Is nerdy Norman cinema’s most sympathetic killer? Delving into the psychosis behind the psycho, Anthony Perkins brought humanity into the shower along with a knife.

Hitchcock ditched the original novel’s fat, four-eyed killer and cast a creepy yet handsome leading man.

It was an inspired move: Perkins twitched and fretted the screen’s first slasher into more than just a schizo case history.

We like him before we loathe him. “He’s not just a monster,” argued the actor. “He’s tortured. The real secret of the Psycho movies is that they’re tragedies first and horror movies second.”

Greatest Moment: Solemnly explaining that “Mother isn’t quite herself today”.

Also See: Chaplain Capt AT Tappman (Catch-22), Joseph K (The Trial)