Not knowing much about the life of Hitchcock, this film was quite a revelation to me in terms of giving an insight into his method of working, where he could apparently be quite unpleasant to his stars, except for his leading ladies who he seems to have often become infatuated with. The film also reminds us how out of the ordinary the film Psycho was, and how controversial its making, and showing was at the time - something we perhaps are surprised at given how tame it appears compared t modern horror films. The difficult relationship between Hitchcock and his wife is also laid bare. Over all a fascinating look behind the scenes of the making of Psycho.

As someone who's seen a lot of Hithcock's films I was very interested to see something that reflected the lift the director. It was certainly well known that he had an interest in several of the actresses that worked for him and had a thing for young blonde haired women. Although the characterization seems to go over the top with the introduction of Ed Gein into the movie, it is still interesting. I don't think Hitchcock had some kind of obsession with murder - he just found his niche in the movie business and stuck with. Anthony Hopkins is brilliant in this film with an amazing portrayal of the famous director - at least as how the public seemed to view him. Helen Mirren was also very good as was the rest of the cast. A very interesting movie and well shot.

A compelling study of psycho-sexual lust and jealousy built around the making of Psycho. The acting is top notch though Hopkins, in depicting a person whose delivery and presence has been caricatured so often, sometimes seems to fall into caricature himself. That said his dance in the lobby as he waits for the shower scene to be projected is wonderful. Helen Mirren is too attractive for Alma but does capture her frustration, both physical and emotional, at being perceived as nothing more than Hitchcock's shadow when she was clearly so much more. And the shooting of shower scene though faithful in capturing Janet Leigh's reactions is way over the top in suggesting that Hitchcock's threatening behaviour was the catalyst. The darkest moments though are when Hitchcock interacts with the real life serial killer Ed Gein in his dreams and imagination - a disturbing look inside the reality of the killer that Hitchcock transformed into Norman Bates. The music is excellent using variations of the Hermann Psycho themes to move the story along as well as dipping into the score itself. Whether he was as much of a tyrant as is suggested here is best left for the biographies but one gets a real sense of his self-doubt, the sexual impotence he felt towards the unattainable actresses and the meticulous way in which he storyboarded, edited and crafted his unique films.

Truly sad, this dreck of a movie with its all star cast of note just begging for a decent script and lacking, sadly, the real lowdown on the making of that marvellous movie, "Psycho".Instead we get the puffery of an inflated soap opera with Alfred and Alma at odds with each other in their "love story" of his and hers jealousies.No mention at all of the child they had together. And Alma's role is a complete distortion of the reality of her superb editing and script approval and his directorial genius. Instead we see her investing her time, chastely, with a losing hack writer. While Hitch impotently googley-eyes his leading ladies.A bonus: an unbelievably cloying finale to this feast of clichés hammers the "whatever" point home. Dishonouring each of them equally.A brilliant cast wasted, clumping wetly through this simplistic treatment of one of cinema's greats.1/10. Avoid.