Taking a shower would never be the same again after watching this movie. Based on the book by Robert Bloch and
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins stars as motel owner Norman Bates, an apparent "mummy's boy" in a very real sense of the word.
A young woman, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), stops over at the motel one night, on her way to visit her boyfriend. Norman appears quite friendly at first, explaining how he runs the motel for his invalid mother, but gets a little rattled when asked she enquires about her (I wonder why?).
Later that evening, Marion goes to take a shower and (screech.. screech.. screech) ends up checking out permanently, apparently murdered by his mother, which is kind of odd considering she's meant to be confined to a wheelchair. Frightened they'll take his mother away, Norman carefully disposes of the body and possessions, but his troubles are far from over.
Marion had run off with a lot of her bosses money, and as neither her boyfriend or family have heard from her in a while, a lot of people are now looking for her. Marion's boyfriend, Sam and her sister do a bit of investigating, and find out about the Bates Motel. However, they're told that Norman's running the place single-handedly, as they find out his mother has actually been dead several years. Norman however tells a different story, claiming his mother to be alive, but incapacitated. It's only when they try to meet Norman's "mother" for themselves, the killers true identity and Normans shocking secret are revealed.
Looking somewhat old and dated these days, having been filmed in black and white, the film is still regarded as one of Hitchcock's many cinematic masterpieces. Although not a strict personal favourite of mine, I can still appreciate the effect it had when it was originally released, and takes pride of place amongst my collection.
