The Bogeymen Cometh Beyond Psycho

When Norman Bates was introduced to the world in 1960, he took people by surprise.

- James Evans

The 1950s had been full of science fiction that tried to make sense of the looming threat of nuclear devastation through the vanquishing of various radioactive monsters, while horror was reinventing the traditional villains for a new generation, most notably in films like Hammer’s Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). In amongst all this, after having recently directed classic colour thrillers Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959), Alfred Hitchcock chose to make a black and white psychological horror on a low budget and relatively short shooting schedule. Initially, critics weren’t sure but the canny Hitch used all his marketing wiles and a huge hit was born. What makes Bates different from his contemporaries is that he is an entirely human ‘monster’. There’s no grand scheming behind his actions, no hero to be his foil but instead a damaged human doing horrible things.

One of the most obvious signs you have achieved something new or fresh in cinema is to be followed by a slew of imitators, ranging from the good to the oh-so-bad and so it was for Hitch. William Castle had not long taken the decision to scare the bejesus out of his audiences as a money-maker and he would get in on the post-Psycho trend towards twisting murder mysteries with the likes of Homicidal (1961) and I Saw What You Did (1965) and others would try, too. However, for the most part, the 1960s was dominated by supernatural horrors with Hammer at the forefront in the UK and Roger Corman’s Poe adaptations leading from America. It would, instead, be the 1970s when the true inheritors of Norman’s bogeyman mantle came along. But first a brief second mention for I Saw What