7 Things You Didn’t Know About 1960’s ‘Psycho’
On June 16, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho made its debut in New York City — and wow, did it cause a stir. Audiences were hooked from the start, and it didn’t take long for the film to become a massive horror hit once it was finally widely released on September 8, 1960.
The film — famous for its shocking opening and unusual usage of major star Janet Leigh — divided critics with its violence; after all, it essentially invented the “slasher” film. But audiences were unanimous: made on a shoestring budget of $806,947, Psycho ended up earning more than $50 million at the box office.
And the critics came around eventually, too: Hitchcock got a Best Director nomination for his work on the divisive film, and in 1992, the film was welcomed into the United States National Film Registry.
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65 years later, the film has been the subject of sequels, remakes, and a spin-off cable drama, and has spawned countless imitators. But there’s still only one Psycho.
Here are seven things you might not know about the groundbreaking film.
1 The iconic shower scene’s “blood” was chocolate syrup
Because Psycho was filmed in black and white, traditional fake blood wouldn’t show up effectively. To create the chilling visual of blood swirling down the drain, Hitchcock opted for Bosco chocolate syrup, which provided the perfect dark, viscous appearance on monochrome film.
2 Hitchcock initially wanted no music during the shower scene
It’s almost impossible to imagine the shower scene without Bernard Herrmann‘s shrieking string score. However, Hitchcock’s initial vision was for the scene to be completely silent. Herrmann, believing music was essential, composed the now-famous score anyway, and when Hitchcock heard it, he was so impressed that he reportedly said it accounted for “thirty-three percent of the effect” of the film. He even doubled Herrmann’s salary.
What does a Millennial think of the movie today? Read their review!
3 Hitchcock largely self-financed the film and used his TV crew
Paramount Pictures was hesitant to greenlight Psycho due to its controversial subject matter. Hitchcock, confident in the project, financed it himself, forgoing his substantial director’s fee in exchange for 60% ownership of the film. He also used much of the crew from his TV series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to keep costs down. This decision proved incredibly lucrative in the end, as the film went on to make over $50 million.
4 The movie was based on a true crime
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Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho, on which the film is based, was loosely inspired by the real-life Wisconsin murderer and Wisconsin grave robber Ed Gein, who also inspired the characters of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
5 Hitchcock’s very early cameo
The Master of Suspense was known for his cameos in his films, which fans often spent the entire film searching out. In Psycho, he appears quite early on — only about six minutes into the film, showing up outside Marion’s office, wearing a cowboy hat. This was intentional, to prevent audiences from being distracted by searching for his appearance later in the film.
6 Hitchcock took extreme measures to preserve the ending’s secrecy
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To prevent spoilers, he bought as many copies of the source novel as he could. He also refused to screen the film for critics ahead of time and famously instructed theaters to not allow anyone in once the film had started.
7 The movie eventually spawned a franchise
Three years after Hitchcock’s death in 1980, Anthony Perkins reprised his iconic role in Psycho II and in 1986, made Psycho III, doubling as star and director. In 1990, Perkins appeared one last time as Norman Bates in Psycho IV: The Beginning, in which Norman tells the story of his childhood and his relationship with his mother to a journalist. Perkins died in 1992, but in 1998, filmmaker Gus Van Sant made a shot-by-shot remake of Psycho starring Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, and from 2013-17, Bates Motel, a look into more of Norman Bates’ childhood, ran on A&E Networks.
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