8. Psycho (1960)
Psycho entered into the lexicon of American horror genre with the power of a sledge hammer. It gave audiences a new type of scare.
For the first time in American cinema, a murder of a character was shown on-screen. The iconic shower scene, in which Janet Leigh’s character was murdered, drew comments from shocked audiences.
Fellow filmmakers marveled at the technical innovations that went into shooting the now-infamous shower scene. Hitchcock films are visible manuals for aspiring film directors.
Wikipedia notes:
“Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock’s best films and praised as a major work of cinematic art by international film critics and scholars.
Often ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films, and is widely considered to be the earliest example of the slasher film genre.”
Based on the novel of the same title by Robert Bloch. Loosely inspired by 1950s Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein (the same killer who also inspired The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).
Psycho would challenge many film techniques of the time, and shocks audiences even today.
The story’s incredible, the acting’s near perfection, perfect soundtrack, and the cinematography set the bar high. It’s hard to find anything wrong with Psycho.
