Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic Psycho was the first horror movie I ever saw, and I was afraid to take a shower for months afterward. While none of us wants Anthony Perkins sneaking into our bathrooms, there are actually a lot of great decorating ideas and elements in the film. Let's take a look at ways to re-create Psycho's look in our own homes — just without a knife-wielding maniac.
Prove Liberace was gay? I guess the white cape, rhinestone-encrusted white baby grand piano, and subtle flamboyance (that's a joke) wasn't adequate. (Oh, and crazy? "Liberachi" is already dead.) May I make a suggestion? After setting up your dictatorship in step 11, I think step 12 should be "go to therapy."
'Tis the season (and now the day!) to be scared out of your mind! While some people might be headed out to party the night away, many folks will get together to watch terrifying movies tonight. Of course, what scares people in movies varies from person to person. The suspense of a movie like Psycho turns some into a ball of nerves. For others, the idea of being possessed by a demonic spirit, as in the classic scary movie The Exorcist, will do the trick.
Personally, I still feel a chill down my spine when I think of the creepy, snowed-in hotel in Stephen King's The Shining and I'd prefer to not even talk about 28 Days Later because it was too traumatizing. Now it's your turn: What is hands-down the scariest movie you've ever seen?
I always struggle when faced with filling out personal questionnaires (they're lame), except when it comes to the "who I'd like to meet" field. My response to this question is always Saul Bass, undisputedly one of the greatest graphic designers of the mid-20th century. Bass's vision has given a face to long-standing brands like Minolta, AT&T, and United Airlines, and he was also a master of film title sequence and poster design, collaborating with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, and Martin Scorsese. Bass died in '96 of lymphoma, so the long-shot chance of ever meeting him will sadly never come. But, I delight in knowing I can still enjoy his work, as the MoMA Store now sells reproductions of his posters, such as Psycho ($12) and Vertigo ($12).
The Sicko Shower Curtain ($40) is a tribute to the infamous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film, Psycho. A noir life-size silhouette of a "sicko" is sewn onto the back of a standard shower curtain to achieve its life-threatening look. I can't say that I'd actually hang this in my house, unless perhaps on Halloween, but it might make a nice housewarming gift for a die-hard Hitchcock fan. What do you think?
.xlarge/i/Frightful-Friday-Psycho.jpg "Frightful Friday: Psycho")
To wrap up my Frightful Friday series this week, I'm taking a little trip back in time to when horror movies were all about suspense and Bosco chocolate syrup. Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho is the perfect movie for a spooky fall night, its chilling story seemingly old-fashioned to us now for its lack of gore (or, "gore" by our modern standards). Also, that terrifying string score! It's up there with the theme music from Jaws as some of the most iconic and evocative of all movie music.
Psycho is also, in some ways, a very sad story. The character of Norman Bates is deeply disturbed, and if he weren't so murderous he'd be rather pitiable. Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, a secretary who has just embezzled a bunch of money from her employer and is on the run. She goes to the Bates Motel to hide and its there that she meets the lonely, reclusive Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young, handsome man who looks after the motel as well as his ailing mother... or so it seems.
Apparently, the initial critical reviews for this film were mixed at best, but after the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction to the film, critics re-reviewed it, publishing glowing reviews the second time around.
Final little bit of trivia for you: Psycho was the first movie to show a woman in just a bra and slip.
Horror movies tend to hit theaters around Halloween, and apparently, April is the time for thrillers. Right now, there is a surplus of suspenseful movies out there, from nail-biters like The Lookout and Disturbia to the utterly unthrilling Perfect Stranger.
I really love a good thriller that can keep me guessing without relying on cheap tricks, blood, or gore. I'm a big fan of Hitchcock movies, including the classic Psycho, but thrillers can really run the gamut in terms of tone. Two of my other favorites include the twisting, turning plot of The Usual Suspects and the blatantly creepy The Sixth Sense.
What movies do you favor for a good serving of suspense? Using BuzzSugar's cool Buzzworthy bookmarking tool, just find the movies you love on the Web, bookmark them as Buzzworthy, and tag or title your choices with the word thrillers. Then, I'll post the readers' favorites next week.
To find out how to create a Buzzworthy bookmark, read more
.xxlarge/i/Frightful-Friday-Psycho.jpg "Frightful Friday: Psycho")
