Stephen Rebello

A terrific and readable history of the making of Psycho, Rebello's book is free from cant, jargon, theory, or outlandish stretching of his points. This is going to sound silly, but here goes: it's like someone said, "I wonder how Hitchcock made Psycho?" and Rebello said, "Read this." It's filled with concrete information, telling anecdotes, and workmanlike prose. Rebello is especially good on how Psycho--despite the reams and reams of money it made Hitchcock--proved to be a mixed blessing, show more at least for its director. Recommended. show less

Hitchcockian Thrillers by Stephen Rebello is a wonderfully premised book that leaves a lot to be desired in its execution. Still well worth the read simply because of the films mentioned and roughly grouped.

One of the most enjoyable things about reading a book about popular culture is arguing with it. Opinions from the writer will never perfectly match your own so you can have endless debates with the text. I've read several of Rebello's other books, and will likely read more, but I know not show more to consider him an expert but rather an effective researcher and gatherer of other people's work, so this is like arguing with your neighbor rather than a fellow academic, which keeps it light an fun. This is a popular book written for a popular audience, to help viewers choose movies that might appeal to them because of similarities with other movies. And that is always a good thing.

He lets you know his rating system and how he decided on what to include, which helps a reader know that a different system, whether better or worse, would have come up with different criteria and thus different films. So bracket your arguments about what was included or omitted and save them for your book. Enjoy the parallels he makes along with the commentary and, loosely defined, analyses he offers. Even where you disagree with his commentary or his less-than-enlightened personal comments you will still find a lot that might let you rewatch a film from a different perspective or introduce you to a film you haven't yet seen.

Recommended for readers who want a light, easy, and not very deep look at films that are somewhere on the Hitchcockian spectrum. You wish you could watch a movie similar to The Man Who Knew Too Much? This is the book for you.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello opens with Ed Gein. Taxidermy, furniture and clothing made of human flesh and bone, cannibalism and run down cluttered homes. If you see any of these motifs in film you owe them to one real life monster named Ed Gein. And Psycho was the first to draw creative inspiration from his crimes. Ed Gein, though, makes Norman Bates look like a pussycat.

From the true crime this reissued book about the making of Psycho goes through all the show more steps that lead to the progenitor of the modern horror film. There's a chapter on Robert Bloch's novel and how it came to be purchased by Alfred Hitchcock.

Most of the book though is about the film itself. Of most interest to me was how the film was shot like an extended episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Although there was speculation at the time that it might be used for the series, Rebello argues (quite effectively) that the approach was a cost saving measure and as well as a chance for Hitchcock to step away from the elaborate (and expensive) full color films he had been making at the time. A low budget also gave Hitchcock more creative freedom because no one was worried about where the money was going.

I read an egalley via NetGalley. show less

I think I learned all that I wanted to know about how my favorite director made one of my favorite movies. Since Mr. Rebello writes as a journalist and a historian, not as an amateur psychologist, I also have to read what I didn’t know, such as his guesses about how Hitchcock’s repressions were played out on the screen, blah, blah. I especially enjoyed how Rebello treated the two most famous controversies: Robert Bloch, the author of the source novel, vs. Joe “Outer Limits” Stefano, show more the screenwriter, over who was most responsible for the film’s story; and the claims of title sequence director Saul Bass to deserve auteur credit for the shower scene. Rebello comes down on the sides of Bloch and Hitchcock, and I think he is right. Rebello also reminded how important the film was historically (providing the inspiration for more graphic horror movies in general and the template for slasher movies in particular). I read his account of how the film’s surprises shocked the first audiences with a little bitterness, since I had them spoiled for me a long time before I saw the film. show less