Psycho & Films about mental illness

Psycho is a 1960 suspense/thriller directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the screenplay by Joseph Stefano about a psychotic killer. It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. It starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh as one of his victims.

The film's popularity has made it a common reference in popular culture.

Psycho has become one of the most recognizable films in cinema history, and is arguably Hitchcock's most well-known film. The iconic shower scene is frequently spoofed, given homage to and referenced in popular culture, complete with the violin screeching sound effects.

Films about mental illness

• Spellbound (1945)
• Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
• The Snake Pit (1948)
• Whirlpool (1949)
• The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
• Psycho (1960)
• David and Lisa (1962)
• Repulsion (1965)
• Play Misty for Me (1971)
• One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
• The Story of Adele H. (1975)
• Sybil (1976)
• Ordinary People (1980)
• Fatal Attraction (1987)
• Dead Ringers (1988)
• Camille Claudel (1988)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Awakenings (1990)
• Misery (1990)
• Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Benny & Joon (1993)
• The Madness of King George (1993)
• This Boy's Life (1993)
• Shine (1996)
• As Good as It Gets (1997)
• Patch Adams (1998)
• Girl, Interrupted (1999)
• Fight Club (1999)
• Memento (2000)
• A Beautiful Mind (2001)
• I Am Sam (2001)
• Donnie Darko (2002)
• The Hours (2002)
• Spider (2002)
• "À la folie... pas du tout" (2002)
• Identity (2003)
• The Aviator (2004)
• Proof (2005)
• Mad Detective (2007)
• The Dark Knight (2008)

Saul Bass controversial title sequences for The Man with the Golden Arm prelude to North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo

Saul Bass became notorious in the industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). The subject of the film was a jazz musician's struggle to overcome his heroin addiction, a taboo subject in the mid-'50s. Bass decided to create a controversial title sequence to match the film's controversial subject. He chose the arm as the central image, as the arm is a strong image relating to drug addiction. The titles featured an animated, black paper cut-out arm of a heroin addict. As he expected, it caused quite a sensation.

For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass provided effective, memorable title sequences, employing kinetic typography, for North by Northwest, Vertigo, working with John Whitney, and Psycho. It was this kind of innovative, revolutionary work that made Bass a revered graphic designer. His later work with Martin Scorsese saw him move away from the optical techniques that he had pioneered and move into computerized titles, from which he produced the title sequence for Casino.

He designed title sequences for 40 years, for films as diverse as Spartacus (1960), The Victors (1963), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Casino (1995). He also designed title sequences for films such as Goodfellas (1990), Doc Hollywood (1991), Cape Fear (1991) and The Age of Innocence (1993), all of which feature new and innovative methods of production and startling graphic design.