NOT Whimsory - proclaiming that "Audiences back then must have been SO SHOCKED" yet we see EXACTLY that "so shocked!" reaction from the oh-so-modern, oh-so-intelligent reactors of Today. What crap. I wish they could accept that audiences then were EXACTLY like they are now. SHOCKED. HORRIFIED. Walking out, shaken - "I did NOT expect that!!" And every formal review of PSYCHO mentioned also 'the death of The Star'. Yet none of them look at the name of the film and see "Starlet In Shower". It's always another name: "Psycho".

[@robertstuart480]

Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director. "Vertigo", "Rear Window", "North By Northwest", "Rope", "Shadow Of A Doubt", "Strangers On A Train"..so many films I love.

[@bfdidc6604]

I would add "Lifeboat" for one of his early films.

[@helvete_ingres4717]

wouldn't choose Psycho as an introduction as it's kind of a self-examination and kind of a culmination of the morbid obsessions that his films had always been about. Same with rear Widow, Vertigo, all very meta. Most perfect hitchcock film imo, most flawless execution of his style while not as ground breaking as those other films I mentioned, is Notorious

[@Paul_1971]

I would add Frenzy - my favourite Hitch....

[@Greenwood4727]

I love the trouble with harry, it has got to be my Fav of all his. shadow has to be my 2nd fav

[@truthguide1742]

Don't forget The Birds.

[@NarnianRailway]

Whimsory does a fabulous job with her in depth reaction commentary outtake after the movie as well as during the movie.

[@Aurochhunter]

What a lot of people don't realise is that there's a scene in the movie where we the audience should question our own sanity after Norman Bates' line "We all go a little mad sometimes." During the moment when Norman tries to dispose of Marion's body by sinking the car in the swamp, it stops halfway. Now that's probably a good thing, because it makes it harder for him to hide what his done (or rather what the alter ego of his mother did), but we want the car to sink completely out of sight, in other words: we've gone a little mad.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

"Why am I STRESSED!?" Aha! Welcome to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. He's not called The Master of Suspense for no reason! Seriously, you really can't go wrong with any of his films.

[@donbrown1284]

Janet Leigh was nominated for an Academy Award for this part, but Anthony Perkins was not. Hitchcock called Perkins directly and said "You were robbed". He's brilliant in this film.

[@user-il5oq5df6l]

Bernard Herrmann didn't get an Oscar nomination for his musical score!

[@zedwpd]

Her co-worker is Alfred Hitchcock's real life daughter. $40,000 in 1960 is $412,309.46 today. The cops go back to their car to run your ID through the computer. No computers back then. Back then the license plates stayed with the car. She was buying a new car to get new plates. When the cop showed up at the dealership, there really wasn't a need anymore. Some people think the voice over is what Marion's imagining. I never took it that way. I took it as actually happening and gives us that exposition. Hitchcock loved for the viewer to always have more information than the characters. That's one of his trademarks for the suspense. Marion's toilet flush was the first one in cinema history. The blood in the shower was chocolate syrup. I'm sure others have already said Janet Leigh is Jamie Lee Curtis' mom.

[@GarthKlein]

A simple trick to figure out the value of money in old films is to pay attention to what they are buying with it. $40,000 is the price that the father was paying for a house. Just think of the price of a house today and you will have an approximation of the value of $40,000 in 1960.

[@zedwpd]

@@GarthKlein Except I can buy a 4 bed/4 bath house 3 car garage on 5 acres here in small town Missouri for $250k or I can get a 900sq ft 1 bed/1 bath no garage home in LA for $700k. It's just easier to Google "1960's x,xxx dollars today"

[@stephaniemccarthy1676]

Excellent comment

[@atomikpunk6038]

Jaimie Lee Curtis became famous in the Halloween movies. The boyfriends name in Psycho is Sam Loomis. The doctor (Donald Pleasants) tracking down Michael Myers in Halloween is Dr. Loomis.

[@billolsen4360]

Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia, did a superb job of acting in "Strangers on a Train."

[@psilocyble3053]

You have the 'it' factor. I watch a lot of these types of vids and you are much better than the average. I hope you can make a living out of it, cause you are damn good at it.

[@generic_account2138]

Agreed

[@sincman]

I agree with this.

[@ThBeatnik]

Martin Balsam, who plays Arbogast, also has a big role in another black and white film on your list, "12 Angry Men".

[@Whimsory]

Well then, I will definitely be watching that! He was amazing in this. My favorite character in Psycho for sure😁 Thanks for letting me know!

[@NemeanLion-]

@@Whimsory it’s a very good film.

[@matthalaboo6694]

He's also in the 1974 film The Taking of Pelham 123. Fantastic film! Avoid the 2009 remake.

