According to late Roger Ebert, "What makes 'Psycho' immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers."
There’s good reason to believe that Hitchcock was snubbed for refusing to let press/industry folk see the movie before the wide release. A lot of critics have admitted to slamming Psycho in the press for this reason.
I saw this when I was like 7-8 years old. For some reason my mother let me watch it one night. Ya... I didn't shower for like a month. No joke, and when I finally did shower, the curtain was wide open and my eyes never left the door. LMAO.
Dirty fucking kid you were or are.. but I see the point you are making. Horror movies can scar a kid. I used to be scared to use bathroom alone after watching Candyman. I was 12.
@George W Heh. I'll bet Jeb tells exactly the same story except for one important detail. . . . . . . . . It was *you* who were too frightened to sleep alone in your room! Admit it, or submit to the Indian rope burn!
I did the same thing until mom and dad got tired of water getting all over the floor, so it was baths from then on. In retrospect, wtf was my mom thinking letting me watch that movie as a child?
some of the most brilliant writing for string orchestra, ever. and another great saul bass title sequence. in less than 2 min, sets up the mood for everything that is to follow.
It should be noted that the title sequence was developed by Saul Bass who also created the storyboard that Hitchcock used to help craft the shower scene. The title's as displayed with Herrmann's chilling music is truly unforgettable!
My favorite horror film, hands down. But, also one of the most original openings. Straight lines and print. The music is providing the set up. Masterpiece by Herrmann.
Exactly. No exposition, no opening scenes, no footage of anything to start off with. Just a quickly paced and discordant musical score and the opening titles. To have seen this in the movies without having any clue what was coming must’ve been intense indeed.
Everything is just such a perfect meld in psycho. Even the credits. Saul Bass is just so subtle here, after all...its just lines going across the screen; but on a sub to nearly conscious level, even before anything else you are presented with, these dynamic 'slashing' motions cut through the film and the credits as if it were the very flesh we are going to see slashed later. Of course, the Bernard Hermann score is crucial, but its just such a perfect meld, and it all feeds into the broader themes of the film itself in such a subtle way. That's why they called him the master, and current vapid pop corn pics take note...no overindulgent, overblown title sequences allowed!
This film is currently free on UA-cam, and as a Gen Z, movie enthusiast, I was very impressed with the film. The main titles with the window-blinds animation and the score immediately tell you that this is a horror film. It also gives that sense of isolation, much how Norman's life was throughout the movie. This film is a 10/10, a true classic.
The credits actually give a subtle hint of what'll happen to Marion Crane when Janet Leigh's name is cleaved in half and flies off in different directions.
One of the greatest movie themes of all time. @1:19...chills. A great movie is one you can watch over and over again...and "Psycho" is one of them. At least for me.
When the Bass actually gets to chop those notes, it’s powerful. The composer really holds back and doesn’t use it so much. It makes it all the more powerful when you do hear it.
the most beautiful film credits with the most beautiful music ever composed today the story of this film seems ridiculous to us, you have to put yourself in the place of the spectators of the time who were stunned by this film, despite its age, I think that this film is the most remarkable and the most unforgettable of the one who has been called "the master of suspense" although he never saw himself that way, Hitchcock had many faults, ignored in his time, but it must be recognized that he was well ahead of his time, he was the precursor of many genres of films, since equaled but never surpassed, if we blindfold you and cut off the song and without show the credits, after a few minutes we would guess that it's a film by Alfred
The slashing credits are homage to both the psychosis of Norman Bates and stabbings throughout the movie. The same as Marion Crane's windshield wipers slashing back and forth. The beautiful Hermann soundtrack is nothing but strings.
Hitchcock was supposed to mislead people into thinking that Janet Leigh was the star. I wonder if contemporary audience got off the ruse and suspected it was Anthony Perkins from the get-go. I mean, c'mon, "Starring..."
I was mislead. Prior to watching the film I knew Norman Bates was supposed to be the murderer, but as I was watching the movie I thought Marion was the protagonist and she'd be some kind of "Final girl" boy I was wrong, then "a woman" killed her so I was confused. Brilliant movie. EDIT: Typo.
In a word, no they didnt. What you dont see here are the movie posters where Janet Leigh is the big part of the poster, for example and all the other promotional stuff beforehand. BEFORE you saw the credits, you were already convinced she was the star. And no-one ever kills the star of a movie, right...
