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''Psycho'' is a 1960 American psychological thriller-horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. The screenplay by Joseph Stefano was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath. When originally made, the film was seen as a departure from Hitchcock's previous film ''North by Northwest'', having been filmed on a low budget, with a television crew and in black and white. ''Psycho'' initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted reconsideration which led to overwhelming critical acclaim and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Leigh and Best Director for Hitchcock. It is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films〔''Psycho'' is the top listed Hitchcock film in ''The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time'' by ''Entertainment Weekly'', and the highest Hitchcock film on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies.〕 and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics and film scholars. Ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=''Psycho'' reviews )〕 and is widely considered to be the earliest example of the slasher film genre. After Hitchcock's death in 1980, Universal Studios began producing follow-ups: three sequels, a remake, a television film spin-off, and a TV series. In 1992, the US Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. ==Plot== During a lunchtime tryst in Phoenix, Arizona, a real estate secretary named Marion Crane discusses with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, how they cannot afford to get married because of Sam's debts. After lunch, Marion returns to work, where a client drops off a $40,000 cash payment on a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, and she asks if she can take the rest of the afternoon off. Returning home, she begins to pack for an unplanned trip, deciding to steal the money and give it to Sam in Fairvale, California. She is seen by her boss on her way out of town, which makes her nervous. During the trip, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, only to be awakened by a state patrol officer. He is suspicious about her nervous behavior but allows her to drive on. Shaken by the encounter, Marion stops at an automobile dealership and trades in her Ford Mainline, with its Arizona license plates, for a Ford Custom 300 that has California tags. Her transaction is all for naught - the highway patrolman sees her at the car dealership and witnesses her purchase of the newer car. Driving on, a sudden rainstorm causes Marion to take a wrong turn, and she decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel, where the proprietor, a young Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner after she checks in. She accepts, but then hears an argument between Norman and a woman she presumes is his mother. Instead of dining at his home behind the motel, they eat in the motel parlor, where he tells her about his hobby of taxidermy and his life with his mother, Norma, who is mentally ill. Returning to her room, Marion decides to go back to Phoenix to return the stolen money. She prepares to take a shower, unaware that Norman is spying on her from a peephole. As she is showering, a female figure suddenly appears and stabs her to death with a butcher knife. Norman appears moments after the attacker flees and believes his mother to be responsible for the murder. He meticulously cleans up the crime scene, putting Marion's corpse and her possessions — including the embezzled money — into the trunk of her car and sinking it in the swamps near the motel. A week later, Marion's sister Lila arrives in Fairvale and confronts Sam about the whereabouts of her sister. A private detective named Arbogast approaches them and confirms that Marion is wanted for stealing the $40,000 from her employer. He eventually comes across the Bates Motel, where Norman's behavior arouses his suspicions. After hearing that Marion had met with Norman's mother, he asks to speak with her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam, informing them of what he has discovered and saying he intends to speak with Norman's mother. He goes to the Bates' home in search of her; as he reaches the top of the stairs, a figure suddenly appears from the bedroom and murders him. When Lila and Sam do not hear from Arbogast, they go to the local sheriff, who informs them that Norma Bates has been dead for ten years, following the murder–suicide of her and her lover. Concerned, Lila and Sam make their way to the motel. Meanwhile, Norman takes his unwilling mother from her room, telling her he needs to hide her for a while and ignoring her objections. At the motel, Lila and Sam meet Norman. Sam distracts him by striking up a conversation while Lila sneaks up to the house. When Norman eventually realizes this, he knocks Sam out and rushes to the house. Lila sees Norman approaching and attempts to hide by going down steps that lead to a cellar. There she finds a seated female figure and is shocked to discover that it is the skeletal remains of Norman's mother. Lila's scream alerts Norman, who runs to the cellar brandishing a butcher knife while dressed in his mother's clothes and a wig. He tries to attack Lila but is subdued by Sam. Sitting in a detention room at the local courthouse, Norman is now permanently trapped in the persona of his mother, whose personality he had adopted after murdering her and her lover out of jealousy ten years prior. Guilty over her death, and wanting to erase it, he exhumed her corpse and began to treat it as if she were alive again. Whenever he became sexually attracted to any other woman, the abusive Norma would take full control of his mind and kill the woman. In this state, Norman had killed two missing girls prior to Marion, as well as Arbogast. While Norman sits in the room, Norma's voice is heard protesting that the murders were Norman's doing and that she "wouldn't even harm a fly." As the film ends, Marion's car is pulled out from the swamp. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Psycho (1960 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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