Iconic Scenes in Movies: Psycho(1960)

 Well, this is something new I have put together about iconic scenes in my favourite movies. I am going to start with one of the finest movies ever made- Psycho. This movie is iconic on its own and there are so many great scenes in it, it is hard to pick out some..

Of course, I am going to start with one of the most famous scenes in movie history- the shower scene. Marion Crane(Janet Leigh) is stepping into the shower after a long day. She has checked into the Bates Motel and she has met Norman Bates(Anthony Perkins). They talked and she found out that he is living there with his mother who is ill. Marion suggested that Norman put her in an institution but Norman tells her that he cannot be parted from her. Marion wonders why Norman puts up with the horrible things that his mother says to him. He seems to be attracted to Marion and he spies on her as she gets ready for her shower. Marion turns on the shower and she washes away the day. She has decided to go back home and return the money that she has stolen. She is being washed clean again. Suddenly, we see an eerie shadow in the bathroom. The shower curtain is pulled back and Marion is stabbed again and again by a woman. Is it Mrs Bates?Marion sinks down against the tiles and she reaches out her hand to grab the curtain pulling it down as she dies....This scene has inspired many a movie and it is one of the best scenes in horror that I have ever seen. It is just perfect.

My second iconic scene is when Lila Crane(Vera Miles) goes down to the cellar to hide from Norman who has discovered that she went up to the house. Lila sees an old woman in a chair with her back turned to her. She thinks that it is Mrs. Bates.She touches the old woman on the shoulder and she turns around, showing Lila a corpse dressed up with a wig and dress. She screams loudly, hitting the light bulb and then she turns around to see Norman coming at her dressed as his mother with a knife in his hand. Sam Loomis(John Gavin) stops Norman before he can kill Lila and that is it- Norman's secret is out!

These two scenes make Psycho a masterpiece of film. It has everything I love in a movie- good characters, especially Norman, good acting, especially from Anthony Perkins and a good story. It is probably my all time favourite movie and these two scenes make it obvious why....If you love the Psycho movies as much as I do, there is a great website called The Psycho Movies.com and it has tons of stuff about these great films!Check it out!

Blind Terror Movie Review 190

Blind Terror a.k.a. See No Evil is a 1971 thriller directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Mia Farrow and Paul Nicholas.

The movie begins with a person wearing a pair of brown boots. We don't get to see their face but it is a man.The man watches a car and he sees people getting into it. In the car is blind girl Sarah(Farrow), her aunt Betty(Dorothy Alison), her uncle George(Robin Bailey) and cousin Sandy (Diane Grayson). Sarah has been blinded in an accident with a horse and she has come back to stay with her family. They arrive at the huge house and Sarah remembers her way around. She and Sandy are sharing a room.She meets up with her old flame, Steve(Norman Eshley) and they chat. He drops her back to the house where there is nobody around. Sarah makes her way up to the bedroom. We see that someone has dropped a bracelet on the floor. Sarah misses it whilst walking past. She goes for a sleep. When she wakes up, she doesn't realise that Sandy is dead on the other bed. She meets Steve and they go for a ride. He owns a stables and he gives her a horse .

Steve leaves Sarah back at the house and she goes inside. She is going to have a bath when she feels the dead body of her uncle. She finds her aunt and Sandy. She realises that she is totally alone and she is vulnerable. Meanwhile, the killer cleans his boots. It is the mysterious guy from the start of the movie. Sarah ends up in the cellar after entering the wrong door and she falls down the steps. She wakes up a while later and comes back up. She finds Barker, the gardener and he is half dead. He tells her that he was outside and he heard a shot. He ran back in and he was shot too. He tells he the killer left his bracelet after him and he guides her to it and dies. The killer has realised that he has forgotten his bracelet and he is on the way back to get it. Sarah has to hide but she makes noise and then she runs. He is after her. She reaches her horse and rides away but it throws her off and races away. She is left alone in the woods.