[@There-is.no-spoon]

@@Whimsory 12 Angry men is a smart thought provoking movie, its "just your cup of tea" British expression the American equivalent would be something like "right up your ally" . Or if you have watched Pulp Fiction "Yeah baby, you'd dig it the most."

[@SmartCrab804]

@@Whimsory It's also worth watching the movie "seven" by David Fincher and the iconic "silence of the lambs"

[@cliffsmelley5026]

“I never carry around more than I can afford to lose.” “Challenge accepted.” Thanks for making me laugh out loud. Seriously, though, I enjoyed watching your reaction to and appreciation of this movie. I believe you’re in the right track with Norman deciding which room to put her in. He’s wrestling with himself on whether to harm her or not.

[@EricaGamet]

I think at that point he's Norman and doesn't want to harm her... but deciding whether or not to spy on her. That's him trying to be a "good boy" but in the end he can't help himself. Then "Mother" takes over and punishes him for being a naughty boy. That's at least how I've always interpreted it.

[@Sweet_Venom0027]

@@EricaGamet Yeah that sounds more accurate.

[@sca88]

This is one of the most influential films for future writers, directors, cinematographers, etc, not just with suspense/horror/thriller but with films in general.

[@vodrake]

The theme song from this film is unforgettable

[@notjustforhackers4252]

Also reused as the theme for the movie "Re-Animator".

[@Nicolas.Vincent]

Busta Rhymes sampled it for his 1st Single Gimme Some More!

[@longtallshorty5791]

Wow. Hot take.

[@vincegay986]

Bernard Hermann did brilliant music for Psycho, North by Northwest, and Vertigo. In all three, his music accompanies the innovative graphics of the great Saul Bass.

[@liljoe31]

And cape.fear

[@OceanKingNY]

"She was really enjoying that shower, too. That makes it so much worse!" 🤣🤣🤣

[@msmilder25]

"A boy's best friend is his mother." - might just be the creepiest thing ever spoken on film hehe.

[@KevDaly]

"She was really enjoying that shower too" - Please never change 😀

[@richardrobbins387]

That! There is always at least one comment Whim makes that just cracks me up 😆

[@FourthDrawerDown]

“Did he kill my sister?” “Yes. And no.” “ But my sister is-?” “Yes.” 🤷🏻‍♂️ Joking aside, I’ve never seen this before and I’m pleasantly surprised at how smart and snappy the dialogue is. Also you’re right, the characters are also smart. I’ve heard it said that a lot of newer movies depend on their characters being dumb but not this one. I really enjoyed your reaction. 👏

[@erictaylor5462]

Welcome to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. There is a reason he is considered the father, master, king, of suspense. No one has done it better, not before or since. Some have done it as well, but there has been none better than Hitchcock.

[@dggydddy59]

Your point is illustrated very nicely when the psychologist mentions the word matricide and she felt it necessary to interrupt the video and tell her viewers what it meant. I even saw a young movie reactor who, upon seeing a close up of a letter written in cursive, said "What is that writing?" Wow!

[@erictaylor5462]

​@@dggydddy59 Is it really fair to call out the ignorance of other people when there are still things you don't know? For example, do you know the meaning of the word, pseudarthrosis? This was one of the first words I learned when i was learning to talk. If a 3-year-old knows this word, then anyone who doesn't know the meaning must be an ignorant dolt, right? Or perhaps it is just a word you have never encountered before. Lucky you. Because the meaning of this word is why my leg was amputated a week after my 3rd birthday.

[@vincegay986]

Looking up what you don’t know is the cornerstone of intelligence.

[@dggydddy59]

@@erictaylor5462 Hey, I'm real sorry about your leg, I had a friend who had hers amputated below the knee and I saw up close how much it bothered her. But you're making assumptions about someone who is a total stranger based on nothing. And yes, it absolutely IS legitimate to agree with someone about the dumbing down of the country, of which I mentioned a couple of very benign examples.

[@ps3guy554]

My dad told me he snuck into this movie when he was 13 said it's scared him bad. Ironically I watched it with him when I was 13. I miss you dad.

[@411popCulturevideos]

Pyscho II is a very, very good sequel. Anthony Perkins (Norman) and Vera Miles (Lila) both come back, and it is an incredible mix of what made the original great in combination with updating it to what would be expected by contemporary 80s horror audiences. Pyscho II is pretty beloved now to horror fans and a worthy follow up. It plays with the idea of 22 years later and how Norman deals with being released 22 years later while Lila wants him to remain committed. Hope you check it out! It is almost as great as Aliens was to Alien as far as sequels go by catching up with beloved characters while also updating the ideas.

