11 Surprise Movie Villain Reveals Everyone Loved
1. Norman Bates - Psycho
When it comes to great reveals that audiences lapped up, an argument can be made that the twist of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was the first truly great reveal in the history of filmmaking.
Regardless of your stance on that, there's no doubting the sheer impact of that Psycho reveal, with it forever being etched into the conscience of even the most casual of moviegoers.
Upon a first watch of Hitchcock's 1960 picture, the audience is led to believe that the possessive and controlling Norma Bates is the person responsible for the film's carnage. Surely, the gruesome acts of Psycho couldn't be carried out by Anthony Perkins' meek and mild Norman, right? Wrong.
The beloved twist ending of Psycho, of course, features the shocking reveal that Norma Bates is actually a rotting corpse in the basement of the Bates Motel's main house. Instead, it's Norman dressing up in his mother's clothing and carrying out bloody murder as a way for his own unhinged psyche to cope with the death of his dear ma.
When it comes to major movie reveals, Psycho is the granddaddy of them all - and it's arguably the ultimate villain reveal that film fans most adore to this very day.