"A boy's best friend is his mother." The legacy of Psycho extends far beyond our reach; not only is Alfred Hitchcock's film one of the most famous of all-time, regardless of genre, but it's become such a pop cultural force that it's hard to approach it without thinking on dozens of preconceived notions. Regardless of all that, though, Psycho remains the definitive tour de force in horror cinema - a twisted, psychological carnival ride of a movie that is inherently creepy before anything remotely "weird" even happens, and almost unbelievably so when it finally does. And not to forget that shocking and wholly unexpected twist, which left movie-goers screaming in the aisles as Hitch broke down cinematic conventions, offing his heroine a mere 47 minutes into the film. Anthony Perkins' performance as the psycho of the title is note perfect, and the supporting cast - made up of Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Balsam and John Gavin - are all on excellent form. Psycho was based on a novel of the same name, of course, which in itself was loosely based on the events surrounding real life serial killer Ed Gein. Essentially, Psycho brought the idea of "the killer next door" into the realms of cinema, and has in turn influenced an uncountable number of movies ever since. Its best scenes are legendary: the shower, the woman in the swivel chair, the murder on the stairs... these images are burned into our subconsciousness, backed by Bernard Hermann's masterful score. More than 50 years after it was first released, we're still not over it. Like this article? Which movies have we missed off? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