[@todderickson2435]

Marion's early death was a huge twist, as Janet Leigh was a big star and billed to be the main character of the movie. Also, there were MANY people who didn't want to take a shower after seeing this....including me. 😳 Great reaction as always Whimsory!! You're one of my favorites! 😊

[@Wannabe_Baby]

I probably shouldn't be surprised by this but I think it's really cool that you're open-minded enough to watch a movie from 60 years ago and enjoy it enough to place it in your top 3 favourite movies you've watched on the channel. That's awesome. :)

[@newsguy5241]

When this movie came out, audiences were shocked that the lead was killed off. In 1962, Janet Leigh was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Fans loved her. To kill her off so quickly was mind-blowing to people.

[@richardmeyer1007]

Killing a major star like Janet Leigh so early in the movie was huge back then. I highly recommend “Rear Window” which is suspenseful and fun!

[@josephmayo3253]

Great reaction Whim. It's so wonderful to see someone who knows nothing of the story reacting to it. So many plot points are so famous that its rare to see that. You got an experience few have had since the original run. Now you know why Hitchcock is known as the Master of Suspense. Some other movies of his you may like are Notorious, North by Northwest, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief.

[@monovision566]

I hope Vertigo and Rear Window are also on your list. They're masterpieces.

[@rodentnolastname6612]

And after those two (maybe "The Birds" and "North by Northwest" too) you can watch Mel Brooks "High Anxiety" 😀

[@Sirala6]

Your reaction to Norman after he peeps on Marion, "Oh, he's a weirdo! He's a weirdo!" is perfect. Norman as you were to learn is REALLY weird.

[@Laserfrankie]

This film is so ingenious that even after watching it several times, you still won't have noticed everything that Hitchcock has put into place visually - and he did it on purpose. For example, Hitchcock used birds as metaphors in many of his films, as harbingers that something bad is about to happen. In Psycho, this is particularly strong: The film begins in Phoenix, which is also a mythical bird. The last name of Marion's is Crane. Norman Bates loves to stuff birds, his office is full of them. "Stuffing birds" is an English term for getting a girl laid (Hitchcock was English). And after Norman sees Marion's body in the bathroom, he tears down the picture of a bird hanging on the wall in shock. Symbolism at its finest. Another motif of the film is mirrors, or refracted reflections. Furthermore, Hitchcock had a panic fear of the police, which is also reflected in the scenes with the policeman. And if you look very closely, in the scene where Marion packs her suitcase in Phoenix, you can see the shower with shower curtain through the open door to the bathroom, a kind of foreshadowing of things to come. You could probably write a whole book about this film - and it's just one of many that Hitchcock made.

Wow, I have never noticed.

[@eugeneoman]

Another fun reaction, Whimsory! "Don't take a shower!" 😂 Fun fact: The Doors song "L.A. Woman" has a line in it that references this movie.... "Motel, Money, Murder, Madness...Let's change the mood from glad to sadness..."

[@StephenCaudillPhoto]

You're the only reaction channel that I actually look forward to the breakdown, at the end, more than the reaction. 😊

[@OceanKingNY]

"The money didn't really matter in the end." Exactly! Alfred Hitchcock called that the "MacGuffin." He put one in each movie. The MacGuffin is what the movie SEEMS to be about, but not what the movie is REALLY about. In "Psycho," the stolen money is the MacGuffin. It seems to be the center of the story at first, but it's just there as a set-up to introduce the Bates Motel.

[@edwardringwood1537]

If you can't read cursive the note Sam Loomis (Marion Crane's boyfriend) was writing in the hardware store, reads (line by line), " Saturday Dearest right-as-always Marion, I'm sitting in this tiny back room which isn't big enough for both of us, and suddenly it looks big enough for both of us. So what if we're poor and cramped and miserable, at least we'll be happy! If you haven't come to your senses and still" That's where it ends, and Marion will never read it because she died the previous Saturday since Arbogast (the private detective) said she hasn't been seen for a week.

[@garykuovideos]

Your post-viewing comments are just as fun as your reactions. I also appreciate your not getting ahead of the plot and letting the story unfold at its own pace. Herrmann’s score is iconic and revolutionary not only for the shower scene, but also that it uses only strings.

[@rollomaughfling380]

Agreed. Herrmann loved to work with unusual ensemble choices. "I need eight bassoons and 1 piccolo!" lol.

[@daz_n]

Too many people overlook 'old' movies. It's so refreshing to see reactors enjoying these masterpieces of cinema. Another great reaction!

