It should come as no surprise that Psycho should be honoured on this list of cinemas most depraved characters. Alfred Hitchcocks 1960 film managed to assault the minds of its audiences and linger there long after they had left the cinema. Ever since we saw it, weve felt a lingering anxiousness when we spend too long in the shower. Norman Bates, the owner of Bates Motel, encounters Marion Crane who is on the run after stealing $40,000. The two get into an altercation after Marion suggests Bates should have his mentally ill mother institutionalised. When Marion goes to shower in her room, Bates appears and stabs her to death. He dumps her body and car in a nearby swamp. When Marion is reported missing and a detective finally arrives at the Bates Motel, Norman murders him after refusing to let him speak with his mother. Worried about the detective, Marions sister and boyfriend try to investigate and when they question the local sheriff about Bates they discover his mother had died years ago. When the two arrive at the Motel they make discoveries that point to foul play and after being chased to the cellar Marions sister discovers the dead body of Bates mother. She then sees Bates in a dress and a wig brandishing a knife. As this brief summary of the classic film has hopefully highlighted, the titular psycho is utterly deranged. Not only is he a cross-dressing (in this context, extremely creepy) corpse treasurer, but he is also a knife-wielding murderer. In the films climax we learn that Bates killed his mother and her lover after being overcome with jealousy so you can add incestuous desire to the growing list of his abnormalities too. Bates is loosely based on real-life mummys boy Ed Gein who murdered women that resembles his mother and made furniture from their skin and bones. Lovely.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
