10 Movies That Completely Switched Genre Halfway Through
4. Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock was no stranger from pulling the rug out from unsuspecting audiences, and despite such a legendary career he never managed to do it better than he did in Psycho.
As well as one of the earliest campaigns to encourage people to not share spoilers that would have blown the reveal that the biggest name in the movie was about to be the subject of one of cinema's most iconic death scenes, the very idea of Psycho as a slasher seemed to come out of nowhere.
All of the buildup and payoff made it seem as though we were in line for a crime thriller, as a big stash of money is stolen and our heroine goes on the run, holing up at the Bates Motel. That being said, underestimating the 'Master of Suspense' was a fool's game, and the detour into horror territory became yet another classic example of Hitchock toying with people's expectations and emotions.