[@f.o.c.s.1028]

Awesome reactions to an awesome movie. The most famous and often parodied Shower scene , was shot on the 17th to the 23rd of December 1959. And producing the most iconic corpse stare in cinema history. 🎥🚿

[@MrDevintcoleman]

60+ years later and NO ONE I’ve seen watch this for the first time ever guesses the twist. Brilliant.

[@davidwilkins5932]

Great reaction and great commentary. Your approach of using the IMDb ranked list is especially promising. Reactors who operate too much from viewer polls tend to get very repetitive titles, whereas the IMDb list provides great selections that are regularly bypassed in “viewer popularity” polls, for whatever reasons. I hope you’ll get around to reacting to ‘The Birds’. It’s very original and highly effective, especially given the early production year.

[@Danjoker.]

Anthony Perkins acting in Psycho is legendary. It's natural and believable.

[@horsedoconfb]

When Psycho was originally released, Alfred Hitchcock had a policy that no one was to be admitted after the beginning of the movie because people coming in after the shower scene would have no idea about what’s going on. It was a brilliant marketing strategy that added to the mystique and suspense of the film

[@Hayseo]

It was fun to see a reaction from someone who did not have any idea about Psycho. Most people know at least about the shower scene from pop culture.

[@Alan1701b]

I think Alfred Hitchcock and the cast and crew would all be extremely proud of you. I'm absolutely certain your reactions are everything they wanted from their audience for Psycho and 63-years later it is amazing to see that it still does the job.

[@grimmbilly9263]

Bates Motel is a surprisingly good series. It not only explores Norman and his mother's relationship, but also the crazies and corruption in the town they live in. Vera Farmiga steals the show as Norma, Norman mother.

[@laustcawz2089]

That angle had already been explored in "Psycho IV: The Beginning", starring a riveting Henry Thomas ss young Norman & Olivia Hussey as his narcissistic mother.

[@grimmbilly9263]

@@laustcawz2089 Yes, I've seen Psycho IV and enjoyed it.

[@Jessica_Roth]

One of the pleasures of growing older is that you find yourself enjoying things you never imagined. If you'd told me two years ago that one of my constant joys is watching female reactors talk about how attractive they find Norman Bates, I couldn't comprehend it. (I'm never afraid in the shower. They can't get past my killer cat!) Yes, killing Marian was a huge shock because Janet Leigh was a star (her and Tony Curtis were one of the famous couples of the time), but nobody else had been a consistent lead. Anthony Perkins had played troubled-but-sympathetic young men (try "Fear Strikes Out") and John Gavin was a lovely hunk of meat, but neither was A-list at the time. (Gavin did get to be Ambassador to Mexico in the 1980s because he and Ronald Reagan were old pals, but he was never big news otherwise.) Yes, Marty Balsam was a treasure. He trained at the famous Actors' Studio and won both a Tony and an Oscar ("A Thousand Clowns", 1965). $40,000 in 1960 is $403, 300 today, apparently. Walking around with $400K. Gee, Cassidy! (And presumably he gets the money back. It's been less than two weeks and I think it was wrapped well enough that it wouldn't be ruined in the car just yet. So his daughter got her house, after all.)

[@gammaanteria]

One must also point out Hitchcock's music collaborator, the great film composer Bernard Herrmann. Nobody could unlock the psychology of a film and translate it to music like him. In "Psycho" you have the frenetic, 'slashing' string quartet (veritably became a horror movie trademark)...versus the hypnotic cycling patterns of "Vertigo," versus the opening 'action' fandango of "North by Northwest"...so different from each other, but the music captures the spirit of the respective films so well!

[@tranya327]