I had a friend who was about to go to play video games instead of watching a movie but when I put this movie on last night and he got sucked in right from the opening credits. The song and style is a work of art from the beginning
1980s, Moore auditorium on the F.S.U. campus. The audiences there were demonstrative and Janet Leigh's name would come on the screen to several wolf whistles..but the second biggest cheer from the crowd was when the name Bernard Herrmann came on. Check out his quartet called Echoes.
I saw Psycho in a theatre years ago and these opening credits sequence was utterly terrrfiying. Herrmann's music, Saul Bass' credits and Hitchcock bringing those elements together in a large dark space left me freaked out for days and its seared into my memory.
The brilliant thing is that this movie's first act plays like a lot of Hitchcock's other movie prior to this one, with mystery and suspense. Then Janet Leigh takes her shower, and the rest is history. This opening theme doesn't even clue you in about what's to come.
Such an exhausting piece of music that is really creepy and well done. You can tell that the music from this movie inspired some of the score for, "The Machinist."
did you also notice that when that happens, the strings go from high to low to high again? As well as the seemingly random placement of the names throughout the opening with Norman (Anthony Perkins) and the title being the first two in the center
I can remember watching this movie on TV as a kid and in the shower scene part with the screeching background music, I almost crapped myself from fright. That`s because no movie like this had ever been made before. Anthony Perkins was tailor made for the part. My brother said to me recently, all the best movies have already been made.
I remember my film class teacher showed this film to us back in 2021 during the lockdowns and watched through two screens because of it and I couldn’t commit to film class since then. But ever since I got the metal Blu-ray box to this I’m quite surprised how good this was. Most older films of the time who bore me to tears despite enjoying most film then than today lineup. But I would consider this a great horror film non the less.
Was flying home for Thanksgiving some months ago, and I watched this movie for the first time (on those screens behind the headrests of the seats). So freaking amazing...one of the best movies ever made (next to The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Fellowship of the Ring). The music is spot on perfect, and the old fassioned distorted sound quality makes it terrifying.
The perfect combination of graphics and music to set the tone for the film. Bernard Hermann's frenzied, screeching violins, with a mixture of staccato and pizzicato punctuations complimented by the deep tones of the cello or contrabass provokes a sense of discomfort or dread within the listener. Saul Bass' equally frenzied title design uses bar graphs appearing horizontally or vertically or in multiple directions simultaneously along with partial, offset or misaligned letters to construct/deconstruct the words for each set of credits [which are immediately sheared away by new lines] to provide the visual unease to compliment the melody and the title [Psycho] itself. Hitchcock's response: Brilliantly use the first 30 minutes of the film to create a false sense of danger before shocking his audiences when they had likely begun to let their guards down.
Every single one of the re-recordings of this opening music have been performed at a slower pace than what we're hearing here. That ruins the tension and suspense generated by this music: it gives a sense of frantic, screaming panic and terror. Listening to the slower recordings is like experiencing this terror in slow motion.
there's a remake with Vince Vaughn. didn't like it as much though. so there's actually 5 altogether. but the first 3 I liked best. RIP Anthony Perkins.
Hollow Man not so bad that, vince is by norman bates but original by anthony perkins is best anyway, that cannot really be disagree, special if love psycho really?
Great credit sequence! But I've always wondered if the special credit for Janet Leigh subtly tipped off first-time audiences on what to expect? "AND so and so AS whomever" is usually given to a well-known actor playing a cameo. You would expect the actor who plays what is apparently the leading role to get top billing. (Exceptions such as Reeve in Superman and O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia are because they weren't known to cinema audiences at the time.) Even if she had been billed second after Perkins it wouldn't have seemed unconventional.
Many of you write that music causes fear. I would like to shed some light on the exact effects of the opening scene and the cinematography used to achieve this. The basic theme of the film is schizophrenia, which is a breakdown of consciousness. The film uses its own imagery to convey this through the use of stripes. The very first image, the film studio's logo, appears in stripes, although many people will not notice this because it is so brief. The credits overwhelm us with a black background, and the whole opening scene is based on the sharp contrast between black and white, which has a disturbing effect with its vibrancy. The first notes break into the silence like the 'knocking' of Beethoven's Symphony of Fate. Unexpectedly harsh, frighteningly high notes, as if something were bursting upon us in the darkness, unstoppable. And the scene splits before our eyes, the unexpected streaks from all directions tearing the space apart, and with it, through our eyes, us. Involuntarily, our eyes begin to follow the streaks as they rush back and forth, but as they 'attack' from opposite directions, we become confused, our eyeballs bouncing back and forth, just like a madman in a mad frenzy. There is no single point of certainty in front of us, even the letters of names are 'broken' one after the other, and the music, like a multitude of knives, pierces us, stabbing our ears and through them our minds to death. This never-ending torture chills our nerves to the extreme and drives our minds to the brink of despair. Our sanity, our peace of mind will be lost to it....
