Psycho (1960)

Hitchcock’s iconic horror seems to only get better with age, and it’s sixty three years old this year. Implementing the still bold seeming idea of killing off the leading lady early in the film, Marion, whose sister and lover consequently try to find her after she disappears. They eventually arrive at Bates Motel, a location so infamous it now has a television series named after it, one that focuses on Norman Bates disturbing childhood. Of course the shower sequence is still central the film, causing seemingly unlimited controversy on release; and although we’ve become desensitised to such notoriety in the ensuing decades since Psycho, the scene remains an incredibly arresting one. Anthony Perkins performance is quintessential, one that would go on to influence so many others in the future (including Anthony Hopkins Oscar winning turn as Hannibal Lector in 1991’s The Silence Of The Lambs). There’s only so much you can say about Psycho before you simply start repeating all the superlatives that have come before, but it’s recently had a rerun in cinemas, and if you can catch it, it’s always worth another watch. 9.0/10