Some people consider Psycho Alfred Hitchcock’s best movie (I’m torn between Rear Window and Vertigo). But there’s no denying the power of Psycho and its innovations. I picked up this new Blu-ray version at Wal-Mart for $9.95. Well worth it! The film never looked so good! And check out these extras:
The Making of Psycho
Psycho Sound
In The Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
The Psycho Archives
Posters and Psycho Ads
Lobby Cards
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-release Trailers
My Scenes
Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”)
BD-Live
If you’re a fan of Hitchcock, you’ll enjoy all the extra content on this disc. A great value at a great price!
I completely agree George – it’s an amazing looking Blu-ray with a really superb set of collections – and yes, even if like me you previously bought the Laser Disc and DVD editions, this sis till worth it – it just looks that good!
Sergio, you are spot-on with the quality of this version of PSYCHO. I bet that Laser Disc version is worth a lot to some collectors!
No DVD player at all. I am hoping it will get a big screen release some day.
Patti, you need to ask Santa for a Blu-ray player and a 4K HDTV!
I had a college professor who discussed the psychology of memory (and its unreliability) by asking how many of us remembered the “red blood” swirling down the drain in “Psycho”. It was amazing how many people insisted the movie was in color because they remember how red the blood was.
My mom always contends that the most shocking thing about “Psycho” in 1960 was black-underwear-clad Janet Leigh lolling about on a motel bed after a lunch-time tryst with her married lover. “Now that was SOMETHING!” quoth Mom.
Deb, Hitchcock took a lot of chances in PSYCHO. Killing a Major Star 20 minutes into the movie was shocking. And, of course, your Mom was right about that black lingerie moment! Hot Stuff for 1960.
Robert Bloch was happy that they basically filmed the novel, including killing the protagonist in the first third of the film…though the novel is better in that the discovery of the truth about Bates doesn’t end the story–there’s still a fair amount of dealing with and catching him to wrap up. See the HOUR 25 interview in the Tuesday’s Overlooked on Wednesday list…
I’ve also found Wal*Marts I’ve been dragged to poorly run and not too much cheaper than what I could find elsewhere…making avoiding them easy. Wegman’s has been as far south as Philadelphia for a number of tears now, and I do most of my grocery shopping there…not superb, and not as good as they were when they opened, but the best supermarket we have.
Todd, our Wegman’s has partnered with local farmers so their Produce section is top-notch.
She’d done notable similar work in TOUCH OF EVIL…
You shop at Walmart? Due to their business practices, I avoid them, have never set foot in one. They built one not too far from here, filling in some marshland used by migrating geese and other birds, and, judging from the parking lot when I drive past it’s empty most of the time. Even if the place fails, they’ll never bring back the marshland and habitat. BAH!
As for the movie, one of my least favorite by Hitchcock.
Rick, the North Tonawanda Wal-Mart is the closest Big Box store to our home. If I want to take my business elsewhere, I have to burn a significant amount of gas. So it’s a trade-off.
Joe Lansdale defends Walmart: http://www.mulhollandbooks.com/2010/11/24/walmart-i-cant-quit-you/
Bill, I feel the same way about Wal-Mart as Joe Lansdale does. It’s a social institution in my fair city. It provides jobs to students and senior citizens who are running out of money. And, if you buy something somewhere else, you’re likely to pay more.
Within a five-mile radius of my house there are two Super Walmarts, two “Neighborhood” Walmarts (groceries only), and a Sam’s Club! We also have several other supermarket chains. I get most of my weekly groceries at the Neighborhood Walmart a few blocks from me (very convenient for stopping on the way home from work), but I never buy meat from there–too many bad experiences with opening a package of chicken and smelling that it was bad. I buy my meat from a local chain (Rouses) along with any unusual/organic products I might need, but if I bought all my groceries from non-Walmart sources, I’d easily pay $50 more per week on average.
OK, I’ve only been to the USA as a tourist (more than twenty business and holiday trips …) but I can’t stand Walmart!
Some years ago I took my “new” wife to a Walmart (she was already over 60 and it was her first trip to the USA) and she immediately said: OMG, how can you do shopping in his crazy environment, this looks worse than a cheap Chinese shop in Hungary (where we live)!
Back to Hitchcock:
I think everybody has his/her favourites there – but we all agree:
He was a genius!
Wolf, Hitchcock was a genius but a weird guy in Real Life. So was Steve Jobs (can’t wait to see the new bio-pic). I’m usually in and out of Wal-Mart in 10 minutes. Diane gives me a list, I buy what’s on the list, and the check-out process is usually very quick. Wal-Mart is about the prices, not the aesthetics.
Deb, we buy our meat from a local meat market, too. It’s just fresher. We buy most of our groceries from Wegmans (a regional grocery chain with roots in Rochester). But the close proximity to Wal-Mart makes buying there a no-brainer for us.
Psycho is not my favorite but I do like it.
I’m not a Walmart fan but we do shop at our crappy local one near the hotel in Florida. (I also pick up DVD at Redbox there.) But we went with our friend to a huge new one in North Carolina yesterday and Jackie was impressed. Not only did this young guy try to help her find what she was looking for, but he went over to three women who also helped.
Jeff, I’ve had good service at Wal-Mart. But I basically go there for the low prices.
The nearest Wal-marts are not that close so I only go to one if I need a specific item that will net me a decent savings. The penultimate time I went I spent at least half an hour in a quick check line. Two welfare queens combined their crap in one basket, then had to sort what belonged to who, and then what had to be paid for in cash, food stamps, and Wic payments. The latter required the checker to look up each item. I raised hell, of course, but to no avail. Meanwhile the line was strung down and aisle as more and more people tried to go through the 15-items-or-less grammatically-incorrect line. I’d rather pay more somewhere else for most items.
Bob, if there’s a line at the Wal-Mart checkout I just go to the Self Checkup and I’m out in no time.
There’s always a long line at the self check, too.