Jordan_E
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2002
- Messages
- 2,233
PSYCHO is one of the finest films ever shot! 'Nuff said!
I'm stating a simple fact that people were indeed afraid to take showers.I believe Janet Leigh once stated that she has never taken another shower since making PSYCHO. I guess she has a better excuse than the rest of us but you're right, Tommy - I remember that national fear of shower-taking too.
--Bill
It is my opinion that this movie is dated.My first full-blown experience with Psycho was perhaps a decade ago, watching it with a modestly sized audience of college students (of which I was one at the time).
The film elicited the expected jumps in the right places...and more than a few unintentional laughs in the wrong places (including Martin Balsam's famous tumble down the stairs). As groundbreaking and extraordinary as the film was, for all the reasons elaborated by the HTF'ers above, I must agree that parts of it are dated for a young audience. What was shocking forty years ago rapidly becomes corny to the jaded sensibilities of youth.
Of course, part of the problem with a film as influential as this is that its pioneering techniques rapidly become hoary cliches as they're adopted and imitated. The modern moviegoer experiences a similar problem upon first viewing Citizen Kane--not understanding how much of the modern cinematic vocabulary is being pioneered before their eyes, the reaction of the newbie is often, "Well...so what was the big deal?"
I suppose it may be the ultimate fate of many suspense/horror classics to lose their impact with time, to the extent that they rely on shock and taboo-breaking for their effect. Younger moviegoers may well be laughing at films like Psycho now (and soon we can probably add The Exorcist and Alien to that list, if they're not on it already). Whether this weakens their status as genre classics is debatable, but it certainly doesn't negate the rewards they offer for those willing to research and understand their place in film history.
--Jefferson Morris
P.S. As for my opinion, I think The Birds is scarier, and even more far out.
Nope, you just didn't care for it, and are not open to it.I believe that Holadem's expectations just got in the way. He did watch the documentary and came here to get a better understanding from those that appreciate it.
~T
Like I said it seemed absurd for people to be scared to go into 3 feet of water in the ocean in '75 as well but it still happened.Tommy, then it seems we are in agreement here aren't we? Taking a bath instead of a shower is as absurd as swimming in the pacific instead of the atlantic or flying Delta airlines instead of AA and United Airlines. That was all I meant to say.
--
Holadem