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Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho might feel like the kind of twisted tale born entirely from imagination, but its roots go deeper, tapping into a chilling reality that once haunted the backroads of Wisconsin. Before it ever made its way to the big screen in stark black-and-white, it lived on the pages of a novel by Robert Bloch, who had been quietly crafting horror just miles away from a real-life monster, named Ed Gein.
Ed Gein’s life shared haunting similarities with that of Norman Bates. His crimes, besides being brutal, were grotesque in ways that echoed through the main character of the movie.
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Both Gein and Bates lived reclusive lives in rural America. Both were shaped by domineering, deeply twisted mothers and both blurred the line between man and woman, with Gein through wearing skin and clothing taken from corpses, while Norman by literally becoming his mother in mind and dress.
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Bloch never claimed his novel was a biography, but the parallels were unmistakable. Gein had murdered two women, dug up graves, and turned body parts into household items before being locked away in a psychiatric hospital in 1968. The shadow of his deeds loomed large over the fictional Bates Motel.
Ed Gein… the inspiration for Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Elmer Fudd. pic.twitter.com/AwhlvjfevM
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— Kris Kristensen (@theK2dispatches) June 5, 2023
When Hitchcock got his hands on Bloch’s novel shortly after its release, he saw something potent beneath the surface. He bought the rights for a bargain, not even tipping off his studio until after the deal was done.
Determined to move fast and keep it cheap, he shot the film in black and white, borrowing his TV crew to speed things up and to make Norman more relatable and more deceptive, Hitchcock had the character reworked for a younger, cleaner-cut Anthony Perkins. The transformation worked. Audiences weren’t just scared, they were shocked as well.
However, some things were softened in the adaptation. Marion Crane didn’t lose her head like she did in the book, but that infamous shower scene, with its shrieking violins and rapid cuts, was more than enough to sear itself into cinema history. Janet Leigh’s brief but unforgettable role helped redefine what a horror protagonist could be.
Psycho didn’t blow the doors off the box office at first, but over time, it became a pillar of the genre. It helped carve the path for what we now call slashers. Its legacy has sprawled across sequels, remakes, and even a modern-day prequel TV series named Bates Motel.
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