She wanders into a gypsy camp and tells them what happened. She shows them the bracelet and it says Jack on it.One of them, Tom, takes her to the police, or so she thinks. Really he takes her into the middle of nowhere and puts her in a shack. She tries to get out and she does. Meanwhile, gypsy Tom finds his brother who is called Jack and tells him that he has the bracelet. He thinks that Jack has killed the family, but Jack tells them that he was at the house to see Sandy but when he knocked there was no answer so he left. Steve and his stable hand Jacko(Paul Nicholas) are out looking for Sarah. They have found the dead bodies in the house and they are worried about Sarah. They find her wandering around  and they take her back to Steve's. She is seen by a doctor and she is put to bed. Steve and some other guys go to the gypsy camp and they find Tom and Jack. They accuse Jack of killing the family but he denies it. They look at the bracelet and they realise that it is not Jack, but Jacko. Everything becomes clear and they have to race to get to Sarah before Jacko does. 

Jacko has arrived at the house and he finds Sarah in the bath. She doesn't realise that he is there. He is looking for his bracelet in her clothes. She puts her hand out and she touches him. He tries to drown her but Steve arrives in time and saves her. The movie ends with the bodies being taken away by the police and the gypsies watch on.... This was a very good movie and I really enjoyed it. There was a creepy feel to it and I liked  the music too. It was tense and the acting was pretty good. All in all, it is a real gem from the 70's. I give it an 9/10.

The Wedding Singer(1998)

This is one of my favourite comedies. It stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as well as a good cast of actors. It is set in the 1980's and I love the music in the film. It is directed by Frank Corachi who has directed two other Sandler movies- Click and The Waterboy.As the title suggests, Adam Sandler stars as a wedding singer called Robbie Hart who is still living in his hometown of Ridgefield, New Jersey. He lives in his sister's basement and he has a fiance called Linda(Angela Featherstone) . He is happy enough with his life. He meets a waitress called Julia(Barrymore) at a wedding one night. Julia is engaged to a guy called Glenn(Matthew Glave).Robbie is getting married in a week and Julia is working at his wedding. He is delighted to be marrying the love of his life, Linda but she jilts him at the altar, leaving him devastated.He sinks into a depression and his friend, Sammy(Allen Covert) tries to cheer him up, to little avail. He returns to his career as a wedding singer, but he is sad and his singing is woeful. He begins to get himself into trouble as the father of the bride is furious. He finds himself in a dumpster. He meets Julia again and they chat. She tells him that she has set the date with her fiance and she asks him to help her plan her wedding. He is reluctant at first, but he agrees to help.He begisn to feel better.They become friends and they grow close.Holly(Christine Taylor) is Julia's man-eater friend and she tells her that she likes Robbie and she wants to get together with him. Julia is a little jealous. She arranges a double date with her and Glenn and Robbie and Holly. They go to a nightclub and Holly comes on to Robbie who is not really that interested. Julia drinks way too much and she becomes very drunk. Robbie talks to Glenn who tells him that Julia is trustworthy but that he has and is going to cheat as much as he wants. Robbie is disgusted. He doesn't know what to do about it. Holly asks him to go to bed with her, but he is more interested in Julia. Holly realises that he is in love with Julia. Robbie tries to better himself for Julia as Glenn is a stockbroker and he feels inferior, but it doesn't work out. He tells her that she only wants money and that is why she is with Glenn. Julia is very hurt and she walks away.Robbie goes to a bar and drowns his sorrows. He can't stop Julia's wedding. He admits to Sammy that he loves her, but that he can't ruin her wedding. He decides to go to her house and tell her how he feels but he sees her in her wedding dress and she looks happy. He doesn't know that she was pretending that she was marrying Robbie and not Glenn. He returns to his friends at the bar and he runs into Glenn who is having his bachelor party. He gets into an argument with him and ends up being punched. He staggers home to find his ex, Linda waiting for him. He collapses and she takes him home. The next morning, Julia calls to see Robbie to tell him how she feels, but Linda answers the door and Julia is crushed.She rushes home and tells Glenn that she wants to get married now, in Las Vegas. They get ready to go. Robbie wakes up, finding Linda and throws her out. He goes to a party of an old woman whom he has been teaching to sing and he meets Holly who tells him that Julia thought that he was back with Linda and that is why she has gone. Robbie goes after her and there is a great ending. This movie is really funny and it has some great moments. I could watch this again and again and never grow tired of it. I am giving this a 10/10.

