In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock had just finished his 46th film, North By Northwest. However, the newspapers still seemed to focus their attention on the young, new directors, giving them names like “The French Hitchcock”. Hitchcock is 60 and wants to feel relevant and alive again. He is looking for some exciting, dangerous new project that will allow him to experiment, when he sees news clippings about serial killer Ed Gein. Hitchock reads the book “Psycho”, based on the case, and decides this will be his next project. So he buys up all of the copies of the book so that audiences won’t know anything about the story. (Try to do that in these modern connected times!) However, people are not used to seeing this kind of sex and violence in mainstream film, and Paramount and others refuse to fund the movie. So Hitchcock decides to mortgage his house and finance the film himself.

While Hitchcock follows the behind the scenes drama of the making of this Hitchcock masterpiece, at its heart it is about Alfred Hitchcock’s relationships with his wife Alma Reville, the studio and his actors.

The love story between Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife (Helen Mirren) is quite fascinating. One moment the film has you wondering how these two are still together, but in the next you see exactly how much they love each other and why they’ve been together for over three decades. Alma is this extraordinary woman who has been supporting and assisting her husband from behind the scenes on all of his films. Helen Mirren is wonderful in the role of Alma Reville, for which she received a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination. Mirren’s performance captures all aspects of this complicated woman—from supporting wife and partner, to tough critic, writer and filmmaker. Anthony Hopkins is equally amazing in his role. Not only does he look and sound just like Hitchcock, but he executes both the dramatic scenes and the dry humor and hilarious one-liners flawlessly.

The drama behind the scenes and the way Hitchcock treated his actors was another fascinating aspect of the film. Hitchcok always as his “Hitchcock Blonde” as the star of his film, and playfully flirts with his starlets. In Psycho, his muse was Janet Leigh, wonderfully portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in this film. The rest of the Psycho cast includes Vera Miles (Jessica Biel)—with whom Hitchcock held a grudge—and Anthony Perkins (James D’Arcy). Throughout the film we get to see the complicated relationship Hitchcock had with these actors, and how that developed over the course of making Psycho.

Speaking of the behind the scenes drama, one thing I found remarkable was the big censor argument over Psycho‘s shower scene (part of which was the fact that Hitchcock wanted to include a shot of a toilet in the movie). It is amazing how different things are these days. I watched Psycho for the first time just before reviewing this film, and couldn’t believe how tame the big shower scene is when compared to today’s far more graphic depictions of sex and death.

Hitchcock pays homage to its namesake by including elements that call out to the director’s unique style. The film is bookended by scenes in which Hitchcock stands and speaks to the camera. There is also a fun scene involving Hitchcock’s profile shadow. The film is loaded with tiny, fun references suggesting where Alfred Hitchcock may have drawn inspiration for certain aspects of Psycho.

If there’s one part of this film that didn’t work for me, it was the dream sequences that appear throughout the film in which Ed Gein (the basis of the Norman Bates character) serves as a therapist for Hitchcock. I don’t think these were needed, but it seems like they were used to try to evoke more of a Hitchcockian feeling to the film.

However, overall I really enjoyed Hitchcock. It provides both an interesting story about the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife, as well as a fascinating look at all of the drama involved in making Psycho. Throughout all this drama, the film also remains delightfully humorous. This is an easy recommendation.

What’s Included:

Film (1:38:20)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD 5.1,
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DD 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround DD 2.0, French Surround DD 2.0
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 03/12/15):

• iTunes Digital Copy
• Ultraviolet Digital Copy (Vudu or Flixster)

Extras:

• Deleted Scene (1:42)
  Director Sacha Gervasi introduces a deleted scene in which Hitchcock talks abut his mother to his serial killer psychiatrist Ed Gein.
• Becoming the Master: From Hopkins to Hitchcock (12:28)
  The cast and crew talk about the transformation of Anthony Hopkins into Hitchcock. Features footage of the make-up tests and transformation process.
• Obsessed with Hitchcock (29:09)
  Behind the scenes featurette. The director and the author of the book that inspired the film, “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”, talk about how the movie came about. The cast talks about their roles and what drew them to do the film. The creators also discuss set and costume design, and the editing process.
• Sacha Gervasi’s Behind the Scenes Cell Phone Footage (13:31)
  Collection of behind the scenes footage taken by the director on his mobile phone.
• Hitchcock Cell Phone PSA (:41)
  PSA used in movie theaters asking patrons not to text during the film.
• The Story (3:54)
  Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and director Sacha Gervasi talk about the plot of the film.
• The Cast (4:25)
  The director and cast members talk about working with one another.
• Danny Elfman Maestro (2:16)
  Footage of the orchestra bringing Danny Elfman’s film soundtrack to life.
• Hitch and Alma (3:15)
  The director, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren talk about the relationship and love story at the heart of the film.
• Remembering Hitchcock (4:44)
  Author Stephen Rebello and actors who worked with Hitchcock give their reactions to the film and its portrayals of Hitchcock and Alma.
• Commentary with Sacha Gervasi and Stephen Rebello (1:38:20)
  Feature commentary by the director of the film, and the author of the book “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”. The two men provide a really interesting commentary, discussing how the film came about, the cast, and the real-life Hitchcock and events on which the film is based.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:33)
• Sneak Peek (14:31)
  Trailers for Stoker, The Blu-ray Experience, The Sessions, Life of Pi, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Twixt, and Atlas Shrugged 2

Final Thoughts:

With stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren and a talented supporting cast, this film is easy to recommend. The film looks great and captures the look and feel of the time period. The audio perfectly captures Danny Elfman’s wonderful score, while dialog and other sound effects also remain clear.

This Blu-ray is loaded with special features, including a deleted scene, many behind the scenes and historical featurettes, as well as a fascinating audio commentary.

This is definitely a film worth picking up—especially if you are a fan of Hitchcock’s work.