Email a copy of 'Psycho Shower Murder Scene Fun Facts' to a friend
After blockbusters like Kill Bill or Pulp Fiction, this scene seems so quiet and clean…
O tempora, O mores!
Unlike Christophe, this scene still has the power to grab me by the throat. My father before me and I, for many years, wouldn’t take showers with opaque curtains. To this day all mine are clear but I’ll shower in a hotel room or at my girlfriend’s place.
Hitchcock was simply brilliant.
I can watch Rear Window and North by Northwest every year and not get tired of them. I’d also highly recommend Lifeboat. Not seeing everything, but knowing it’s happening (the shower scene, shark from Jaws, etc.) makes things so much scarier!
You missed one bit of trivia: Hitchcock actually did show a breast on screen, albeit out of focus.
A detailed description is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/faq#.2.1.9
In the clip above, it’s at about 1:31.
The scene took a week to film, but seems like it may last forever. Good job.
The universal studios tram tour guides used to tell the story that hitchcock actually blasted ice cold water in the shower scene so that leigh’s screams were very real.
Love the juicy tidbits about the movie. This scene is still terrifying, and much more effective than the torture porn that is so poular today.
Great stuff! My favourite parody of this scene comes from “Eek the Cat”.
I can’t stand North by Northwest, however. So long and boring…
As for Jaws, Steven Spielberg takes that idea of not showing something and flogs it to death. Nowadays, it’s more a way of avoiding special effects expenses than successfully creating suspense.
Hitchcock said that the reason he decided to do the film in b/w is because he didn’t want the blood to be in color (yes, I know he actually used syrup but he would have had to use something red-colored otherwise) — he said it would be too upsetting to view. Also, he never has a shot in all that editting of a knife touching flesh or a wound – but what a clever, masterwork he created — we think we are seeing that many times. Watch it again now!
My 22 year old cousin would call my house to ask her dad to come home because she would never take a shower unless he was in the house.
To this day I get worried if I see several birds in a row on an electrical wire – oh, wait — that’s another movie. But admit it, you do too. Hoo-Ray for Hitch!
Despite numerous shortcomings, I maintain that Unreal is the most beautiful FPS ever made. By combining exotic locales with a mesmeric soundtrack, this game feels very much like a vacation rather than the frantic danger and shooting you see in all other FPSs. Yeah, you do have the usual bunch of monsters and weapons (which are kinda impotent and crappy in this game and that was a major shortcoming) but combat is really not that common or frantic and you’ll find yourself saying OOh and AAAh at the environments and levels more often. It isn’t just the graphics but also the very creative and intelligent level design that makes this game so good looking and hypnotic.
ok, the license number on the car in the swamp NFB 418.
Norman Francis Bates, confirmed. 418…? Why not just that is adds up to 13 and she purchased a vehicle with Norman’s initials and the unlucky number 13 just to be murdered at the motel??