The Birds(1963)

This is a horror classic. It is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and it stars Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor.It is based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier. There isn't anyone who doesn't know this movie, I would say. Along with Psycho(1960), this has to be Hitchcocks most famous horror movie. The story begins with a young woman called Melanie Daniels(Hedren) who goes into a pet shop to pick up a bird for her aunt. She is a rich socialite whose father owns a newspaper. She bumps into a guy called Mitch(Taylor) and he is looking for a pair of lovebirds for his sister. It turns out that he knows her from before and she is not impressed with his behaviour as he jokes with her. She is curious about him and she decides to deliver his lovebirds to his house in Bodega Bay. She procures a boat and she sails over to his house. She leaves the birds on his doorstep with a note. As she is heading back, a bird swoops down and hurts her head. She is seen by Mitch and he helps her from her boat and he takes her back to his house. Melanie meets his mother,Lydia(Jessica Tandy) and his sister, Cathy(Veronica Cartwright). She also meets Mitch's ex-lover, Annie(Suzanne Pleshette). Melanie stays over at Mitch's house for the night and a bird flies into his front door, killing itself. More birds attack the kids at Cathy's birthday party and later at school. Melanie makes a phone call from the local diner to her dad telling him what is going on. The locals tell her about the attacks from birds which have been occurring lately. The birds begin to attack people and there is no doubt that they mean business. Everyone has to run for it as the birds start to become very aggressive.Melanie takes refuge in a phone box and she is rescued by Mitch as the birds try to get at her. The attack abates for a few minutes and Mitch and Melanie go to Annie's house to collect Cathy. They find Annie dead on the doorstep and Cathy is in tears at the window. The birds have killed Annie. The others run to Mitch's house where they take refuge from the birds. They try and board up the windows and doors. They hear something upstairs and Melanie goes to investigate. The birds have broken in through a window and they attack her until Mitch rescues her. She is patched up by Lydia and Cathy and they decide to get her to a hospital. They make it to the car and as they drive off, the news on the car radio tells of similar bird attacks in California. The movie ends with them driving away as the birds watch them go....

A real classic movie with some brilliant scenes of the birds attacking. It might be an old movie, but it is a real delight for any horror fan. I am giving this a 10/10.

Aliens - A Jigsaw Classic

A good few years ago, your humble writer was deep in the heart of my home city strolling around doing some browsing for anything and everything.As always I was looking for DVDs to add to my collection.In the usual DVD shops I did not find anything that I wanted so I headed to the food department and I remember being disappointed having not seen a DVD that I wanted.As I browsed through the supermarket, mixed up with all the usual food was a DVD offer!! It was a 2 disc Special Edition of Aliens!!! It had a cheap price so naturally I grabbed it gratefully and proceeded to finish my shopping.I had Aliens for years on a video but never had it on DVD.I have seen the movie countless times and it is one of those movies that when it is on TV you watch it again and again! You end up saying " those marines are a bunch of wussies!" and "That Paul Reiser is such a weasel!" I love the original movie too but Aliens has a lot more action and gets me going every time!

So with shopping in my basket (yes Jigsaw uses a basket! remember that kids!!) I headed to the checkout or till whichever you prefer! It probably is the same all over the world but here in Ireland the DVD case is empty and the assistant has to go to a special locker to get the actual DVD.Too many people go for the 5 or 10 finger discount if the disc is inside i.e they steal it!!! So using the usual scanner the woman scanned in my food items and the last item was my DVD.She looked at it and looked up at me as if I had just taken a dump in a church!!!! She had a look of "O No, I cant believe you got a DVD as I have to get up off my @ss to go get it!" She went over to a different area where she talked with another woman for ages all the while I waited while she was catching up on the gossip.Then she obviously said something about me and they both looked over.She waddled to the locker and got the discs out and put them into the DVD case and waddled back over to the checkout.She slapped the DVD down next to me and I put it into my bag as she gave me my receipt and change.The whole time she acted like I had asked her for blood and she seemed to be trying to get back into the @ss groove she had on the chair.

