Nobody had ever seen a film quite like Psycho when it bounced onto our screens in 1960. Nothing mainstream had ever been as perverse, as complicated and as frightening. At the start, we have clean cut Norman Bates just running his motel as usual. One of his clients is Marion (Janet Leigh) an attractive blonde who has stolen $40,000 from her employer to help out her boyfriend. There is considerable plot and character development around Marion and we are led to believe she may be the film's heroine. That is until she steps into that fateful shower... For audiences to see a screaming naked woman at her most vulnerable be attacked by a knife wielding maniac - it must have been something to behold in 1960. You can practically hear the knife pierce Marion's flesh. With that scene, Hitchcock dispelled all our expectations and offended our decency. All within 30 minutes of the opening of the film.