Psycho

Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.

What a simple description for such a fantastic thriller. Not as scary as some of the horror that has blazened across the silver screen since then, but for 1960, horrific!
Alfred Hitchcock was a mystery/thriller genius storyteller. His direction of "Pscyho" gave the term 'sick' a whole new meaning. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) was not a raging lunatic with inhuman strength, he was mentally ill which can be much more frightening.

A lot of articles have been written about this classic film, but suffice to say that you should watch it again for a gem from Hitchcock's collection of dark tales. What's that? You have never seen "Psycho"? Get out!!! *L* Okay, don't leave, but do make a note to rent it the next time you are in the mood for a thriller and want a classic. If for nothing else, the brief shower scene remains one of the most referenced horror scenes in the entire genre. It even made it into a song from the 80s called "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell.

On a side note, I found it interesting that the full name of Marion's lover is Sam Loomis. Perhaps John Carpenter, Debra Hill, or Mustapha Akkad picked the name of our favorite doctor in the "Halloween" series from watching "Pyscho" a couple of times.

• Today's Cure song is Throw Your Foot from the Join The Dots: B-Sides and Rarities Collection - (2004) An B-side of "The Caterpillar" track from 1984. Here is Robert having fun! The lyrics are as strange as the title, but it has a catchy feel to it.
  

"Throw your foot away
You're tired and your face is grey
Like the sad old fool
You groove"

CJ