Janet Leigh In Psycho (1960)
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is a morally questionable character in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, having stolen $40,000 from her place of employment and hit the road. That road, unfortunately, runs right by the secluded and run-down Bates Motel – where she decides to pull in and rest for the night. Here she meets the young and nervous proprietor, Norman Bates, and joins him for supper – during which she decides to stop her getaway and return the stolen cash.
Departing Norman Bates’ parlour, Crane returns to her room to take a shower. She shuts the bathroom door firmly behind her, climbs into the tub, draws the shower curtain closed and runs the water. Performing her ablutions, she is unaware of the dark shape that has entered the bathroom and is approaching in a slow and menacing manner. Suddenly, the shower curtain is ripped back to reveal an indistinct individual – seemingly a woman – brandishing an incredibly large knife. Marion Crane whips round in confusion – squinting, due to the water running over head – and lets out a spine-tingling scream.
It’s a legendary scene, and for good reason. Crane is in, perhaps, the most vulnerable position a person can be in. Naked, cornered, and with her hearing and vision both dulled by the running shower – she has no way at all of defending herself. Her initial scream, then, is one of shock and fear, but it quickly descends into a series of moans and grunts – as her attacker slashes relentlessly at her bare form. As the scene continues, there is almost a hint of resignation in her whimpers – suggesting that she is now simply enduring this onslaught until it is over. It doesn’t end for what feels like an agonisingly long time – but when it does, her silence is deafening. Her screams are replaced by the sound of the water continuing to run – washing her life down the drain.
– Sarah Myles