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The Psycho File: A Comprehensive Guide to Hitchcock's Classic Shocker
An examination of the groundbreaking 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, including the story's origins in real-life graverobber Ed Gein. The book presents material from the script and how it was adapted from Robert Bloch's novel; details of the film's production, particularly the shower scene and other technical difficulties; actors and the challenges of their roles; extended literary analysis of the film covering such devices as irony, symbol, theme, motif and foil; and the film's effect on audiences. Features 16 photographs, notes, bibliography and index.
226 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2020
Review forthcoming
November 17, 2017
Author Joseph W. Smith III teaches film in the public schools. Over the years, he's conducted an extensive amount of research into the film Psycho, and this work is a compilation of his research.
Smith's writing style is crisp to the point of burnt; one wishes that he took more time as a prose stylist, warming the reader up to topics and generating a sense of awe, or suspense, or even joy as he describes the genesis of the film, its pre-production, principal filming, and the "filmic text" itself. That's not to say that this book is unreadable. Smith's prose style is easy to read, brief, and very tight. But I was left needing more room to breath -- a belt, not a straitjacket.
Smith's focus is primarily the film itself. Although several early chapters of the book focus on Hitchcock's life and work, changes in the film industry prior to the devlopment of Psycho, the novel by Robert Bloch, and why Hitchcock decided to make the film, the real meat of this work is pulling apart what's on the screen. I would have preferred that Smith elaborte a bit more in this section. While he hits all the right themes, I think the basic question remains unanswered by his text: Why, after nearly a decade of "Hammer Horror", did Hitchcock at last decide to make a horror film? Why did he believe the public was ready for a slasher film? I don't think Smith quite gets there.
The heart of this book is the extensive research Smith has done into the film. He picks apart scenes second by second, in some cases. A vast amount of detail (much of which even the most alert repeat viewer will never have picked up on) is revealed about the film. Smith's main thesis -- that Psycho is a film with a very rich text, full of such an immense amount of detail that the eye barely registers it all -- is proven beyond a doubt. Anyone who has been dismissive of Psycho won't be after reading this book.
Smith's analysis of the great shower scene is superb. Most Psycho fans want to know about how this was created and filmed more than anything, and Smith certainly does not disappoint. The level of detail here (including his corrective analysis of the number of shots in the segment) is outstanding. I think it's the best analysis I've ever read (and I've read plenty).
I have one nit to pick with the main text in this book. I felt that Smith bombarded the reader with theory after theory after theory about Psycho, but never really synthesized them much. Some of these hypotheses are in direct contradiction to one another. Many run parallel to one another, in the sense that Hitchcock may well have intended multiple meanings at once. Quite frankly, some suggestions seem silly and ludicrous. I really wish that instead of pouring these out on the page, that Smith had tried to judge the worth of some of these theories. Smith argues, correctly I would say, that multiple meaning in a scene is not inherently bad filmmaking. Hitchcock may well have intended multiple meanings or interpretations. But at some point, an audience can be so overwhelmed with multiple interpretations that a film does lose meaning; it loses coherence. If a viewer were to take all the theories mentioned in Smith's book at face value, we'd have a mess of a picture. Smith's stated point of view is to describe these theories, rather than assess them, but some assessment was needed.
Overall, this is a quick read. Any casual admirer of Psycho will really enjoy it. Cinephiles will be thrilled by it.
Smith's writing style is crisp to the point of burnt; one wishes that he took more time as a prose stylist, warming the reader up to topics and generating a sense of awe, or suspense, or even joy as he describes the genesis of the film, its pre-production, principal filming, and the "filmic text" itself. That's not to say that this book is unreadable. Smith's prose style is easy to read, brief, and very tight. But I was left needing more room to breath -- a belt, not a straitjacket.
Smith's focus is primarily the film itself. Although several early chapters of the book focus on Hitchcock's life and work, changes in the film industry prior to the devlopment of Psycho, the novel by Robert Bloch, and why Hitchcock decided to make the film, the real meat of this work is pulling apart what's on the screen. I would have preferred that Smith elaborte a bit more in this section. While he hits all the right themes, I think the basic question remains unanswered by his text: Why, after nearly a decade of "Hammer Horror", did Hitchcock at last decide to make a horror film? Why did he believe the public was ready for a slasher film? I don't think Smith quite gets there.
The heart of this book is the extensive research Smith has done into the film. He picks apart scenes second by second, in some cases. A vast amount of detail (much of which even the most alert repeat viewer will never have picked up on) is revealed about the film. Smith's main thesis -- that Psycho is a film with a very rich text, full of such an immense amount of detail that the eye barely registers it all -- is proven beyond a doubt. Anyone who has been dismissive of Psycho won't be after reading this book.
Smith's analysis of the great shower scene is superb. Most Psycho fans want to know about how this was created and filmed more than anything, and Smith certainly does not disappoint. The level of detail here (including his corrective analysis of the number of shots in the segment) is outstanding. I think it's the best analysis I've ever read (and I've read plenty).
I have one nit to pick with the main text in this book. I felt that Smith bombarded the reader with theory after theory after theory about Psycho, but never really synthesized them much. Some of these hypotheses are in direct contradiction to one another. Many run parallel to one another, in the sense that Hitchcock may well have intended multiple meanings at once. Quite frankly, some suggestions seem silly and ludicrous. I really wish that instead of pouring these out on the page, that Smith had tried to judge the worth of some of these theories. Smith argues, correctly I would say, that multiple meaning in a scene is not inherently bad filmmaking. Hitchcock may well have intended multiple meanings or interpretations. But at some point, an audience can be so overwhelmed with multiple interpretations that a film does lose meaning; it loses coherence. If a viewer were to take all the theories mentioned in Smith's book at face value, we'd have a mess of a picture. Smith's stated point of view is to describe these theories, rather than assess them, but some assessment was needed.
Overall, this is a quick read. Any casual admirer of Psycho will really enjoy it. Cinephiles will be thrilled by it.
March 13, 2012
This was a nice overview of the film and didn't get too technical. I've always enjoyed the movie but now I need to go back and watch for all the little things Hitchock included. I'm sure I noticed them unconsciously but now that I know about them I have a much greater respect for the man and the film.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews