Psycho/Nightmare Fuel

Cue the Psycho Strings!

• The shower scene stuck with a whole generation of moviegoers.
  • One of the most disturbing things about that scene was the very sexualized way in which it was handled. The fact that Norman just watched Marien undress, the close-up on her stomach, her heavy breathing right before she died... Does This Remind You of Anything??
  • As well as the distinctly phallic silhouette of the knife, the ejaculatory spurts of blood. It's classic Hitchcock symbolism.
• The very ending, with Mrs. Bates having completely taken over Norman, and him sitting there in the police station with the blanket, stuck with me the most. The voice over, "They're probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even going to 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..." Oh, man. Combo that with the Kubrick Stare and other matching facial expressions Norman has in that scene, and you've got some primo stuff. Just before fading the scene a human skull is superimposed over Norman's face. It's hard to see, but really adds to the creepiness. Not to mention after that, when they pulled Marion's car from the swamp. One can only recall that HER life wasn't spared.
  • Janet Leigh, after playing the woman in the shower sequence, never took another shower for the rest of her life..
  • It's not watching the shower scene itself that is uncomfortable, it's the seed you have planted your mind the next time you take a shower alone, and how vulnerable you feel. The whole tiny box / nowhere to run thing doesn't help, either. It's Nightmare and Paranoia Fuel all in one!
• And how about Norman's Slasher Smile. Just think about that the next time you take a shower.
• While Norman's Mother Persona is scary in it's own right, there have been times in the movie series, where Norman himself is a force to be reckoned with when he is angered. In Psycho 3 for example when Duke tried to blackmail Norman, Norman not only saw through him, but took him down without any assistance from Mother. Beating him nearly to death with an ashtray, a lamp and Duke's guitar. All while verbally tearing him apart.

Norman: You think I'm STUPID DUKE!? Even if I gave you money, you'd still tell on mother AND NO ONE MUST KNOW ABOUT HER AND WHAT SHE'S DONE!!!