Absolutely one of the best films of all time, not just one of the best Hitchcock films of all time. I have now seen the movie twice (I saw this last fall/winter with some friends at a Royal Oak Main Art Theatre Midnight Madness screening - see also: Jaws a couple weeks past) and it was just as eerie and droll (oh Hitchcock, you card, you!) as I thought it was the first time around.
Anthony Perkins is absolutely wonderful (in case you want to make your friends back home feel envious) and in both word and gesture he is the perfect duality of charming and tortured. His manner of speaking during the parlor conversation with Janet Leigh shows us his range: in one second he is smirking, agreeable, conversational, but then, in another moment, he is more abrupt, disjointed, and combative. I love the dialogue they have about being trapped: it's tense and unexpected, but at this point in the movie, there isn't quite yet a sense of terror. (Even knowing of the "twist", I was able to appreciate the leadup to the eventual shower scene.
I was really interested in learning some of the history behind the movie when I had a conversation with Jessica. She told me a couple of things that were pretty awesome about the film: the first was that there used to be signs posted outside the theatre, informing patrons of the exact starting time, and that Hitchcock wanted nobody to be allowed to enter late. Pretty awesome. Nothing I hate more than being ready for a movie and having people come in late, since 9 times out of 10, since they can't be counted on to show up on time, they can't be counted on to keep their traps from flappin' all through the movie. (But I digress...) Secondly, it was a big surprise at the time that it was Janet Leigh who got the, well, you know, considering she was such a star when the movie came out. It was a big shock to the audiences, and it brought a lot more word-of-mouth publicity to the film as people brought others to see it. Hitchcock = genius.
Score: 9.5/10
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