Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Wow, where is the narrative drive going to be in this series aside from soul-sucking nagging and cruelty from mother to son until he starts offing people?
- Roger Ryan
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
- Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
I believe this was already accomplished with PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING and it only needed 96 minutes to do it.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
But will it have the late night talk show wraparound/flashback structure that Psycho IV had? (I wonder if Psycho IV was taking some cues from that Midnight Caller TV show? I suppose we could have a CCH Pounder vs Gary Cole face off over who is the most believable late night talk radio host! Though Eric Bogosian would probably win with a last minute ranting monologue!)
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- kingofthejungle
- Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
It's an interesting idea conceptually (particularly since the film deals so directly with ideas of multiple personalities), but I think the execution is a little on the dull side (at least until the shower scene).
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
It works better in the slow moments but I liked in the shower scene that you kind of get ghostly, double vision afterimages that only adds to the impression of violence.
It also hadn't really dawned on me until that video that Van Sant does a rotating spiral out of the eye rather than a slow zoom out that hangs on the final stare longer: inspired homage to Vertigo or a wish to keep the pace of the scene visually interesting on the assumption that modern audiences might get bored?
It also hadn't really dawned on me until that video that Van Sant does a rotating spiral out of the eye rather than a slow zoom out that hangs on the final stare longer: inspired homage to Vertigo or a wish to keep the pace of the scene visually interesting on the assumption that modern audiences might get bored?
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Discovered the German TV edit of Psycho today. It seems that our friends in Deutschland are often treated to a slightly longer cut that has a few more lingering shots on the violence and undressing. Is there any truth to the claim that the rest of the world is watching a cut version that isn't Hitchcock's vision?
-
- Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
- Location: Somerset, England
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
There's a more detailed account in this earlier article (though its introduction is misleading).
The cuts in the domestic US version, to which Hitchcock was persuaded to agree, are mentioned in Universal's very long making-of documentary, and a clip is even included. I doubt the extra footage is exclusive to the German version - it's just that the framegrabs from the German TV copy highlighted the issue. I'm sure I've seen at least some of the cut material either in 16mm UK prints or BBC broadcasts in the 1970s & 80s (as with the German TV version, these were open-matte transfers so from different masters than the widescreen ones used now).
Of all the films that might benefit from a Director's Cut edition this is surely one of the most important, but I'm surprised there's relatively little interest. I raised the issue with a US Hitchcock fan and he replied: "As long as it's the domestic release version I saw in 1960, I really don't care."
The cuts in the domestic US version, to which Hitchcock was persuaded to agree, are mentioned in Universal's very long making-of documentary, and a clip is even included. I doubt the extra footage is exclusive to the German version - it's just that the framegrabs from the German TV copy highlighted the issue. I'm sure I've seen at least some of the cut material either in 16mm UK prints or BBC broadcasts in the 1970s & 80s (as with the German TV version, these were open-matte transfers so from different masters than the widescreen ones used now).
Of all the films that might benefit from a Director's Cut edition this is surely one of the most important, but I'm surprised there's relatively little interest. I raised the issue with a US Hitchcock fan and he replied: "As long as it's the domestic release version I saw in 1960, I really don't care."
- Roger Ryan
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
- Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Since it's pretty clear that the shots were trimmed or deleted for censorship reasons, I'd say it would be safe to assume Hitchcock would have preferred to retain the footage in the general release version even if he agreed to the re-editing. The loss of the "undressing" and "bloody hands" shots create only a mild discontinuity, but the abrupt fade-out on the low-angle knifing of Arbogast really undercuts (pun literally intended) the horror of that scene.
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
It's interesting, how Jonathan says, how little apparent interest there is in getting a Director's Cut of the film. Even though I've watched all the Psycho extras, I completely forgot about all this until I stumbled upon the German version on another site today.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
For those without time to click, it's just 30 seconds of shower scene followed by six minutes of explanation from the shrink at the end
- GaryC
- Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:56 pm
- Location: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Apparently the BBC2 showing on 5 October 1984 was the last time the uncut version was shown in the UK. That was actually the first time Psycho.Jonathan S wrote: ↑Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:26 amThere's a more detailed account in this earlier article (though its introduction is misleading).
