Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

Psycho is one of those movies, where, despite never having seen it before in my life it felt a part of me. Something in the collective psyche of America. I knew some vague plot points; girl gets killed in a shower, the killer is his mother, the Bates motel... but I felt I understood the movie, without ever watching more than a ten second shower killing scene at Universal Studios where they revealed to me that the secrete to Alfred Hitchcock's blood was Bosco Brand Chocolate Syrup.

Anyways, after watching it, my suspicions were more or less confirmed. I did already know the basic plot, but the devil is in the details. I didn't have any idea Marion had stolen $40,000 (about $300,000 today!) from her employer in order to pay off her lover's debts. She then makes her way across country, being chased/harassed by a sketchy cop for a short while. Only to end up at the hotel of Norman Bates. While there Bates shares a nice meal with Marion and thoroughly creeps the fuck out of anyone watching.

Marion retires to the shower only to be attacked by Norman Bate's mother! Or so Hitchcock would like us to believe until the big reveal at the end of the film. Watching this film make me realize how great of a filmmaker he really was. I have only seen 4 of his 66 films (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window, & This Film) but each one is phenomenal.