Birds and bird-related things occur multiple times in this film: Norman tells Marion, “You eat like a bird,” in a room full of stuffed birds. When he rushes to Marion’s room, he knocks a small picture of a bird off the wall & has to hang it back up. Marion’s last name is Crane; The film’s action starts in Phoenix - a fabulous bird of legend. Finally, examine the visual image of Lila, just after Sam leaves her at the hardware store: Lila is juxtaposed against the upside-down rakes that the store is selling. The effect is to briefly transform Lila into an image of some human-peacock hybrid, with the rakes standing in for bird plumage. •••• Hitch constantly puts the viewer into ‘opposite-land’ in this film: where we’re constantly framed or invited to root for someone who has done something wrong: We root for Marion, who steals the money (she needs it, but Cassidy, the rightful owner, is sleazy, unsympathetic, creepy, and doesn’t need it. Even more: he states that the money is undeclared/unreported. So Cassidy is framed by the film as a tax cheat. It's as if the film is asking: to what extent is that money even 'rightfully his' (as a lawbreaker) to begin with?); ...The highway patrol officer, who is supposed to be a protector, is seen only behind menacing sunglasses, and poses a threat to Marion; Norman is framed as the underdog in an impossible situation: we want him to get out from under his crazy mom, then we sort of want him to get away with covering up the mom’s act of murder, because he looks after his mom, as the dutiful son. We root for Arbogast, who enters Norman’s home without knocking, without any legal authority to do so, and then we root for Lila, who later does the same thing. Also, our introduction to Marion & Sam is worth noting. We first meet them in a cheap hotel room, just after having secretive afternoon sex-outside-of-marriage. Neither person is married to someone else, but the society of 1960 had a different view of sex, marriage and personal conduct than we do today. 1960s audiences were meant to see Marion as an attractive woman who dresses well and who aspires to a better life, but who has indulged her dark side and who already has questionable judgement: “Nice girls” wouldn’t be meeting a man in cheap hotel rooms to indulge their lust - they’d marry the guy first. Since Marion didn’t, the audience at the time of the film’s release, is meant to see her as somewhat morally compromised, and that she’s hiding it. •••• When Norman hesitates about which room he’ll give Marion the key to, yes that probably does decide Marion’s fate, but I don’t think Norman sees it that way. He sees it as: “Am I going to give myself the opportunity to peek at her undressed body?” It’s a privacy violation, but he doesn’t know he’s later going to murder her (as Mother). When he is revealed to be a Peeping Tom who spies on her through the hole, I think we’re meant to lose respect for Norman (He has a dark side: he’s not above doing this sort of thing), but we’re not meant to (yet) see him as irredeemably evil and to lose every last ounce of sympathy for him. In this regard, it’s interesting to see how times have changed: Today’s audiences don’t view Marion as crossing the line - not even a little bit - for multiple hookups with Sam before they’re married. And, I think today’s audiences react with more shock, and attach more weight to Norman’s violation of Marion’s privacy when he spies on her through the peephole, than I think was the case when the film was released. (I don't know that for sure.) (This is media influenced: today’s audiences are primed by media to think: “privacy violation definitely could indicate potential serial killer” much more than I suspect 1960’s audiences were.)

[@SparkyLu60]

his "blood mop" just to funny, loved your reaction

[@joecarr5412]

Fun Fact ; Anthony Perkins( Norman) was on other side of country when shower scene filmed- he says this on Johnny Carson ( You Tube )🙂

[@eolson1964]

Fun Facts: the blood was actually Hershey's Chocolate Syrup because red doesn't show up in black & white and the movie censors/rating board were upset with seeing and hearing the toilet flush. The first "Flush" on T.V. was heard on the series "All in the Family".

[@MLJ7956]

Great reaction Whimsory. They did make 3 more Psycho sequels (all with Anthony Perkins returning as Norman - Psycho II in 1983, Psycho III in 1986 - Perkins even directed that one & Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990 - which acts as both a sequel and a prequel film of how Norman became who he is - with Henery Thomas, the boy Elliot from ET, playing a young Norman Bates as well) they are all worth checking out in my opinion (and great for around Halloween time too 😉)...

The sequels do not top the original but they all are entertaining as hell and very high quality.

[@baronvg]

Never has someone so thoroughly enjoyed a shower as Marion Crane in that moment before it was permanently ruined by a knife.

[@There-is.no-spoon]

I read a think piece once delving in to the psychology of Psycho why the shower scene is so powerful. The the knife is representational of teeth, being attacked and eaten alive by a large predator it strikes a direct response from our lizard brains. It triggers a fear response that is dominated by instinct or impulse rather than rational thought. Accompanied by the wonderful music which emulates each stab of the knife and Hitchcock lack of gore on screen leaves a lasting impression on the viewer long after the movie has finished. Loving your reactions.

[@e.s.9080]

The writing is so perfect that after viewing, after viewing...you realize the clues are practically in plain sight and in the words of dialogue. Many hints. The stuffed birds (mother), the fascinating of the topic and behavior of birds (creatures of prey), the score, to Norman's swaying hips walking up the stairs to mother's room. All sorts of tricks played out on us. The movie sure knew the topics to unsettle the audience. This many years on, some of these topics still make us squirm. Treat yourself to the fantastic sequel Psycho 2 (1983) a worthy continuation of Norman's story.

[@zedwpd]

Hitchcock movies are pure masterpieces. Rope, Dial M Murder, North By Northwest, The Birds, Vertigo, and my all time favorite, Rear Window.

[@richardwilliams6256]

In a world of average reactors with maybe more subscribers its refreshing that you are doing these reactions Whimsory. Nothing feels like a production or staged thanks for providing this content, I look forward to the notifications for your uploads

[@flarrfan]

I didn't listen to the whole long outro until later...She's quite insightful and should enjoy more Hitchcock.

