15 Films That Only Needed One Scene To Become Legendary

The Movie: Up until 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was known as the "master of suspense," but his brand of white-knuckle tension was reserved for thrillers and noir mood pieces. With Psycho, his adaptation of author Robert Bloch's popular novel of the same name (based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein), Hitch was a man on a mission: Responding to critics who'd been saying he was past his prime, the defiant filmmaker wanted to scare the hell out of them. In turn, he also defined the modern horror film as it was known.

The Legendary Scene: Psycho's most obvious contribution to public consciousness was indeed the infamous shower scene. The protagonist is surprised when the curtain is pulled back to reveal a silhouetted "woman" with a knife. She is then implied to be repeatedly stabbed by the assailant and dies.

This scene showcases multiple examples of Hitchcock’s innovations. He uses “cutting on action”, a method that edits often disjointed footage into one continuous scene. Hitchcock’s use is so brilliant that audiences at the time often claimed “seeing” the knife penetrate her skin. Years later, and this iconic movie moment could still convince an individual to stick to bubble baths.