This movie is a classic and it was famous and it made four movie after this and made a tv show called bates motel and a remake to the original sense Alfred made the first movie everyone knows the shower scene it was shocking and that is why it is a classic
Anthony Perkins: Norman Bates Vera Miles: Lila John Gavin: Sam Janet Leigh: Marion Crane These characters were the main reason why the horror genre and the shower scene is the most iconic kill ever in horror cinema history
And some memorable scenes were also the main reason why the horror genres Memorable Scenes and Movies: The Exorcist Priest Scene, Spinning Head, and Spider Walk, Kirk’s and Franklin’s Death from Leatherface’s first film, Jaws First Scene and Quint’s Death, Alien and the Chest Scene, A Nightmare on Elm Street Glen’s and Tina’s Death, Saw Movies, Final Destination so much more
It's significant that Bernard Herrmann's name is the last but one in the credits and is in the same size typeface as the director's. Hitchcock must have realized even then just how important the music score was for his movie.
It was intentional as the opening credits were made by Saul Bass, his credits are always able to convey the feel of the movie, like in Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder.
Amazing opening credits theme to get the audience hooked if they already wasnt. With Mr Hitchcock burying every copy of the novel so no one could read up of what they were about to watch. The master of suspense
What I wouldn't give to just see this movie without knowing about the shower scene. Just to know what it would feel like to experience what everybody who saw this in 1960 experienced. Along with Planet Of The Apes and The Old Yeller, this has to be the most ruined plot twist of all time. I mean EVERYBODY knows about it before they've even see the movie.
I see that other people have had the same intrigue I have when it comes to the main credits, and I almost feel as if it's something of a generational gap between the movie goers of 1960 and today's, but, the fact that Janet Leigh is the last name credited under the actors, I can only assume that it wasn't uncommon back then to have big names or main characters pushed back to the end. Nowadays, if you see the same thing, especially in a horror, slasher, or suspense film, it's usually a dead giveaway that the character the actor or actress playing them, isn't going to survive all the way through the film, or is just in it for a short cameo appearance.
According to late Roger Ebert, "What makes 'Psycho' immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers."
Ebert's prose was everything. 🎬
Never has an opening credit sequence been so scary showing nothing but names
I wouldn't call it scary. More intense.
@@thedemonthatchasedyouupyou1747 fair
@@thedemonthatchasedyouupyou1747 I was terrified lol
the shining
Credit goes to Saul Bass.
I love how the music hits you like a ton of bricks off the top
Was that a Who Framed Roger Rabbit reference?
@@frankwest018 actually no it wasn't
Right? Movie hasn't even started yet and I'm already stressing.
Best horror movie and horror score ever.
Might do a remake with Amber Midthunder
One of Bernard Herrmann's iconic pieces. 🎼
@@kerchoogus Not wrong, though.
@@kerchoogus Point taken, but what other themes would you list in that league?
RIP
“Psycho” cast and Director Alfred Hitchcock
Your 60's gf at the movies: "WHY IS THIS SO INTENSE, JOHNNY?"
Johnny, the 60’s boyfriend: I’ve no idea Carol, but I’m getting rather frightened myself! Just cling to my arm, and we’ll be alright!
60's Random stranger: "I CAN'T DIE A VIRGIN!"
It is beyond me why this film wasn’t nominated for best original score at the Oscars.
Googling what movies were nominated and which won.. brb.
duMaurier Your point?
There’s good reason to believe that Hitchcock was snubbed for refusing to let press/industry folk see the movie before the wide release. A lot of critics have admitted to slamming Psycho in the press for this reason.
@@duMaurier15 so much for your brb comment
@@TheConorsmithusa LOL
I dont think a movie opening has been as intense since
saul bass can't ever be replaced
@@dungs11 Let's not forget Bernard Hermann!
