3. Psycho
Hitchcock's film Psycho is probably in my top ten favorite films of all time. It's fantastically filmed with plot-driven yet purposeful camera shots from above. The structure of the script, which leaves the audience without a protagonist halfway through, is nothing short of brilliant. Janet Leigh is incredible as the troubled would-be thief, and Anthony Perkins plays the most compelling meek foil in cinema history. Psycho, which debuted in 1960, was the pinnacle of the suspense and horror genres at the time. Movie theaters screening the film were urged to close their doors once the movie started; if you were a minute late, you were out. The film's shower scene is perhaps the most iconic imagery in all of motion pictures, and the twist at the end is a feat which has been attempted by countless others to little avail. It's a near perfect film. And then, the exposition. Norman Bates is locked up. We've seen his mother's corpse, and we've seen him dressed in her clothes and a wig. We're all relatively intelligent people (you're browsing WhatCulture, after all) so we should have a pretty firm grasp of what's going on here. Instead of trusting the audience like he does in the endlessly complex Vertigo, Hitchcock dumbs the movie down for us, giving a play-by-play recap of all the actions that have happened. The psychiatrist dives deep into pop-psychology, explaining the entire film we've just watched. The most painful part, however, is a small bit of dialogue between the Doctor and Marion's sister Lila.
Lila: Did he kill my sister? Dr. Richmond: Yes. And No.
Um, you gigantic scumbag, the woman's family member just died.