[@dsscam]

Once again, I am blown away by your video. Your format is #1, by far, of all reactors. Your reactions are always so pure and spontaneous. Then, your thorough research makes your outros spectacular. This is fascinating information on this classic. Your awesomeness knows no bounds. 10 stars out of 4!

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

I really loved your reaction to this, it's great to see this masterpiece of a film getting the appreciation it's deserves, everything is just right, the story, the music, the casting, the acting, all in the hands of 'The Master of Suspense' as Hitchcock was known. Other films of his which I suggest that you react to are, 'The Birds' a good one for Halloween, 'North by Northwest', 'Vertigo' which is considered by many to be the best film of all time, 'Rear Window', 'Shadow of Doubt', 'Strangers On a Train' and many more, but these are great ones to begin with.

[@Lue_Jonin]

Arbogast was like a fly in a spider's web with that epic jumpscare. .... As a viewer ya know the spider is going to rush out for the attack... but it still makes one jump when it does happen. ❤ 😱 🎥 Psycho 2 was very well made as well and worth a watch. "Hitchcock" is also a great film, portraying the challenges Hitchcock endured in the making of "Psycho"

[@NemeanLion-]

We studied this film in school. The objective of Marion is to get the audience to identify with her because she’s the main character. When Bates kills her, he is in fact killing the audience. When the main character dies, we identify with the next lead, which is actually Norman Bates. This is why we are nervous about him getting caught when he is cleaning the crime scene and sinking the car.

[@gammaanteria]

The movie shifts the 'protagonist' perspective (i.e. the person whom the audience identifies with) several times. First Marion, then Norman, then (trying to figure out what happened) Arbogast and Lila Crane. With most of these, too, they are doing things that are illegal/sketchy to at least some degree (Marion stealing money, Norman trying to hide 'Mother's' crime, Lila trespassing/snooping around the Bates property), that the audience is nonetheless still secretly hoping that they get away with. Hitchcock suggesting the audience has a 'split personality' by the shifting of protagonists and with it our loyalties.

[@NemeanLion-]

@@gammaanteria to be honest I can’t remember who they shifted to after Norman and I didn’t want to make something up because my class was like 30 years ago lol, but that sounds about right. I just remember feeling sort of off-balance after Marion was killed. I remember I wanted that car to sink and I didn’t like Arbogast’s questioning, so I knew I was invested in Norman.

She isn't the main character but Bates.

[@michaelt6218]

Whimsory, I think that is the finest post-reaction commentary on Psycho I have seen anyone give. You identified so many of the key reasons that this film is one of most influential and best-made of all time. Well done. Now I hope you'll do more Hitchcock movies!

[@paulb8937]

Thanks for an unjaded reaction and a wonderful job of editing. You showed important excerpts which describe the characters that other reactors don't, e. g in the opening scene and during Norman and Marian's conversation. The commentary is unique and fascinating, and I wish you could have continued. Hopefully later you will treat us to more thoughts about other Hitchcock films(!hint!), such as The Birds and Rear Window.

[@artscafe9371]

Classic Hitchcock films always went "Forward Forward then one step to the left" The initial plot was NEVER achieved and it took a turn to throw you off. Class!

[@karlmoles6530]

This film shocked America when it came out. I really want to see you react to 12 Angry Men as well. This is probably my favorite reaction to this yet. I think you going in blind really helped.

[@3DJapan]

The actress in the beginning was Janet Leigh, a very well known actress at the time so it was a really big stock for audiences to see her killed off right in the beginning.

[@chaddubois8164]

I watched this for the first time a couple years ago and it blew me away. I already knew the shower scene and the twist but many other scenes were just as impactful. Masterpiece.

[@victornewmanforever]

$40,000 in 1960 is $400,000 today.

[@davidmckie7128]

Someone pointed out that all the birds behind Norman were birds of prey and all the birds around Marion were birds that are prayed upon.

[@EchoesDaBear]

Thank you Whimsory for a wonderful reaction to this masterpiece of cinema! Everything Hitchcock did was with intent, had purpose (whether to guide or fool you - and you didn't know which until later). His shot angles, perspectives set the bar for cinematography perfection! There are few who can match his brilliance. The casting was indeed perfect too! Perkins plays the ruse of innocent mamas boy to a T, while still being able to switch to devious, conniving psycho in a blink! It is too bad his personal life was put under such a microscope. Janet Leigh - the original scream queen (who's daughter Jamie Lee Curtis would continue the family legacy of!) was a true beauty, and a marvelous actress. I love this movie to bits! Cheers.