ArseneWenger Star Wars or the shining :3
I agree defintiely number 1 but Id like to throw in Beetlejuice and The Burbs.
A Clockwork Orange
Alfred Hitchcock opening credits are sometimes just as iconic as the movie scenes. The score for this one especially was amazing.
I saw this when I was like 7-8 years old. For some reason my mother let me watch it one night. Ya... I didn't shower for like a month. No joke, and when I finally did shower, the curtain was wide open and my eyes never left the door. LMAO.
Dirty fucking kid you were or are.. but I see the point you are making. Horror movies can scar a kid. I used to be scared to use bathroom alone after watching Candyman. I was 12.
me too, I'm so scared to watch this movie when I was a little :(
@George W Heh. I'll bet Jeb tells exactly the same story except for one important detail. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was *you* who were too frightened to sleep alone in your room!
Admit it, or submit to the Indian rope burn!
I used to stay away from TV’s for a while after watching The Ring
I did the same thing until mom and dad got tired of water getting all over the floor, so it was baths from then on.
In retrospect, wtf was my mom thinking letting me watch that movie as a child?
This opening credits sequence is so simple but brilliant. Fits the music perfectly and fills the viewer with dread from the first frame on.
Went to a screening for this film, first time watching, it was awesome seeing this in the theather
Everytime on hitchcock birthday they put his movies on theaters
Fingers crossed that the Gateway Theater in Columbus, Ohio has their Hitchcocktober this year. Psycho is always shown.
6 years wow
"We all go a little mad sometimes."
Norman Bates scares me let's just say that
This whole score is written for just strings, damn Bernard Herrmann you were a genius!
This and halloween are the two greatest horror movie theme tunes ever.
Personally I'd go for Ennio Morricone's bleak intro to The Thing
@@evo5dave That's number 3 for me followed closely by the themes for both Hellraiser 1 and 2.
I’m gonna have to agree with you there
some of the most brilliant writing for string orchestra, ever. and another great saul bass title sequence. in less than 2 min, sets up the mood for everything that is to follow.
Hard to believe this film was out in 1960 and it’s now 2022 and still there hasn’t been a thriller or horror that’s as good as this.
oh man. silence of the lambs, terminator, the thing and halloween clear for me.
0:37 Busta Rhymes used the sample of the violin riff for one of his songs Gimme Some More
Busta Rhymas is a busta, straight busta.
Yes, and like most music sampled for rap. . . it instantly became the best part of the entire song.
This is enough to send shivers down your spine
It should be noted that the title sequence was developed by Saul Bass who also created the storyboard that Hitchcock used to help craft the shower scene. The title's as displayed with Herrmann's chilling music is truly unforgettable!
Why am I listening to this before I go to sleep😂
oh god... poor you😬
Because you want epic dreams!
The suspense starts with the opening credits, including with the placement of Janet Leigh's name.
And he only used strings, what a madman
I watched it years ago and I actually found the opening scene the most impressive part. The graphics are so inventive
Great music and the way the credits were done was creative.
My favorite horror film, hands down. But, also one of the most original openings. Straight lines and print. The music is providing the set up. Masterpiece by Herrmann.
Exactly. No exposition, no opening scenes, no footage of anything to start off with. Just a quickly paced and discordant musical score and the opening titles. To have seen this in the movies without having any clue what was coming must’ve been intense indeed.
@@TravelinBand747Well said. 🎬
Thank you. 🎬
That score is absolute fire! Really makes for a thrilling opening
The sound of the knife, the heartbeat and the unsettling undertone make this score epic.
Everything is just such a perfect meld in psycho. Even the credits. Saul Bass is just so subtle here, after all...its just lines going across the screen; but on a sub to nearly conscious level, even before anything else you are presented with, these dynamic 'slashing' motions cut through the film and the credits as if it were the very flesh we are going to see slashed later. Of course, the Bernard Hermann score is crucial, but its just such a perfect meld, and it all feeds into the broader themes of the film itself in such a subtle way. That's why they called him the master, and current vapid pop corn pics take note...no overindulgent, overblown title sequences allowed!
Don't know how many times I've seen this, but as soon as the music started--goosebump time!
I first saw this in 1974 in Champaign, IL at the Thunderbird Theater, on a double bill with "Frenzy". Imagine seeing those two back to back.
