TEHRAN – Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror film “Psycho” will be screened at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran on Thursday.

The screening is set for 5 p.m. and the 109-minute movie will be shown at the Nasseri Hall of the IAF with Persian subtitles, ILNA reported.

The film stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam. The plot centers on an encounter between on-the-run embezzler Marion Crane (Leigh), shy motel proprietor Norman Bates (Perkins), and his disturbed mother. A private investigator (Balsam), Marion's lover Sam Loomis (Gavin), and her sister Lila (Miles) investigate her disappearance.

Psycho was seen as a departure from Hitchcock's previous film, “North by Northwest” (1959), as it was filmed on a small budget in black-and-white by the crew of his television series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. 

Initially, the film divided critics due to its controversial subject matter, but audience interest and outstanding box-office returns prompted a major critical re-evaluation. “Psycho” was a massive commercial success; from a budget of $806,947 ($6.2 million with 2025 inflation), the film gained $50 million ($384.5 million with 2025 inflation) at the box office, worldwide, not including the money made with rentals.

“Psycho” was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director for Hitchcock and Best Supporting Actress for Leigh.

“Psycho” is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and is arguably his most famous and influential work. It has been hailed as a major work of cinematic art by international film critics and scholars who praise its slick direction, tense atmosphere, impressive camerawork, memorable score, and iconic performances. 

It is regarded as “the most heavily analyzed film in the long career of the most investigated director in the history of American film” and is often ranked among the greatest films of all time. It set a new level of acceptability for violence and has been considered to be one of the earliest examples of the slasher film genre.

In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed the film “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

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