Psycho (1960)
A new and altogether different screen excitement!!!
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 22 June 1960 |
| Genre | Horror, Thriller, Mystery |
| Director | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Starring | Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles |
| Runtime | 109 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 9.2/10 · Metacritic 97/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 97% · IMDb 8.5/10 · Letterboxd 4.3/5 · TMDB users 8.4/10 |
| Budget | $800,000 |
| Box office | $50 million worldwide |
Where to watch Psycho
Psycho is streaming on Netflix ($17.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Peacock ($16.99 a month). If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Peacock is $16.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 19 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Where to watch Psycho in 33 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Antigua & Barbuda | Max |
| Argentina | Max $9590 ARS |
| Australia | Binge $19.00 AUD, Foxtel |
| Austria | Joyn |
| Bahamas | Max |
| Barbados | Max |
| Belize | Max |
| Bolivia | Max |
| Canada | Tubi |
| Chile | Max $9590 CLP |
| Colombia | Max $24900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Max |
| Dominican Republic | Max |
| Ecuador | Max $8.29 |
| El Salvador | Max |
| Germany | Joyn |
| Guatemala | Max |
| Guyana | Max |
| Honduras | Max |
| Italy | Skygo, Now TV |
| Jamaica | Max |
| Japan | U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Mexico | Max $149 MXN |
| Nicaragua | Max |
| Panama | Max $8.29 |
| Paraguay | Max |
| Peru | Max S/35.90 |
| South Korea | Wavve ₩10900, Watcha, Tving ₩10900 |
| St. Lucia | Max |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Max |
| Turks & Caicos Islands | Max |
| Uruguay | Max $U399 |
| Venezuela | Max |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Psycho is a 109-minute horror thriller. Hitchcock directed the film. The tone is clinical and cold. It treats suspense not as a mood, but as a precise engineering problem. You press play expecting a genre film, but you get a study in psychological architecture. The shower scene is famous for a reason, but the real shock is how quickly the stakes shift from financial to existential.
What the critics said
The scores are high, though the dates vary. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 97% as of January 2026. Metacritic lands on 97 in the same month. IMDb gives it 8.5, and Letterboxd rates it 4.3 out of 5, both reported in February 2026. The initial reaction was messier. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it an "obviously low-budget job" with "not an abundance of subtlety". He found the psychological points less effective, though he did commend the cast. Not everyone was so polite. C. A. Lejeune of The Observer walked out before the end and resigned her post. That is a strong way to end a review.
How it did with audiences
Psycho cost $1 million and earned $32 million in the United States, with a worldwide total of $50 million. That is a 50x return, a ratio that makes accountants smile and studios reconsider the value of a low budget. On TMDB, users rate it 8.4 out of 10. It finished as the second highest-grossing film of 1960, behind Spartacus, and remains the most commercially successful film of Hitchcock's career. Hitchcock personally earned over $15 million from the deal. The numbers say the audience stayed for the shower scene, even if the critics didn't.
What came next for the cast
Janet Leigh arrived from Touch of Evil and The Vikings, then walked into The Manchurian Candidate and The Fog. Vera Miles stepped out of The Searchers and The Wrong Man, only to resurface in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The shower scene did not invent their careers. It just happened to sit in the middle of them.
Where it left its mark
Hitchcock’s 1960 adaptation is arguably his most recognized work. He took Bloch’s novel, which repeatedly killed off sympathetic leads, and turned that anxiety into a cinematic shock. Killing the lead actor’s character at the end of the first act was a daring move for 1960. The shower scene became a pop culture touchstone, often cited as the most suspenseful moment ever filmed. Some consider it the first slasher, though critics note Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom released months earlier with similar themes. It also spawned a wave of gender-bender reveals, a trope Zachary Paul of Bloody Disgusting declared finished in 2018. The film’s DNA persists in references like Halloween and High Anxiety.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Psycho.
Sources
- Psycho on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q163038 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Psycho (1960 film)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
Watch it without paying for the whole year
Binge Boss tracks the movie you are on and tells you which services you need this month, and which you can cancel.
Add Psycho to your list