I grabbed the change and receipt and headed off outside.What is the point of this story? Well, as she was so annoyed in getting me the discs she forgot to scan the DVD in!!!!! She had literally handed me a free 2 disc Special Edition of Aliens!!! I walked outside the supermarket where I celebrated my getaway thinking of her only just figuring out the twist in a scene reminiscent like the end of Saw! I did think of going back to pay her but with her attitude I thought it was like Karma and hopefully she had to pay the difference out of her salary.I have just re watched the special edition of Aliens and it always seems even better when I think of how I got it! I am aware that the story would be even cooler if I said I used the Jedi Mind Trick on her but that would not be true!

I am fairly sure that everyone has seen this movie by now and if you have not then shame on you! Go get it now! As the only survivor of the Nostromo when it encountered the Alien, Ripley has been floating in space for 57 years.Ripley is played by Sigourney Weaver in a real kick @ss role and she plays it brilliantly.Ripley is rescued and no one believes her story but when communication is lost with the colonists on the Alien planet, she is forced to go back there to face her demons.On the trip with her this time are a bunch of wussy marines who are like virgins that walk into a brothel.Gung ho for action but do not have much experience!!! Tagging along is Paul Reiser as the weaselly company man who has his own agenda.He was perfect in this part and I'm sure you say he gets what he deserves! Its a fantastic movie and my free special edition has intro and commentary by James Cameron.It has roughly 20 Min's more than the theatrical version and it definitely worth the nothing I paid for it!!!

The Howling(1981)

This movie is directed by Joe Dante who directed Gremlins 1 and 2, Explorers, Innerspace and The 'Burbs. This is based on the novel of the same name which was written by Gary Brandner. It stars horror favourite Dee Wallace and Patrick Macnee. There are six sequels(YES 6!!!).

Karen White(Dee Wallace) is a TV reporter who is being stalked by a serial killer. She cooperates with the cops to catch him and they do, shooting him in the process. Karen is left with amnesia afterwards and she is very shaken by it. She goes to a therapist, Dr. George Waggner(MacNee) who sends her and her hubby to a colony where his patients can be treated while they relax. They decide to go.

When they arrive, they are met by some strange characters. There is a nymphomaniac called Marsha Quist(Elisabeth Brooks) who tries her best to seduce Karen's husband. He doesn't want to have anything to do with her. As he is going back to his cabin, he is bitten by some wolf-like animal. He goes back to find Martha and they have sex, during which they both change into werewolves. Karen calls her friend, Terri(Belinda Balaski) to come and see what is going on as she is bewildered by her husbands behaviour. Terri discovers a connection between the serial killer who was following her and the colony. Karen wonders what her husband is hiding. Terri comes to the colony and she looks around for some clues to what is happening there. Unfortunately for her, she is attacked by a werewolf, but not before she calls her boyfriend, Chris(Dennis Dugan) who discovers about the werewolves and decides to get himself some silver bullets and kick some werewolf butt!

Meanwhile, Eddie, the serial killer who Karen thought was dead is at the colony. He transforms into a werewolf while Karen watches in horror. Luckily for her, Chris arrives and shoots it with a silver bullet. What they don't know is that everyone at the colony is a werewolf(Oh-oh!). They have to try and escape from them, which they eventually do and they burn the colony to the ground. That isn't the end of this story, though. Karen vows to tell the world about the existence of these werewolves and she tells people on television. To prove that it is true, she transforms herself into a werewolf live on TV and Chris shoots her with a silver bullet. She had been bitten at the colony before escaping. No one really knows if this was real or just special effects. We also find out that there was one survivor from the colony- Marsha Quist. There are a lot of sequels, but the next one is Howling 2-Stirba- Werewolf Bitch which pales in comparison to this. I will review that in a later post. I enjoyed this movie a lot and I am going to give it 8/10.

The Hitcher(1986)

This 80's thriller was directed by Robert Harmon and stars C.Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer. It is a great action/thriller and there are plenty of thrills in it to satisfy a horror fan. It is well-made and the actors are good in it. There was a dodgy remake in 2007 starring Sean Bean, but I think the less said about that, the better. There was no comparison to this great movie.











Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell), is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego when he picks up a hitch-hiker(not a very smart move) who is called John Ryder(Rutger Hauer). John seems quiet, but normal until they drive past an abandoned car. John tells Jim that the car is left there because he murdered and mutilated the driver and that he is going to do the same to Jim. Jim is understandably terrified by this freak and when John pulls a knife on him, Jim pushes him out of the car. Jim is relieved and he continues on his journey when he is passed by a station wagon with a family inside and Ryder! Jim tries to warn them, but it's too late. When Jim finally finds the station wagon, everyone has been killed.











He is pursued by Ryder and it seems that he will have to fight to escape with his life. Jim finds him at a gas station. Ryder blows up the place . Jim flees to a diner where he meets a waitress called Nash(Jennifer Jason Leigh). He calls the cops and then has something to eat. He finds a severed finger in his food. The cops arrest HIM as they think that he is responsible and he tries to explain that it isn't HIM, but Ryder who is the killer. Jim is brought to the local station and booked. Of course, Ryder has followed him there and murdered the cops. Jim runs away as cops come looking for him. Jim takes a cop hostage and demands to talk to someone who will believe his story. This person is the captain(Jeffrey DeMunn) who suspects that maybe Jim is not lying. Here comes Ryder again(does this guy ever give up?) and shoots the cops and the radio. Jim tries to kill himself with a revolver but changes his mind and decides to get Ryder.Jim confronts his nemesis and asks him why. Ryder doesn't give him a straight answer. He just tells him that he should know. Jim gets onto a bus and finds that Nash is on it. He tries to convince her that he is innocent. She believes his story. Jim is caught by the cops and he and Nash escape in a cop car after he pulls a gun on them. Ryder comes along again and helps Jim to escape. Jim and Nash hide in a motel and of course, Ryder comes back(yes, again!) and he kidnaps Nash. You just know that this isn't going to be pretty! He gets Jim to come to him and tries to get him to shoot him. Jim refuses to, knowing that Ryder will kill Nash if he does. Ryder kills Nash by pulling her apart(Ouch!) The cops come and arrest Ryder(Finally!). Jim is in shock. The cops are baffled as they can't find anything to say who Ryder is. He has no social security number, no driving licence. They put him in the police truck and are going to transport him to prison. Ryder manages to escape (is there no stopping this man?) and Jim is faced with him yet again. Jim runs him over and finally shoots him. He is left alone and smoking a cigarette at the end of the movie.

This is action non-stop with some great scenes. I recommend it to anyone who likes action/thriller/ horror. Rutger Hauer is creepy and very good as the elusive John Ryder. I will give this an 8/10. It is a modern classic.

When A Stranger Calls(1979)

 

I know that most people will only have heard of the remake of this movie, but the original movie was much more spooky and scary. The remake has very little to do with this movie which is a shame because this is a great thriller with good actors. This movie is directed by Fred Walton who also directed April Fools Day(1986) and the little known I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are(1988).

The action begins with a babysitter called Jill Johnson(Carol Kane) who is babysitting for a doctor and his wife. She is enjoying her night and the kids are in bed when the phone rings. On the line is a stranger who asks her frightening questions like 'Have you checked the children'. Needless to say, Jill is spooked by this and she calls the cops after the stranger keeps calling her. The cops come and tell her that they will try and trace the call. The stranger rings Jill once more and he scares her witless. She is armed with a poker and when the cops call to tell her that they have traced the call, it appears that the call is coming from INSIDE the house! Jill tries to get out of the house when she sees the shadow of a man. She reaches the front door and then screams..

This brings us to a cop, John Clifford(Charles Durning) who is at the investigation. We find out that the kids were killed by some man called Curt Duncan(Tony Beckley) and that he has been sent to an asylum. Seven years pass and we find out that Duncan has escaped(of course!) and he is back on the streets. Clifford is on the hunt for him. Duncan is a loner and he is wandering the streets. He meets a woman called Tracy(Colleen Dewhurst) and they get on. He asks her out and she says that she will see. Meanwhile, Clifford finds out about Duncan and Tracy and he tells her what Duncan has done. We see that he tore the kids apart with his bare hands. Tracy is shocked and she agrees to help Clifford get Duncan. Duncan doesn't show up and Clifford walks Tracy home. He is leaving when he hears her screams. He runs back into her apartment and finds Duncan has attacked her. Duncan escapes, but Clifford runs after him. He runs after him and Duncan manages to lose him time and time again. Clifford is forced to give up. 