[@thegreenman7181]

Psycho is based on the real Life Serial Killer Ed Gein! I remember reading the book 'Deviant' years ago! I can't recall the author...About Gein! But that is who Robert Block...The writer of Psycho...Based Norman Bates on! Great reaction to a Masterwork...Psycho 2 is a great sequel! Loving all your reactions and your after thoughts and summations!

[@porflepopnecker4376]

You knocked this one out of the park. Excellent reaction and review of this film, easily the best I've seen. Very entertaining and thoughtful.

[@Whimsory]

Thank you so much! That means a lot🤗

[@wolfofthewest8019]

When my mom (b. 1948) was six, her mother slipped and fell in the kitchen and hit the corner of a table going down. It was a very sharp corner and my grandmother ended up losing her eye. My granddad called an ambulance and then put my grandmother in the bathtub while they waited for the ambulance. After the ambulance came, he turned on the shower to wash away the blood. My mom managed to suppress the memory. Years later, around 1965, my mom went to go see Psycho when it was re-released into theaters (before VCRs, huge hits like Psycho used to get multiple theater runs and would run in theaters for years) and when the shower scene happened and the blood is circling the drain she had a full-blown panic attack because it trigger the memory. She ran screaming from the theater, which must have been very amusing to the rest of the audience.

[@dipsydoodle7988]

I think this movie really had an impact on you and for good reason. Great movie, great reaction. Every actor in this movie does an amazing job, but Anthony Perkins was a a gem.

[@morcellemorcelle618]

Anthony Perkins killed it in this movie! This is one of my all time favorites

[@cremetangerine82]

It's an absolute black mark on the Oscars that he wasn't nominated for Best Actor!

[@chrislaustin]

There's a video on KZbin that makes comparisons between Normans character and Marion in regards to how they are the different sides of the same coin. It really shows you how deep and layered this movie really was in ways I would have never noticed on my own. But it was an epic film and story even without that extra insight. Your reactions are always so great, especially from your very young & innocent perspective, as I actually saw some of these films when I was rather young as well. And seeing them as an adult can often make them different movies, as you see things through your lens of life that you didn't have the first time.

[@i-was-aspace-invader8597]

The Main Character didn't die :D Because it always was Norman, not Marion. She's just the introduction that leads to the Human Abyss called Norman Bates.

[@mikebrown7799]

Hi Miss Whimsory!🙂Marion was played by Janet Leigh, the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis. Vera Miles (Lila) is still alive at 93 years old. Great reactions and outro to the original Psycho, Miss Whimsory!!!🎬👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@rs-ye7kw]

A very good, insightful detailed review. About the only thing you missed were in the first two scenes. When Sam and Marion were in the hotel bedroom, most of their conversation centered around finances being the main obstacle to their being together and getting married. Then in scene 2, Marion sees an opportunity to eliminate that obstacle by absconding with the 40 thousand. You are right that it was a spur of the moment, out of character decision for her. But what I think you missed (at that point of the movie you questioned why was she doing that and where she was going) was that she was heading for the town where Sam lived to be with him and , in fact, wound up at the Bates Motel which was just outside of Fairvale, California (Sam's hometown). As mentioned, great review. I just wasn't sure you grasped that was what motivated her.

[@maddwitch]

I always thought it was wild that she just took this money and expected Sam to abandon everything to runoff with her. Didn't even think to call him and ask if he's be down for it before she did anything crazy. Can you just imagine the person you're seeing shows up at your house, with $400k in cash that they stole, expecting you to just drop everything and go on the run with them?

[@Userick10]

We all go a little mad sometimes.

[@vincegay986]

Marion doesn’t seem the type who usually does rash things. She clearly wasn’t thinking straight when, in confused desperation, she took the money so Sam could pay off his debts and they could be together. Of course, it was never going to work. Sad, how trapped Marion and Sam were by the mores of the time. Not sure how they met, but she could have gotten a similar office job in Fairvale, and married Sam. Then they could have worked on figuring a way out of Sam’s financial hole. Of course, lots of places wouldn’t allow married women to work for them, and her even partially supporting the two of them would have been completely unacceptable. And kids for two parents working outside the home was even more complicated than it is now.

[@skylinerunner1695]

Finally, a film channel with nice long outros covering all the performances and details of the movie, and not just a quick sign off. Love it.

