Metacritic's Highest-Rated Horror Movie Is A 1960 Classic

The horror genre has given audiences all kinds of different scares and shivers over the years. According to Metacritic, however, one particular pulse-pounder still hits the sweet spot of scaring the heck out of us several decades after its initial release. Needless to say, it also made /Film's rundown of the best horror movies of all time.

The aggregator website's own top 10 horror films list is a great collection of true classics, with the most recent entry being John Carpenter's trail-blazing 1978 slasher "Halloween." Nevertheless, there's one horror film that towers above the likes of 1931's "Frankenstein," the 1956 sci-fi horror gem "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and even the masterful 1968 horror drama "Rosemary's Baby" — namely, the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece and benchmark in terror that is "Psycho."

Released in 1960, "Psycho" might not be generally considered the best Hitchcock movie, but it's certainly one of his most beloved and well-known bits of work. It's a film that dropped audiences into a nightmare they just weren't prepared for, following a fleeing secretary who seeks refuge in a quiet motel only to wind up dead, causing a disturbing secret to spill out. But what is it about "Psycho" that still sends chills up the spines of viewers and keeps it in Metacritic's top spot after all this time? Excluding that iconic shower scene and the music that everyone thinks they can replicate without an instrument, one element that the film absolutely depends on is the calming and killer delivery from the legendary Anthony Perkins in a performance that remains as chilling as it ever was.

Since the release of Hitchock's game-changing horror film, we've had plenty of twisted killers run rampant across our screens. Be that as it may, Perkins' performance as Norman Bates is still a great one that hooks you every time you see it. Just like his mother, Norman looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly at first, making him all the more unnerving when his mask begins to slip and we realize just what kind of monster is hiding underneath.

Norman's evolution over the course of "Psycho" established the template for so many onscreen murderers that followed in his wake. From Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho" to the less revealing Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lambs" (or even the likes of Jack Torrence in "The Shining"), whenever these characters give into their darker urges, it's hard not to see a shimmer of Norman Bates staring back. It's the thing that makes "Psycho" the revered staple of horror that it is.

Even though Hitchcock didn't see it as a particularly "serious" film, it's no joke that "Psycho" is still a really good watch after 65 years and makes a return trip to the Bates Motel worth taking. Good luck to whatever film eventually tries to usurp its place in the horror pantheon; Norman will always be there waiting with a creepy grin on his face.