MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | PSYCHO

So, car journey went on longer than expected. Which gave me a chance to get in a second script! Hurrah! So this weeks beauty is... PSYCHO

Plot in a nutshell; Marion Crane decides to abscond with cash from her employers latest property deal. On her way out of town, she stops at the Bates Motel. By morning, she’s dead and a steady train of people come looking. Their only point of contact is the eerie motel owner, Norman Bates. To give away the rest to those yet to have seen it, would be a crime...

We’re in classic territory here folks. Infamous film that coined a phrase and started that sub genre staple; the serial killer movie. I was really looking forward to this one. Always fascinated to read the classic scripts. Bearing in mind that this was written in 1959, there are obviously some elements that would not sit well these days. In particular, how the female characters are handled by the male characters. But then again, this was also groundbreaking writing with regards to Norman's character.

However, I really struggled with the action directions on this one. So much detail and every action emphasised. At times, it was a slog getting through them. The characters are all beautifully crafted and well rounded. The story flows phenomenally well, with a perfect arc from start to finish. But at 130 pages, I definitely expected this one to be shorter, considering the length of the film. Interestingly, after the last couple of scripts that I have reviewed, there was less reference here to historical detail in order to capture the period. Because it was written at the time, it does not need those details. If this had been written today, I suspect the ADs would contain a lot more references to historical details that would bring the piece to the period. So that was certainly the most interesting aspect I discovered about writing historical scripts versus scripts written in an actual time period. 

So, what did I learned from reading PSYCHO?

Definitely keep your stage directions brief. I would recommend taking a look at Scream, Men in Black or The Last of the Mohicans to see some really great stage directions in action. This was definitely one of those scripts where more is too much.

More of a point of interest would be period detail (or rather the lack of) being included in a period script. This was obviously written at the time as current day, but now it’s historical, and most fascinating to see the lack of historical detail in the ADs required to support the story.

So, not so much a recommend, as an interesting little piece to be read if you fancy. But there are definitely better out there. Still, nice to check in on a classic.

Link to the script;

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Psycho.pdf