Joseph Stefano Quotations

We were mainly concerned about nudity - how much could be shown in 1959 and how much would convey, without being gratuitous, the terror of being attacked naked and wet.

Psycho 11 and III say, in effect, there's no way to survive with a psychological problem. If you've got it, the law can keep you locked up because there's no chance for cure.

It's not like the original movie where you thought it was the mother committing the murders, but it was actually the son. I don't think it's possible to create the kind of shock today that we created in 1959. And I don't even want to try.

At the same time, I realized a very strong contemporary narrative was needed. Without that, the movie would end with the shower sequence in Psycho.

In Psycho IV, the time is five years after III, and Norman is out of the hospital. He's a married man, and he's finally learned how to love somebody and have natural sex without killing his lover.

I didn't know it at the time, but Hitch didn't want to talk to me - he hated meeting with people he might have to reject. As it turned out, someone, maybe his agent, insisted that he interview me.

Hitch suggested a name actress to play Marion because the bigger the star the more unbelievable it would be that we would kill her.

Hitch was interested in what I had to offer, like one of my background ideas for Norman's upbringing.

We all go a little mad sometimes.

A boy's best friend is his mother.