Black, white and Blu Psycho looks and sounds better than ever

This is an exciting time for anyone beefing up his home video library with high definition Blu-ray discs. The studios have been rolling out the latest hits with pristine audio and video and the discs are usually packed to the gills with excellent supplements.

Luckily, the studios seem to have gotten past the annoying and pesky trend of releasing multiple versions and needless double and triple dips (standard version, director’s cut, super deluxe ridiculous bonus feature version, etc.). Just put the movie out with all the expected bonus features and be done with it for goodness sake. I’m sure this trend will return once the ever-increasing revenue stream for Blu-ray discs starts to level off, but that’s a topic for the future.

In addition to the steady release of new films, all the old classics are making their high definition debuts as well. My recent review for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast may seem a little odd considering what time of year this is, but this review is much more appropriate.

By the time Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho, he already had a resume that would establish his presence amongst the all-time greatest filmmakers. Who knew that a low-budget, black and white film made by his television production crew would cement his place as the master of suspense and become one of the most famous and notorious thrillers of all time? Critics at the time certainly didn’t think so.

One of the things that makes this film so unique is Hitchcock’s use of misdirection. The viewer initially perceives Psycho as a somewhat standard film noir depicting a woman on the run from a failed love affair and $40,000 stolen cash. The story and the structure change completely when Marion arrives at the Bates motel. Tame by today’s standards, the sudden and jarring switch shocked audiences at the time and made Psycho unforgettable.

Psycho’s arrival on Blu-ray is fantastic for film fans. The disc will look familiar to fans of the 1999 Collector’s Edition DVD. All of that disc’s special features have been transplanted (in original 4:3 standard definition) to the Blu-ray, but there are some new inclusions as well. If you haven’t watched the classic collection of supplements, you should. “The Making of Psycho” is an excellent 94 minute documentary featuring interviews from Hitchcock’s daughter, Janet Leigh, screenwriter Joseph Stefano, and others.

The doc examines Hitch’s filmmaking process, the development of the script from the original source novel, the production and the public’s reaction. Everyone remembers the shower scene, but you probably didn’t know that Psycho was the first film to show a toilet flushing. This innocuous and seemingly silly event was as taboo-shattering and unsettling as the scene following it. Poorly produced featurettes serve only as fluff promotional pieces, but this is one of those all too rare docs that educates, entertains, and enhances the enjoyment of an already classic film. Documentary filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau has produced, written, and directed dozens of wonderful documentaries for home video over the last decade and I truly hope fans and industry figures appreciate the excellent work he has done.