Saul Bass + Bernard Herrmann + string orchestra = Massive amounts of Intensity!!!!!!!
Lots of horns on North by Northwest.
This film is currently free on UA-cam, and as a Gen Z, movie enthusiast, I was very impressed with the film. The main titles with the window-blinds animation and the score immediately tell you that this is a horror film. It also gives that sense of isolation, much how Norman's life was throughout the movie. This film is a 10/10, a true classic.
The credits actually give a subtle hint of what'll happen to Marion Crane when Janet Leigh's name is cleaved in half and flies off in different directions.
One of the greatest movie themes of all time. @1:19...chills. A great movie is one you can watch over and over again...and "Psycho" is one of them. At least for me.
When the Bass actually gets to chop those notes, it’s powerful. The composer really holds back and doesn’t use it so much. It makes it all the more powerful when you do hear it.
Yessss! 1:19 through 1:45 ❤❤❤
the most beautiful film credits with the most beautiful music ever composed
today the story of this film seems ridiculous to us,
you have to put yourself in the place of the spectators of the time
who were stunned by this film, despite its age, I think
that this film is the most remarkable and the most unforgettable
of the one who has been called "the master of suspense" although he
never saw himself that way, Hitchcock had many faults,
ignored in his time, but it must be recognized that he was
well ahead of his time, he was the precursor of many
genres of films, since equaled but never surpassed,
if we blindfold you and cut off the song and without
show the credits, after a few minutes we would guess
that it's a film by Alfred
The slashing credits are homage to both the psychosis of Norman Bates and stabbings throughout the movie. The same as Marion Crane's windshield wipers slashing back and forth. The beautiful Hermann soundtrack is nothing but strings.
Hitchcock was supposed to mislead people into thinking that Janet Leigh was the star. I wonder if contemporary audience got off the ruse and suspected it was Anthony Perkins from the get-go. I mean, c'mon, "Starring..."
I was mislead. Prior to watching the film I knew Norman Bates was supposed to be the murderer, but as I was watching the movie I thought Marion was the protagonist and she'd be some kind of "Final girl" boy I was wrong, then "a woman" killed her so I was confused. Brilliant movie.
EDIT: Typo.
In a word, no they didnt.
What you dont see here are the movie posters where Janet Leigh is the big part of the poster, for example and all the other promotional stuff beforehand.
BEFORE you saw the credits, you were already convinced she was the star. And no-one ever kills the star of a movie, right...
I had a friend who was about to go to play video games instead of watching a movie but when I put this movie on last night and he got sucked in right from the opening credits. The song and style is a work of art from the beginning
Last night I listened to this while driving down a dark spooky 20 mile long road with no one on it and no street lights.
1980s, Moore auditorium on the F.S.U. campus. The audiences there were demonstrative and Janet Leigh's name would come on the screen to several wolf whistles..but the second biggest cheer from the crowd was when the name Bernard Herrmann came on. Check out his quartet called Echoes.
I saw Psycho in a theatre years ago and these opening credits sequence was utterly terrrfiying. Herrmann's music, Saul Bass' credits and Hitchcock bringing those elements together in a large dark space left me freaked out for days and its seared into my memory.
Only Bernard can make me cry, make me laugh and get me hyped up as hell all at the exact same time
🤟
I miss when films had iconic opening credits like this.
Incredible work. If it’s not the best opening credits/musical sequence, then it’s a very strong contender
What a fucking opening! Not one frame of film and it tells you so much!
And all you can do is use unnecessary profanity on the Internet for attention!
The brilliant thing is that this movie's first act plays like a lot of Hitchcock's other movie prior to this one, with mystery and suspense. Then Janet Leigh takes her shower, and the rest is history. This opening theme doesn't even clue you in about what's to come.
Every time I hear it, I enjoy it more and more. A real masterpiece
From the second the opening credits begin and the music plays, the stage is set for the suspense and horror that follow.
"We all go a little mad sometimes" rip Anthony Perkins I loved his role as Norman bates he will be missed and remembered 😢
The king of movie title sequences.
Such an exhausting piece of music that is really creepy and well done. You can tell that the music from this movie inspired some of the score for, "The Machinist."
This music, with the shrieking violins, inspired The Beatles when they wrote "Eleanor Rigby".