The cuts in the domestic US version, to which Hitchcock was persuaded to agree, are mentioned in Universal's very long making-of documentary, and a clip is even included. I doubt the extra footage is exclusive to the German version - it's just that the framegrabs from the German TV copy highlighted the issue. I'm sure I've seen at least some of the cut material either in 16mm UK prints or BBC broadcasts in the 1970s & 80s (as with the German TV version, these were open-matte transfers so from different masters than the widescreen ones used now).
Of all the films that might benefit from a Director's Cut edition this is surely one of the most important, but I'm surprised there's relatively little interest. I raised the issue with a US Hitchcock fan and he replied: "As long as it's the domestic release version I saw in 1960, I really don't care."
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Red Letter Media's take on Psycho and Psycho II, with the other sequels, remake and TV series coming up.
EDIT: And here's the second half dealing with Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning and briefly the remake and TV series.
I especially like the moment in the video where they describe Psycho II as "believing in rehabilitation, whilst Psycho III does not". Approaching Psycho III from that perspective, as well as having moments of seeming homage to giallo and Blood Simple (making Anthony Perkins quite well versed in thriller tropes!), makes it seem a lot more interesting!
EDIT: And here's the second half dealing with Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning and briefly the remake and TV series.
I especially like the moment in the video where they describe Psycho II as "believing in rehabilitation, whilst Psycho III does not". Approaching Psycho III from that perspective, as well as having moments of seeming homage to giallo and Blood Simple (making Anthony Perkins quite well versed in thriller tropes!), makes it seem a lot more interesting!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Fri Oct 12, 2018 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Has anyone seen 78/52? The Blu-ray.com review makes it seem interesting, and the disc kind of sounds like what I was previously proposing labels do where they don't bother to license a movie at all and just release a disc of supplemental extras. I was also surprised to learn from the review that apparently Guillermo Del Toro wrote a 500+ page Spanish-language book on Hitchcock!
- dda1996a
- Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Its OK. It veers from academic analyzation of the filmic ti a talking head of some bad horror movie talking why he likes it.
Probably my favorite part gets five seconds, showing how that scene influenced Scorsese's Raging Bull's Sugar Ray fight akmost verbatim.
I'd say its worth a watch but nothing wirth getting excited about
Probably my favorite part gets five seconds, showing how that scene influenced Scorsese's Raging Bull's Sugar Ray fight akmost verbatim.
I'd say its worth a watch but nothing wirth getting excited about
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- Mr. Deltoid
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:32 am
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Interesting to see how deep Psycho had buried itself into pop-culture by that point, thirty years since it's release. Surely by now (2018) it must take the title for the most parodied/spoofed/homaged/referenced film in cinema history*? The shower-scene alone (the subject of the aforementioned 78/52 doc) inspired so many comedy piss-takes - in sit-coms, advertising, cartoons, etc. - that you could create an interesting collage-type film (similar to that art-installation film The Clock) just depicting all the references!
*I can't think of another title that can really challenge it, except maybe The Wizard of Oz?
- Feego
- Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
- Location: Texas
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
I'd argue that Star Wars may be more frequently parodied and referenced in general, though the shower scene may be the most parodied/referenced of any specific scene.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
The shower scene is surely up there with the plot convention of It's a Wonderful Life in terms of being utilized or parodied in other mediums, but there's prob no way to know for sure what reference is most pervasive
- Roger Ryan
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
- Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
I'd say that Herrmann's slashing violin cue ranks at the very top for parody or reference even if the scene itself doesn't.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
If we're talking plots then Yojimbo as well.domino harvey wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:38 amThe shower scene is surely up there with the plot convention of It's a Wonderful Life in terms of being utilized or parodied in other mediums, but there's prob no way to know for sure what reference is most pervasive
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
How many of those have there been--maybe a dozen?
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
In terms of actual remakes sure, but television versions probably number in the hundreds. Even Pokemon had a Yojimbo episode.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
If any Kurosawa film had a wide-ranging impact, it was Rashomon, not Yojimbo-- I'll see your Pokemon and raise you a Garfield and Friends parody! But none of these are in the realm of an American movie that aired on TV for decades in terms of reference potential