The film follows the exploits of a young real estate secretary who absconds with $40000 (a lot of money back then) entrusted to her real estate agency by a rich Texan. As fate would have it her road trip ends up stopping at the fateful "Bates Hotel" on a dark and rainy night. She then finds herself the object of the affections of one Norman Bates, hotel manager, taxidermy afficionado, and man child with very serious mother issues. I won't go too much further into the plot of the film for fear of ruining it for the first time viewer
The film itself is extremely well shot and executed and while there is virtually no gore, the mood created, dialogue and music all contribute to a very suspenseful and engrossing watch. I guess there in lies the challenge to create a genuinely engrossing thriller with virtually no explicit gore and Hitchcock was the master.
I'm not sure what horror films that came before it would have shown in the way of how the mind of a killer really works but to my knowledge this is the first film of its kind and may have invented the slasher genre, I'm sure the Friday 13th took some influence from this film as well as the many Simpsons references (Skinner and Agnes) ... you know you've had an influence on popular culture when you make into the Simpsons! Even the harsh string arrangements (violin or cello I assume) used in the background of the knife murder have become a part of modern culture and used to create a mood of fear in many movies since.
The good thing about this film is that you can watch it with your horror loving offspring, without scarring them for life, like some of the other films reviewed on this site would do. This is a film I would recommend for anyone, not just horror movie fans, do yourself a favour and watch it!
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