12 Most Paused Horror Movie Moments
1. Psycho – Norman Bates’ Skull Face
Mommy issue-ridden motel owner Norman Bates first unnerved audiences with his curious mix of affable boyish charm and a penchant for dressing as his mother and committing murder in 1960 in Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal psychological horror Psycho.
It’s a film brimming with pause-worthy moments like the legendary shower scene in which its biggest name star Janet Leigh as Marion Crane is brutally killed off or the obligatory Hitchcock cameo (he’s seen wearing a cowboy hat outside Marion’s office a few minutes into the film).
But one pause-worthy moment was so brief that it was easily missed back in 1960 during the pre-VCR (that’s video cassette recorder for the post millennials) days. Right at the end of the movie, as a psychiatrist explains Norman’s psychosis, we get a shot of him staring directly at the camera smirking ever so slightly just before the imposed image of a skull fleetingly flashes over his face.
That skull is the decaying face of Norman’s long-dead mother and that, ladies and gentleman, is testament to Hitchcock’s brilliance.