Psycho

Psycho (1960)

3 deliberate mistakes - chronological order

(8 votes)

Deliberate mistake: When Norman picks up Marion's supposedly naked body to carry it to his trunk, a bra is visible through the shower curtain. Gus Van Sant included this goof in his 1998 remake.

Deliberate mistake: Mrs. Bates is in a rocking chair, but in the close-up that reveals her face her position smoothly rotates as though she were in a swivel chair.

TonyPH

Deliberate mistake: After being stabbed, Arbogast falls down the stairs in an impossible manner. He is standing tilted backwards all the way down the stairs.

CC

Factual error: When Janet Leigh is shown lying dead on the floor of the shower, there is a close-up of her open eye. The pupil is contracted to a pinpoint (obviously due to the bright lighting) where it should have been dilated. After the film was released, Hitchcock heard from several ophthalmologists who pointed this out and suggested he use belladonna eye drops in the eyes of "dead" people in future films, as the chemical prevents the pupils from contracting. (00:48:30)

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Norman Bates: She might have fooled me, but she didn't fool my mother.

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Trivia: Psycho was the first American movie to show a toilet, and hear one flushing - both viewed as inappropriate in that era.

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Question: I'm doing horror movies in my Media Studies course and we're looking at this film in great depth. There were many themes that came up a lot in the film, mainly mirrors, birds and eyes. I've had loads of interpretations of all of these, but does anyone know what they symbolise?

rabid anarchist

Chosen answer: Birds are just a favourite choice of spooky animal that Alfred Hitchcock seems to use hence the film "The Birds". Eyes show the window to our soul where our deepest fears originate and who isn't scared of getting knifed in the shower. The mirrors i can't explain but I can suggest that it just looks creepy.

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