Meanwhile, Jill Johnson is married with two kids. She has moved on from that night. She and her husband go out that night for dinner and leave their kids with their babysitter, Sharon. Jill gets a call while she is at dinner to ask her has she checked the children. She calls the cops and they escort her home. Clifford tries to get in contact with Jill,but he can't. Jill and her husband go to sleep that night. Jill gets up in the middle of the night and the lights go out. She goes back to bed and she sees the closet door opening and she hears Duncan's voice. She shakes her husband but he isn't there. Duncan is in the bed with her! He attacks her and chases her around the room. Just then, Clifford arrives an he kills Duncan. Jill's husband is still alive. Clifford comforts Jill and we see a view of the house and Duncan's frightening eyes.....
 

This is a great thriller with some really eerie scenes. I think that it is underrated because the remake overshadowed it. I remember seeing this when I was very young and it scared the crap out of me. The remake is nothing like this and that explains why it disappointed many people. There was a sequel to this movie called When A Stranger Calls Back(1993) and it is very good. It has plenty of thrills and scary moments too. I will give this movie an 8/10.

Peeping Tom(1960)

I had heard a lot about this movie before I actually saw it. It was controversial at the time because there hadn't been anything like it before. It deals with a voyeur who likes to film his victims as he kills them. It is directed by Michael Powell and the response it got finished his career as a film director. You have to remember that this was a film that people couldn't come away from feeling happy and lighthearted. There is no happy ending in this one. The critics ripped it to shreds and it wasn't recognised as a true classic until years later. Now it is a cult classic.













The movie begins with Mark Lewis(Carl Boehm) who is wandering around with his camera hidden in his coat. He meets a prostitute and we can see what happens from the point of view of the camera. We see her take him back to her place and we see him murder her and watch it later when he is alone. Whether he gets a sexual thrill from this is left to your imagination. Mark works as part of a film crew and he has dreams of becoming a film-maker. He takes nude pictures of women on the side. He is living in his dad's house and he is the landlord but pretends not to be. He is a loner and he doesn't know how to forge relationships with women. He watches everything around him and he becomes fascinated with a young girl who lives with her blind mother in the house. The girl, Helen(Anna Massey) is everything that Mark isn't. She is sweet, vivacious and she is outgoing.
They become good friends and Mark lets her into his life. He tells her that his dad was a psychologist and that he used him in his experiments to study fear and the nervous system. Helen feels badly for Mark as he tells her that his father watched his every move and it explains why Mark needs to film everything. He is one messed up young man! He asks a young lady called Vivian(Moira Shearer) who is a stand-in at work to help him make a movie. Of course, what Vivian doesn't know is that she is going to star in his death movie! She is murdered and stuffed into a trunk. The cops are beginning to notice that this murder links to Mark's previous one and they get suspicious of Mark when they see his camera and the way he acts.
A psychiatrist turns up on the set and he is consoling a member of the cast when he spots Mark and he tells him that he knew his dad and Mark is unnerved by this. The psychiatrist tells the cops about Mark and their conversation. Mark goes about his business not realising that the cops are tailing him. He goes to take some pictures of model Milly(Pamela Green) but ends up killing her. This isn't a good idea but Mark doesn't realise the cops are on to him and he returns home. Meanwhile, Helen has found some of his movies and she is horrified when she sees what he has done. He tells her that he wants to see the fear on their faces as they face their certain death.Mark knows that he is coming to the end of the line and that the police are coming for him.He has a plan that will let him escape from everything that will face him if he is caught by the police. He has attached a knife to the tripod of his camera and he impales himself and dies the same way that his victims did. The last thing he sees is his own death. His horrible documentary is finally finished. This film is a really well-made and complex movie. There are many layers to Mark and it is not just about the murders. It is about a young man who has been corrupted by his father and maybe he had no chance to be a normal person. Maybe his conscience was lost along with his childhood. I really like this movie and it is underrated like many movies are when people haven't heard of them.If you get a chance to see this movie, do. You won't be disappointed. I will give it a 9/10.