[@kinokind293]

I always assumed that Norman's hand hovering over the keys is when he decides that he is attracted to her (and that she will die). Tony Perkins' performance in the parlor, when he changes from a sheltered, sweet young man to a potentially unbalanced individual ("Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places?"), and back again, is one of the greatest performances in film history. Fun fact: when the film premiered, they wouldn't seat anyone after it started (in those days you could just come in at any time, and watch the film over and over, as many times as you wanted, and often a second feature as well). Hitchcock wanted everyone to be as surprised as possible by the plot twist. They also asked people not to reveal the ending afterward. And let's not forget the book by Robert Bloch, on which the film is based. Block was a friend and protege of H. P. Lovecraft - such a pedigree!

[@barrykeleher2659]

I agree. Her death would’ve been so much easier to accept if she wasn’t enjoying that shower. 😜

[@lewstone5430]

This is my favorite Hitchcock film and Perkins delivers a masterclass in acting. I can watch him play Norman over and over. Great reaction too, Whimsory!

[@mstess164]

Great reaction! If you notice, the knife never actually touches her skin and the 'blood' is actually Hershey's chocolate syrup, looks like blood on black & white film. this film had a disclaimer for the public to 'not come late, no admittance once film starts' because Hitchcock didn't want to give away the twist of her being killed off early.

[@pwmel1]

That was a fantastic reaction. AND . . . I love your in-depth post-reaction discussions. Here's another bit of trivia for you. After Hitchcock bought the rights to the movie, he sent his people out to, I believe all of LA and New York (the big movie viewing cities), to buy up ALL the copies of the novel because he didn't want ANYONE to know about the twist at the end. He wanted his moviegoers to experience the same surprise HE experienced when he read the book. BECAUSE of that, the 1st Edition Hardback book of Psycho is extremely difficult to find. And when you do find a true first edition, it's incredibly expensive.

[@michaelgonzalez6295]

Hiya Whimsory 👋OLD dude here. This movie is even before my time LOL (b.1965). On one level, this is the FIRST MODERN slasher film. No one at first understood it which is why we needed the psychiatrist to do all that exposition. Money, jealousy, revenge they understood, but this? People got sick watching back in the dsy. If you can bear watching, you can see there no actual stabby wounds effects penetrating flesh. It is all camera shots implying stabs. The blood was chocolate syrup which pours slow and thick and matches the tones in black and white.

[@cstowe81]

From what I understand, Hitchcock was discussing this Film during development with his Wife. He told her how he was throwing a twist of killing off the Main Character only half way through the Movie. She replied by suggesting he should kill her off sooner, within the first 20 Minutes 😀

[@Jeff_Lichtman]

The music, by the great Bernard Hermann, is so good that symphony orchestras sometimes perform it as a stand-alone piece. In 1960, when Psycho was released, it was common for people to wander into movie theaters in the middle of a movie, and when it was over, stay to see what they missed in the next screening. Hitchcock told the theater operators not to let anyone in once the movie had started, so as not to spoil the twists and surprises, especially the death of the main character so early in the story. He also asked audiences not to give anything away after they'd seen it (the phrase "no spoilers" hadn't been thought of yet). The first part of the movie was deliberate misdirection- he made the story seem like a typical Hitchcock thriller up to the point of Marion's murder. The shower scene was a surprise to audiences at the time. Nothing in the film up to that point hinted that it was about to happen. Janet Leigh, who played Marion, was Jamie Lee Curtis's mother. $40,000 in 1960 is equivalent to over $410,000 today. You'll encounter more Hitchcock films as you go through the IMDB top movies list. I'm looking forward to your reactions to Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest.

[@erictaylor5462]

I love how, at the end Perkin's looks at the camera with that creepy smile. While he's thinking, as his mother, of throwing himself under the bus.

[@Timmah73]

The shower scene was A LOT for people in 1960. They just didn't show stuff like that in movies.

[@alanfoster6589]

You never see the knife touch skin.

[@ghengriff3600]

Alfred Hitchcock appears in all of his movies. He’s in the whole psychiatrist’s dialog scene.

[@carlopanno6307]

He's outside the real estate office. By the 1950s everybody expected to see Hitchcock in his movies so he got it over with in the first five minutes. Check Francois Truffaut's book-length interview with Hitchcock.

[@GarthKlein]

I want to make a brief comment about the blood. It is not quite correct to say that, because it was in black and white, they could "get away" with using chocolate syrup. Black and white is a very subtle format that allows for amazing lighting effects. If they used chocolate syrup, it was because it had the look they were going for. Thank you for reacting to movies made when Hollywood was Hollywood. I am sure you would enjoy (no killings) "His Girl Friday" from 1940.

[@johnkeenan1829]

An amazing film based on Robert Bloch's fun pulpy novel, which is based on the crimes of Ed Gein in Wisconsin in 1957. One of my top three favorite movies.

[@weirdcritter]

Great reaction. Psycho II is a worthy sequel 🔪😨

All the sequels.