Fifty-five years after its June 16, 1960, premiere, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is firmly entrenched in the cinematic canon. It altered the suspense genre forever, it changed what can be shown on screen — in addition to the reams of blood, it was the first film to show a flushing toilet — and it set the bar for the lengths to which a filmmaker would go to avoid spoilers.
But at the time of its release, not every critic guessed at the film’s lasting influence. Among those reviewers was TIME’s, who found Psycho just a little too much:
…the experienced Hitchcock fan might reasonably expect the unreasonable—a great chase down Thomas Jefferson’s forehead, as in North by Northwest, or across the rooftops of Monaco, as in To Catch a Thief. What is offered instead is merely gruesome. The trail leads to a sagging, swamp-view motel and to one of the messiest, most nauseating murders ever filmed. At close range, the camera watches every twitch, gurgle, convulsion and hemorrhage in the process by which a living human becomes a corpse.
Though the plot (graciously unspoiled by the review) was acknowledged as “expertly gothic,” the critic warned that “the nausea never disappears.” The final result, the critic noted, is “a spectacle of stomach-churning horror”—not guessing that audiences would see that as a good thing.
Read the full review, here in the TIME Vault: Psycho
How Hitchcock Turned a Small Budget Into a Great Triumph
Alfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. On Hollywood sound stage, side of house which was used in Santa Rosa is reproduced. Most exterior scenes were shot on location, to keep set costs low. For this one Universal used old lumber and nails which are not included in the War Production Board ruling on new materials. Seated on upstairs porch Alfred Hitchcock directs Teresa Wright, holding broken step and flashlight.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock on the set of Shadow of a Doubt.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock demonstrating various actions during filming of Shadow of a Doubt.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock stands on a scale on set.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock with actress Teresa Wright showing how to struggle.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Santa Rosa's town square with policeman directing traffic was viewed by Skirball and Hitchcock as they contemplated using it in the movie. In the background is the Bank of America which was used for the exterior shots. To shoot the pictures Main Street was blocked off for three days.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAlfred Hitchcock directing Shadow of a Doubt in 1942.William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. On location in Santa Rosa, Alfred Hitchcock turns railroad depot into a movie set. In foreground Director Hitchcock (seated) explains scene to actors Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright and Henry Travers. Behind him is movie company consisting of two camera crews, grips, juicers, producer, assistant directors, child-welfare worker, actors, stand-ins, extras, sound men, script girl.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
