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At last--a great American movie available on video for the first time in its original aspect ratio. For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. Psycho gets the masterpiece treatment it deserves on DVD, with extras including newsreel footage surrounding the making and release of the movie; an archive of production stills; the special trailer in which Hitchcock (acting as one of the original Universal Studio tour guides) himself leads viewers around the Bates place; credit designer Saul Bass's original "shower scene" story boards; posters and advertising materials for the movie's William Castle-like publicity campaign (No One Will Be Seated After the Feature Begins!); and a 90-minute documentary on the making of the film! What more could any movie fan possibly want? --Jim Emerson

• Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • Documentary "The making of Psycho" featuring new interviews with Janet Leigh, Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hichtcock O'Connell, writer Joseph Stefano and Hilton A. Green • A censored scene • Newsreel footage • The infamous shower scene with and without music • Widescreen letterbox format

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If you don't believe us when we say that Stephen Rebello's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a killer book concerning the killer movie of all time, then why don't you listen to Tony Perkins, the star? Perkins called this scholarly yet super-readable volume "marvelously researched and irresistible ... required reading not only for Psycho-philes, but also for anyone interested in the backstage world of movie creation." And Time critic Richard Schickel (biographer of Clint Eastwood) calls Rebello's book "one of the best accounts of the making of an individual movie we've ever had."

It's even more reliable than Francois Truffaut's magisterial interview book Hitchcock, because Rebello interviewed the fat master himself, [The whole of Hitchcock/Truffaut is Truffaut himself interviewing Hitchcock!!!!!] plus many Psycho insiders less cagey and truth-dodging than he.

At last, thanks to Rebello, we know all about the celebrated shower murder scene and all that swirls around it. Like Ernst Lubitsch, who conveyed the thrill of adultery by having the lovers open a door and cast their shadows on a bed, Hitchcock knew that, in film, artful discretion can be the most shocking effect of all. --Tim Appelo

From Booklist
197 pages (May 1995)
Not only is Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho hugely popular and influential 35 years after its release; it also remains the main claim to fame of Leigh, who portrayed murder victim Marion Crain. Leigh here offers her memoirs of filming Psycho, including the famous shower sequence, to which she accords an entire chapter. Although she provides some fascinating glimpses of Hitchcock's on-set technique and other behind-the-scenes details, Leigh devotes too many pages to gushing about her coworkers and other inconsequential matters, to diverting but essentially trivial passages on how Psycho changed her life, and to her rather banal thoughts on the effects of today's even more violent films. Fortunately, coauthor Nickens is on hand to supply informative "intermissions" in which he fleshes out Leigh's comments, provides technical information, and offers background on Hitchcock. Rebello's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (1990) is a much better all-around resource on the film, but libraries where that work has proved popular should also see demand for Leigh's more personal account. Gordon Flagg

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Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds> is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • All about The Birds: An Original Documentary • Storyboard Sequence & Newsreel • A Deleted Scene and the Original Ending • Tippi Hedren's Screen Test • The Birds is Coming Universal International Newsreel • Widescreen anamorphic format

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You could call this one 'Hoot Along with Hitch'. With the possible exceptions of Topaz and Family Plot, this is Hitchcock's cheesiest movie, visually and psychologically crass in comparison with a peak achievement like Vertigo--although it shares some of that film's characteristic obsessive themes. Sean Connery, fresh from the second Bond picture, From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realizes that she's a professional thief; she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities. His patient program of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge. As it were. Not even D.H. Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute

• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Theatrical trailer(s) • Production Notes • "The Trouble with Marnie" Making Of • Production Stills • Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

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Come back to the year 1964 for an interview with Hitch himself. This conversation initially appeared on the '60s CBC program Telescope, with director Fletcher Markle pinning down the genial horror maestro for some very interesting insights. Hitchcock discusses his early career path, beginning as an editor for silent-movie title cards and nearly stumbling into assistant director and director positions. Other topics include the difficulties of wrangling 28,000 birds for The Birds, the infamous shower scene from Psycho (78 separate camera shots in 45 seconds), and the closing scenes of Shadow of a Doubt (the director's personal favorite). More revealing, however, are Hitchcock's takes on the building blocks of film language and theory (Arbogast's death in Psycho is dissected by the director). He also discusses the impact of horror films on society and their influence on behavior; his remarks are still fresh and relevant today. Composer Bernard Herrmann is also interviewed and delves into his relationship with Hitch and the particular way that they cooperated in scoring his films. This should be of interest not only to Hitchcock fans and students, but to anyone who's a fan of horror and suspense genres in general. The auteur is captured in his '60s prime, in an unusually candid setting. --Jerry Renshaw

Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée, Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defense system that will "make nuclear defense obsolete," and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film--much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. --Ali Davis

• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Theatrical trailer(s) • Documentary • Photo Gallery • Widescreen anamorphic format

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• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen: Alfred Hitchcock hadn't made a spy thriller since the 1930s, so his 1969 adaptation of Leon Uris's bestseller seemed like a curious choice for the director. But Hitchcock makes Uris's story of the West's investigation into the Soviet Union's dealings with Cuba his own. Frederick Stafford plays a French intelligence agent who works with his American counterpart (John Forsythe) to break up a Soviet spy ring. The film is a bit flat dramatically and visually, and there are sequences that seem to occupy Hitchcock's attention more than others. A minor work all around, with at least two alternative endings shot by Hitchcock. --Tom Keogh

Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, written by Anthony Shaffer (who also wrote Sleuth), this delightfully grisly little tale features an all-British cast minus star wattage, which may have accounted for its relatively slim showing in the States. Jon Finch plays a down-on-his-luck Londoner who is offered some help by an old pal (Barry Foster). In fact, Foster is a serial killer the police have been chasing--and he's framing Finch. Which leads to a classic Hitchcock situation: a guiltless man is forced to prove his innocence while eluding Scotland Yard at the same time. Spiked with Hitchcock's trademark dark humor, Frenzy also features a very funny subplot about the Scotland Yard investigator (Alec McCowen) in charge of the case, who must endure meals by a wife (Vivien Merchant) who is taking a gourmet-cooking class. --Marshall Fine

• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • The Story of Frenzy • Production Photographs • Widescreen anamorphic format

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Alfred Hitchcock's final film is understated comic fun that mixes suspense with deft humor, thanks to a solid cast. The plot centers on the kidnapping of an heir and a diamond theft by a pair of bad guys led by Karen Black and William Devane. The cops seem befuddled, but that doesn't stop a questionable psychic (Barbara Harris) and her not overly bright boyfriend (Bruce Dern, in a rare good-guy role) from picking up the trail and actually solving the crime. Did she do it with actual psychic powers? That's part of the fun of Harris's enjoyably ditsy performance. --Marshall Fine

• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Plotting Family Plot • Storyboards: The Chase Scene • Production Photographs • Widescreen anamorphic format