Okay, this is definitely stretching it, but while it's true that Norman's mother doesn't actually appear alive onscreen in Alfred Hitchcock's seminal slasher film, her presence in the Bates Motel is undeniable for all the time that's spent there and her last-act appearance in the basement is one of cinema's most shocking reveals. Norman's tendency to dress like his mother has created a subgenre of slasher movie all its own, including films like Dressed To Kill, Gunn and The Silence Of The Lambs in which male killers wear women's clothing and/or skin. Thanks, Norma! She's made slightly less iconic by the mere fact of being alive and kind of sexy in A&E's currently airing Bates Motel series, but even that and many inferior sequels to the original can't take away from the legendary grip the deceased Mrs. Bates has on Norman and us. The image of her skeleton slowly decaying in that rocking chair will forever be imprinted on audience members' collective memories, along with the disturbing knowledge that our parents always have a much bigger impact on us than we think...