0:21 dark realisation...when 'psycho' pops on screen it cracks like the norman guys personality...CHILLS
did you also notice that when that happens, the strings go from high to low to high again? As well as the seemingly random placement of the names throughout the opening with Norman (Anthony Perkins) and the title being the first two in the center
I can remember watching this movie on TV as a kid and in the shower scene part with the screeching background music, I almost crapped myself from fright. That`s because no movie like this had ever been made before.
Anthony Perkins was tailor made for the part.
My brother said to me recently, all the best movies have already been made.
I remember my film class teacher showed this film to us back in 2021 during the lockdowns and watched through two screens because of it and I couldn’t commit to film class since then. But ever since I got the metal Blu-ray box to this I’m quite surprised how good this was. Most older films of the time who bore me to tears despite enjoying most film then than today lineup. But I would consider this a great horror film non the less.
This is not a movie.
This is THE movie.
Was flying home for Thanksgiving some months ago, and I watched this movie for the first time (on those screens behind the headrests of the seats). So freaking amazing...one of the best movies ever made (next to The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Fellowship of the Ring). The music is spot on perfect, and the old fassioned distorted sound quality makes it terrifying.
A real masterpiece from BH.
The perfect combination of graphics and music to set the tone for the film. Bernard Hermann's frenzied, screeching violins, with a mixture of staccato and pizzicato punctuations complimented by the deep tones of the cello or contrabass provokes a sense of discomfort or dread within the listener. Saul Bass' equally frenzied title design uses bar graphs appearing horizontally or vertically or in multiple directions simultaneously along with partial, offset or misaligned letters to construct/deconstruct the words for each set of credits [which are immediately sheared away by new lines] to provide the visual unease to compliment the melody and the title [Psycho] itself. Hitchcock's response: Brilliantly use the first 30 minutes of the film to create a false sense of danger before shocking his audiences when they had likely begun to let their guards down.
Every single one of the re-recordings of this opening music have been performed at a slower pace than what we're hearing here. That ruins the tension and suspense generated by this music: it gives a sense of frantic, screaming panic and terror. Listening to the slower recordings is like experiencing this terror in slow motion.
Even Herrmann himself took it slower in a later recording.
Beautiful/creepy music! And one of the best parts in the 'Gimme Some More' song by Busta Rhymes.
I love all 4 movies of Psycho, amazing trilogy
there's a remake with Vince Vaughn. didn't like it as much though. so there's actually 5 altogether. but the first 3 I liked best. RIP Anthony Perkins.
maddie can't beat the first one though.
Hollow Man not so bad that, vince is by norman bates but original by anthony perkins is best anyway, that cannot really be disagree, special if love psycho really?
Great credit sequence! But I've always wondered if the special credit for Janet Leigh subtly tipped off first-time audiences on what to expect? "AND so and so AS whomever" is usually given to a well-known actor playing a cameo. You would expect the actor who plays what is apparently the leading role to get top billing. (Exceptions such as Reeve in Superman and O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia are because they weren't known to cinema audiences at the time.) Even if she had been billed second after Perkins it wouldn't have seemed unconventional.
AND if you notice, Janet Leigh's name is the only name in the credits to be 'cut in half'! Janet goes to the left and Leigh goes to the right!!!
Great Bernard Herrmann music score.
I love psycho
Bernard Herrman masterful work
Many of you write that music causes fear. I would like to shed some light on the exact effects of the opening scene and the cinematography used to achieve this.
The basic theme of the film is schizophrenia, which is a breakdown of consciousness. The film uses its own imagery to convey this through the use of stripes. The very first image, the film studio's logo, appears in stripes, although many people will not notice this because it is so brief. The credits overwhelm us with a black background, and the whole opening scene is based on the sharp contrast between black and white, which has a disturbing effect with its vibrancy. The first notes break into the silence like the 'knocking' of Beethoven's Symphony of Fate. Unexpectedly harsh, frighteningly high notes, as if something were bursting upon us in the darkness, unstoppable. And the scene splits before our eyes, the unexpected streaks from all directions tearing the space apart, and with it, through our eyes, us. Involuntarily, our eyes begin to follow the streaks as they rush back and forth, but as they 'attack' from opposite directions, we become confused, our eyeballs bouncing back and forth, just like a madman in a mad frenzy. There is no single point of certainty in front of us, even the letters of names are 'broken' one after the other, and the music, like a multitude of knives, pierces us, stabbing our ears and through them our minds to death. This never-ending torture chills our nerves to the extreme and drives our minds to the brink of despair. Our sanity, our peace of mind will be lost to it....
