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“We all go a little mad sometimes.” So says Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho (1960). In this episode, the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Erin Miskell, Jeff Mohr, and Joseph Perry – proclaim their love for and take a deep dive into Hitchcock’s masterpiece and the mind of Norman Bates. Yes, you read it correctly. We love Norman’s mind and take a deep dive into it. After all, he’s such a nice boy.
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 1 — Psycho (1960)
At the films original release, Hitchcock resorted to a multitude of marketing gimmicks to help promote his new, fairly low budget, black and white film. The crowds responded in droves, piling up box office receipts more than 32 times the cost of making the film. Erin hosts this episode as we all try to get inside Hitchcock’s mind and end up feeling like Norman Bates could be our special friend (especially Erin!), if it just wasn’t for that whole murdering people thing. Is Norman Bates a nice boy suffering from mental illness or an iconic horror villain?
The story of Psycho unfolds as if it were two separate movies. First is the one telling the story of Marion Crane’s embezzlement from her employer, subsequent flight from the law, and change of heart after meeting Norman Bates. The second story begins with Marion’s murder and its afermath as we learn more about Norman’s relationship with his mother. After all, he’s such a NICE boy.
The Classic Era Grue-Crew is blown away with Psycho by everything from the leads (Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles) to the supporting cast (Martin Balsam, John McIntire, John Anderson, Simon Oakland, Mort Mills, Pat Hitchcock); from Hitchcock’s direction to Saul Bass’ titles and Bernard Herrmann’s score; from Robert Bloch’s source material to Joseph Stefano’s script.
Listen and learn which one of us says:
- “You need to stop playing with your seat or we’re going home.”
- “The first time I saw that scene I was 10-years-old and I know some pee came out.”
- “His initials are G. G., something with a G.”
- “You might want to rephrase that as, ‘I really need to watch more Kolchak: The Nightstalker.’”
We plan to release a new episode every other week. Our upcoming schedule includes Maneater of Hydra (aka Island of the Doomed, 1967), King Kong (1933) in conjunction with the March 10, 2017 release of Kong: Skull Island, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), and The Tingler (1959).
Please let us know what you think and what films you’d like to hear us cover! We want to hear from you! Send us an email (chadhunt@gruesomemagazine.com, erinmiskell@gruesomemagazine.com, jeffmohr@gruesomemagazine.com, or josephperry@gruesomemagazine.com) or leave us a message, a review or a comment at GruesomeMagazine.com, iTunes, the Horror News Radio App, or the Horror News Radio Facebook group.
