Psycho

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “What makes Psycho immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 100

• “Hitchcock's mischievous genius for audience manipulation is everywhere: in the noirish angularity of the cinematography, in his use of Bernard Herrmann's stabbing string score, in the ornithological imagery that creates a bizarre sense of preying and being preyed upon.”

  Mark Monahan, The Telegraph · 100

• “Felt in the full impact of a theatrical screening (with the pleasure of seeing patrons reflexively kick or stiffen at the sight of Miles startled by her mirrored reflection), its power is not just that of a showman’s calibrated scare machine, but of a somber fugue on the trapped 20th-century creatures who inhabit its world, clawing but never budging an inch.”

  Bill Weber, Slant Magazine · 100

• “Timeless classic. Superb performances and the infamous shower scene make this the perfect nightmare.”

  David Parkinson, Empire · 100

• “Psycho, in its dark and sordid extravagance, remains utterly contemporary, in its subject as well as in its production.”

  Richard Brody, The New Yorker · 100