"Anxiety" -- the soundtrack.
This peace is so fasinating!
This movie is a classic and it was famous and it made four movie after this and made a tv show called bates motel and a remake to the original sense Alfred made the first movie everyone knows the shower scene it was shocking and that is why it is a classic
Anthony Perkins: Norman Bates
Vera Miles: Lila
John Gavin: Sam
Janet Leigh: Marion Crane
These characters were the main reason why the horror genre and the shower scene is the most iconic kill ever in horror cinema history
And some memorable scenes were also the main reason why the horror genres
Memorable Scenes and Movies: The Exorcist Priest Scene, Spinning Head, and Spider Walk, Kirk’s and Franklin’s Death from Leatherface’s first film, Jaws First Scene and Quint’s Death, Alien and the Chest Scene, A Nightmare on Elm Street Glen’s and Tina’s Death, Saw Movies, Final Destination so much more
Is it weird that I love this theme rather than the one during the shower sequence?
Understandable
apparently the inspiration for the music was Shostakovich's 8th symphony, 3rd mvt - its really audible
Saul Bass; a genius
It's significant that Bernard Herrmann's name is the last but one in the credits and is in the same size typeface as the director's. Hitchcock must have realized even then just how important the music score was for his movie.
The credits are all "slashing" every prior text..
I'm not sure if its intentional but the way the lines move between each draw gives more sense of unease
It's intentional. Check out the opening credits for North by Northwest and Vertigo, all of which are Hitchcock
It was intentional as the opening credits were made by Saul Bass, his credits are always able to convey the feel of the movie, like in Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder.
Third favorite film of ALL TIME! It’s more than a perfect horror film, it’s a perfect FILM!
With the harsh opening notes, you know this isn't going to be a party movie.
We’re playing this in orchestra so I’m watching it
Amazing opening credits theme to get the audience hooked if they already wasnt. With Mr Hitchcock burying every copy of the novel so no one could read up of what they were about to watch. The master of suspense
Ah, Re-Animator. Great film!
oh shit
Hol up-
Evolution of psycho in order
Psycho (1960)
Psycho 2
Psycho 3
Psycho 4 the benening
Psycho (1998)
I was just watching Busta Rhymes "gimmie some more" video.i guess that is where he got the sample.😊😊😊
Yeah, flipmode is the greatest
I mean, Janet Leigh had the bottom billing in the credits. The signs were there but audiences had no idea. They had NO idea...
Best Movie Theme Ever!
Except A Hard Days Night...
I’m glad Universal Pictures still gives Paramount Pictures credit for this movie.
as they do for Rear Window and Vertigo as well
Frantic scary and one hundred miles an hour breath taking
My dvd doesn't have the universal logo at the beginning. Just the paramount. But I always get to see the universal when it's on tv.
+William Fisher me too
Hollow Man I think that's because there was some sort of distribution rights issue between the studios for later releases
SO spookily awesome!!
0:36 - 0:43 Busta Rhymes -Gimme Some Mo'
What I wouldn't give to just see this movie without knowing about the shower scene. Just to know what it would feel like to experience what everybody who saw this in 1960 experienced.
Along with Planet Of The Apes and The Old Yeller, this has to be the most ruined plot twist of all time. I mean EVERYBODY knows about it before they've even see the movie.
I see that other people have had the same intrigue I have when it comes to the main credits, and I almost feel as if it's something of a generational gap between the movie goers of 1960 and today's, but, the fact that Janet Leigh is the last name credited under the actors, I can only assume that it wasn't uncommon back then to have big names or main characters pushed back to the end. Nowadays, if you see the same thing, especially in a horror, slasher, or suspense film, it's usually a dead giveaway that the character the actor or actress playing them, isn't going to survive all the way through the film, or is just in it for a short cameo appearance.
I'm relax with this song I don't scared I'm sleeping
Best violin players ever
Riposa in pace Alfred Hitchcock
Is the movie Psycho from Universal or Paramount?
It’s so hard to pick the best opening credits other than this film.
I wonder if anyone at Paramount was upset that Universal ended up owning it
Get all the credits out of the way at the beginning so you can have that subtle scary The End blaze across the screen.