Slasher Horror On Prime Video Is A Must-See Classic That Still Works

Along with being a classic piece of horror, Psycho could also slip into a sub-category of heist film as it centers around Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane, a secretary who has just swindled $40,000 from her boss and plans to use the quick cash to run away and start life over with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin).

Getting out of Dodge (or in this case, Phoenix) as fast as possible, Marion’s plan hits a snag when she’s forced to pull over and seek refuge during a rainstorm at the Bates Motel. It’s there that her path crosses with Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the motel’s eccentric and unnerving owner. 

No matter how you cut it, Psycho was a successful release in every single way. At the box office, the movie would become the second biggest moneymaker next to Stanley Kubrick’s historical drama, Spartacus. And, during the award circuit, the title and the talented folks behind it would nab four Academy Award nominations, including nods for Best Director and Best Supporting Actress to Hitchcock and Leigh, respectively. And then there is the legacy that Psycho left behind.

It wasn’t until Hitchcock had passed on that the sequels to Psycho were given a green light with Perkins reprising his role in each of them, with four movies eventually filling out the franchise.

Much later, in 2013, A&E released a prequel series starring Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga titled Bates Motel which dug into what was going on at the titular rest stop long before Marion ever checked in.

Aside from the off-shoots and prequels, Psycho left its mark on others in the industry like John Carpenter who would use the last name “Loomis” as one of his characters in Halloween, a name that would again be recycled in Wes Craven’s classic 1996 feature, Scream, for Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis.

Speaking of John Carpenter and Halloween, a fun fact that those new to the history of horror may not know is that Psycho’s leading lady, Janet Leigh, is the mother of Halloween’s final girl, Jamie Lee Curtis. The two blood-related Scream Queens would even eventually appear alongside one another in Carpenter’s 1980 film, The Fog, making it all come full circle.

Another fun piece of trivia about Psycho – but this time for the true crime fans in the audience – is that the character Norman Bates is loosely based on the real-life killer, Ed Gein. Like Bates, Gein also had a tumultuous and too-close-for-comfort relationship with his mother that would inevitably lead him to commit heinous crimes. We don’t want to give away too much but those who know the story of Gein will undoubtedly see numerous parallels between the two characters during a watch-through of Psycho.

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In vision, performances, and the lasting effect it’s had on the spooky scary genre, there’s not much more we could ask from Psycho. You can stream it now as it’s available to those who subscribe to Amazon Prime Video.