MovieChat Forums > Psycho (1960) Discussion > Psycho vs Rear Window

Psycho vs Rear Window


Those are my favorite Hitchcock movies, can't decide which one I like the most. Which is your favorite?

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Both great, but Psycho.

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They are an interesting pair up.

I'll pick Psycho but I can understand those out there who prefer Rear Window.

Its been said that Rear Window is more of "the compleat Hitchocck movie," what with a romance at the center of it(James Stewart and Grace Kelly, however mismatched they seem NOW, were evidently quite the Odd Couple romance then) and all that intricate cinematic prowess on display (the pattern is: We look at Stewart look at something/POV of what he sees/we look at Stewart's reaction.)

Rear Window is also in Technicolor, and though all of Hitchcock's movies from 1925 to 1947 were in in black and white, he became known for the great COLOR of his movies from Rope on, less only a few black and whites. Psycho is the final black and white Hitchcock movie.

Psycho NOT having a romance(Janet Leigh is cut off from John Gavin early on) and NOT being in color and NOT looking very expensive, makes it seem "lesser" than Rear Window but -- in the end -- Psycho was simply more of a worldwide phenonemon and landmark film.

A few extra thoughts:

I believe that Psycho and Rear Window are Hitchcock's two biggest hits (Even the epic North by Northwest and Mount Rushmore could not beat them.)

One reason they are the two biggest hits is that BOTH movies feature a psycho killer and a bloody murder -- we just don't SEE it in Rear Window. But we IMAGINE the outcome: Lars Thorwald chopping up his wife into pieces(in the BATHTUB), putting the pieces in his suitcase, dumping all the pieces in the East River except the HEAD, which is first buried in a flowerbed(a snooping dog is killed trying to dig it up) and then moved to Thorwald's closet near where he sleeps. That is easliy as gory as the events in Psycho -- but never shown. Psycho went "all the way" with its gory murders and gory climax.

CONT

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Each of the two movies created a "visual world" locked into the memories of everyone who saw them:

Psycho: the motel and the creepy house on the hill.
Rear Window: The view "across the courtyard of all the various rooms, open windows, and open lives of the inhabitants inside."

Two great visions of "Hitchcock's World."

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Rear Window is my favourite. I think its storytelling is more interesting. It's a movie with a great theme of voyeurism and what it means to live in a world filled with all of these lives separate to our own. I love that it finds the time to give us so many micro-stories within the main arc. I love that it critiques JB for his voyeurism and questions how much we should be snooping on others. I love how economical it has to be with its camera because it's all within one apartment. It also finds a lot of time for humour and the main characters are all great.

Psycho is a brilliant movie, but RW takes the prize.

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I like 'em both, and I'll probably see "Psycho" at least once more before I croak, but I prefer "Rear Window" and I know I'll see it again more than once. I find the first act of "Psycho", when Marion is traveling, to be fascinating. But as soon as she's gone I lose interest. I don't really find Norman very interesting, and I don't care what happens to him.

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Rear Window. I like both, but Rear Window, to me, has the more compelling characters and interesting story.

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It's very tough to choose. Rear Window has an unfair advantage in Thelma Ritter and one of the best sound designs of any movie in the 20th century.

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Rear Window is my preference. The storytelling is so much smoother. Psycho is a bit too jagged for my taste.

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