Hitchcock [M]

Director and Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, has just finished making a blockbuster film, North By Northwest, and now is looking eagerly for a new project. Against the endless stream of choices and recommendations from the studios, he chooses Robert Bloch’s novel, a violent and brutal horror story called Psycho. Without the financial support from the distributors and the sensors due to the story’s brutal and horrific scenes, Hitchcock chooses to finance the film himself and sets out to make a movie that could prove to be the pinnacle of his career…or the end of it. 

Being a Hitchcock fan, it would have been so monumentally and unquestionably blasphemous of to not go and see this movie that day it got into cinemas! Oh this is sooo going into the collection when it comes out on DVD! It’s got a brilliant cast that boasts amazing performances left, right, and centre, it’s an instantly appealing biographical story about one of the greatest directors of all time, and it’s all about Psycho! Just from the trailers, I knew I was going to love this movie. And LOVE IT I did! 

Director and Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, has just finished making a blockbuster film, North By Northwest, and now is looking eagerly for a new project. Against the endless stream of choices and recommendations from the studios, he chooses Robert Bloch’s novel, a violent and brutal horror story called Psycho. Without the financial support from the distributors and the sensors due to the story’s brutal and horrific scenes, Hitchcock chooses to finance the film himself and sets out to make a movie that could prove to be the pinnacle of his career…or the end of it.  

The movie is based on the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello and does not just chronicle the barriers and troubles that Hitchcock had making Psycho, but also is a great biographical look at his partnership with his wonderful wife Alma. We all know that Psycho, adapted for the screen, was a combination of Robert Loch’s novel and the history of the infamous Ed Gein, but the film’s worth comes, not in the form of new information surrounding one of the most iconic horror films of all time, but the performances from the cast. 

Anthony Hopkins stars as The Master of Suspense and his performance was nothing short of genius…well of course it was, it’s Anthony Hopkins! This man can do no wrong! What I particularly adored about this film was that it did not draw on or delve into Hitchcock’s reputation of being a misogynistic madman and traumatising his actresses, but being the helpless man with his own personal troubles. Hopkins played the role incredibly well, his character being absolutely unreadable until he succumbed to the torturous internal battles that he was suffering from, in which case it’s only the eyes that give anything away. You’ve got to see it to love it. 

Helen Mirren is Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wondrous wife, who stuck with him through thick and thin. As far as I’m concerned there is no greater love than that between these two leads. Helen delivered a performance that was elegantly bossy and domineering, but at the same time just as struggling internally as her husband. Helen and Anthony’s on screen chemistry was just gorgeous, not amorous or overtly romantic in any way, just real and gorgeous. 

Making up the rest of the bill we have Toni Collette as Peggy, Hitchcock’s assistant, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins (who was brilliant!), and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh! Each performance a class one! 

And the script is something that deserves an applause too as it was a great blend of harsh abuse and biting wit. I loved it. 

Starring Danny Huston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ralph Maccio, Kurtwood Smith, Richard Portnow, Wallace Langham, and Michael Wincott, Hitchcock is a fantastic biographical film packed with drama, romance, suspense, various levels of education, and a class soundtrack done by Danny Elfman, a name that’s always worthy of an accolade. I absolutely loved this movie and will definitely adding it to the collection when it comes out on DVD!