10 Horror Movie Secrets Never Meant To Be Found

Is Norman Bates really a psycho?

Well, yeah, he killed two people dressed up as his dead mother. Also, he agreed to appear in the Psycho sequel movies. Those are both instances of severely unhinged behaivor.

The point we're trying to make is how much of that is Norman's fault and, on a wider scale, how responsible individuals are for their own actions.

Bates' twisted relationship with his deceased mother is perfectly exemplified during the film's closing sequence. As Norman is being taken away by the police, he stares directly down the lens and smiles. As the scene fades into the next one, we can spot a brief overlay of his mother's skull on top of Norman's face.

It's incredibly brief, even when slowed down, but it's just enough of a flicker to drive the point home.

Considering that this would have been much harder to edit together in the early 1960s, this scene shows just how dedicated Alfred Hitchcock was to his craft and how layered his films actually were.

Or it was a stray piece of film left in by accident... just kidding, this was 100% on purpose.

Or was it?

Yeah, it was.