IF YOU PASS THIS POINT, SHUT YER TRAP!!!

I LOVE this movie, and ever since seeing it, Bonita & I have been going over the many references to Hitchcock's Psycho.

First of all, there's "Norman", who has a problem with Daddy. Seems that Daddy died in an automobile accident some time ago. Why even Norman's wife Claire nearly perished in a terrible auto collision awhile back!
Later we learn that Norman's paramour, Madison Frank, also died in an automobile accident. And of course we ultimately learn that Norman is responsible for racking up that impressive pile of bodies at the bottom of the lake.
When the drugged Claire falls from the bathtub, clinging to the clear plastic shower curtain, it's a shot-for-shot Psycho moment.
Alan Silvestri's score is deliberately (and quite effectively) Herrmannesque, specifically Psycho Herrmannesque.
And then there are the Rear Windowmoments, as Claire spies on her neighbors, and naturally one of them spies right back, ala Raymond Burr!

So...how many other Hitch references are there in this movie?

Which ones did I miss?

ANYBODY?

NP: Gladiator I LOVE this music!

I was particularly struck by the sheer volume of MIRROR shots in WHAT LIES BENEATH, which are difficult to photograph and which might have been a reference to one or another Hitch pic I'm not familiar with.

I really didn't think the picture was all that Hitchcockian, myself. The REAR WINDOW references (not many) were completely obvious, but by and large, if anything, I was reminded more of DePalma (I know, he's supposed to be nothing more than a Hitchcock manque, but I've always thought he was more than that, myself.)

(whoops, one more thought: when Ford & Pfeiffer were sparring, I kept thinking of GASLIGHT more than anything else.)

I have nothing but absolute contempt for movies that make cutesy-poo references to other entertainment. These showbiz people are so hideously inbred, it makes me vomit myself hollow. The all-time crappiest Hitchcock reference was done by DePalma in CARRIE. "Bates High School". Which is painfully obvious and pathetic.

Be sure to tell us what you made of TEEN WOLF TOO. I could never track that one down.

"A further indication that the film is about the viewer, and that the several persons in the story represent different aspects of the viewer's mind, is the constant use of mirrors in the decor...But the most terrifying use of the mirror in PSYCHO is reserved for the sequence in which Lila Crane searches the Bates house: in Mother's room, she (and we) are terrified when wardrobe and vanity mirrors suddenly flash a double reflection of her."

"What we are really frightened by is the alarming suggestion that we all have split personalities to some degree, that we can be different people at different times...When the car sticks in the mire momentarily, we feel Norman's nervousness, and we are relieved with him when it finally sinks into the dark water in a bubbly swallow. We want Norman---as we wanted Marion---to escape with impunity. Norman smiles out at us approvingly, and the sequence fades out."

"The exchanges between Sam and Lila reinforce the visual parallels between Sam and Norman, whose profiles, hair, and coloring seem strikingly similar because of the way they are photographed."

FROM *CONFESSIONS OF A CULTIST* BY ANDREW SARRIS: "In PSYCHO, if you recall, there is a moment after Tony Perkins has run Janet Leigh's car into a swamp when the car stops sinking. One could almost hear the audience holding its breath until the car resumed its descent below the surface. At that first intake of breath the audience became implicated in the fantasy of the perfect crime."

I just recalled another Psycho reference in What Lies Beneath! Michelle Pfeiffer BACKS down the stairway, ala Martin Balsam!

I also loved this movie, although my date said it was the most boring peice of trash this year. I was NOT amused. Last date for ME..hehehe...in ANY event...

The film was ALL ABOUT genre...it hit on every cliche imaginable, and yet this didn't bother me in the least. What I think I loved MOST was the fact that we get an actor we associate with heroism and daring deeds and, for the first time that I can recall, discover he is the villian of the piece (again, the plot was expected, although I found myself NOT wanting to believe it because, well, dammit, it's Harrison Ford!!!). A nice twist for me.

Alan Silvestri's score was SPARSE...a wonderful addition to the film when it showed up with an excellent sense of eerieness that I totally enjoyed.

Okay, let me know if you all agree with any of that or if I am way off base here.

HUGS TO ALL.

Joe

My wife, however, KNEW that Norman had faked his electrocution right away, so she wasn't at all surprised, although she enjoyed the film just as much as I did.

The introduction of the ghost was just enough to throw me off the trail...after all, I convinced myself that this was a "Ghost Story", not a murder mystery!

Just thought I'd get that out of the way.

Now, in reverse chronological order: