Why Psycho Will Always Be My Favorite Movie
While showering, I reflected on my love for Psycho.
Sure, it’s an iconic film with brilliant acting, stunning cinematography, masterful direction, an unforgettable score, an unmatched creep factor, and one of the greatest twists in cinema history. But the real reason Psycho means so much to me is simpler and more personal. It reminds me of where my love for horror began. It’s a comfort movie. A touchstone.
That love started when I was eight years old, back in 1988, during a family trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. That’s where I was first exposed to classic horror. Norman Bates, The Wolfman, Frankenstein, Jaws, and so much more. Ironically, those characters scared the absolute s*** out of me.
In the 80s, Universal allowed characters to roam right up to the tram and interact with guests. I was sitting on the outside edge of the tram, facing inward, with my back to the open side. I remember suddenly noticing my mom’s eyes go wide as she stared past me. When I turned around to see what she was looking at, I screamed loudely. The Wolfman was right there. In my face. From that moment on, I was terrified. Not just of him, but of anyone in a costume. That experience really stuck with me. But at the same time, something about that fear sparked a deep curiosity. I became fascinated by horror. Even as a kid, I remember loving Dracula. There was something strangely familiar about him. Looking back, I think I related to those characters because they were outsiders. Isolated. Misunderstood. That’s a feeling I’ve carried for much of my life, and I was always drawn to characters who reflected that.
As I got older, my obsession with horror only grew. I loved the stories, the visuals, the emotions, but I was still deeply uneasy around people in costumes. Then, in 2006, at 26 years old, I was talked into going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. And just like that, everything came full circle.
Eighteen years after that first terrifying encounter, I finally walked among the scare actors. I went through the scare houses. And I loved it. No screaming. No jumping. I moved slowly, taking everything in and admiring the craftsmanship, the costumes, the sets, and the production. It was incredible. I even walked on the actual Bates Motel set. It became one of the best experiences of my life.
That said, I’m still a little afraid of The Wolfman. I love him now, but he still gets me.
Which brings me back to Psycho.
Anthony Perkins. What a f***ing performance. One of my favorite scenes is when Norman is trying so hard to put on a friendly face for the detective who comes to the motel. The way Norman walks to Cabin 1, hesitates before opening the door, walks away, then comes back and finally says, “I think I must have one of those faces you can’t help believing.” When the detective pushes back, suggesting maybe he could be fooled, you can see how much Norman hates that idea. It’s tense, and absolutely perfect. Hands down one of my favorite scenes in film.
Fun fact: One day at Universal, they had trivia on the tram ride and asked, “Which was the first U.S. film to feature a toilet flushing?” We naturally shouted, “Psycho!” and ended up winning a front-of-line pass for a ride. Was that really the first? Who knows, but that’s what they claimed, and it was the answer that scored us the prize 😉.
Which makes this next tidbit a perfect, hilarious follow-up: in my master bathroom, if you lift the lid off the toilet tank, you’ll find Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday stamped into the porcelain. Talk about keeping things on theme!
For years, I’d go to Universal Studios just to visit the Psycho motel, the house, and the lake where Marion’s car sinks with her body in the trunk. Over time, I’ve collected a lot of Psycho memorabilia because I like being surrounded by the things I love. I carry a Psycho lanyard everywhere for my keys. I own countless shirts and copies of the film. I even have a key tattoo representing Cabin 1, the room where Marion was killed.
If you’ve never read Psycho by Robert Bloch, the novel the film is based on, I highly recommend it. I was genuinely shocked by how different the kill scene is in the book.
I was born in 1980, and it still feels a bit surreal that Alfred Hitchcock passed away just a few months before I was born. The anniversary of his death is actually coming up on April 29th. Seventy four days before I entered the world, the man who made my favorite movie of all time left it.
So no, it’s not just that Psycho is iconic, and it’s not just that I’m a weirdo. The movie is deeply nostalgic for me. It connects directly to my childhood and to the moment my love for horror was born. In a very real way, it changed my life.