Did you know for one of Alfred Hitchcock’s classics Psycho – which in my opinion has one of the most epic endings of all time – Hitchcock took “keeping it on the down low†to an entirely different level?
Hitchcock was looking for a film to take his cinematic craft to the next level. Hitchcock’s assistant at the time introduced him to the Psycho novel by Robert Bloch.
Hitchcock was so impressed with the infamous shower scene and the story’s dark surprises and twists he knew he had to get the rights to make this his next masterpiece.
Hitchcock was so OCD about keeping Psycho under wraps that he bought thousands of copies of the novel. He wanted audiences to experience the same shock and surprise that he did when they watched his film version! There was a slim chance to none you could find the novel at any bookstores across the country.
Talk about reverse engineering. Normally books are what attract audiences to watch a film version, but Hitchcock would have none of that.
Thanks to one of Hitchcock’s others films The Birds I’ve had a phobia of birds ever since. Here’s a crazy true story…
A few years back I was eating outside Whole Foods in Austin, Texas with my brother. As I recall, it was a gloomy, cloudy summer day. The clouds were dark gray, getting ready to burst into raindrops.
Some crows and pigeons were around the outdoor tables eating crumbs and garbage. There were some people eating at the nearby tables. The pigeons moved closer to our table.
And then my anxiety started to kick in…
The pigeons started inching closer to my feet. I couldn’t take it anymore. I freaked out so badly I jumped out of my chair and jumped so high you would have thought I was about to do a windmill slam dunk.
The people next to us started laughing and my brother was like, “WTF just happenedâ€.
So thanks to Mr. Hitchcock I just embarrassed myself because of those damn birds.
I couldn’t believe when I found out that Hitchcock made his actors plaster anchovies and ground meat to themselves to attract the birds in the film! Talk about dedication to the story. There would be no amount of money you could pay me to glue food to my hand and attract birds!
If you’re a fan of Hitchcockian tales you will be a fan of one of the largest “tails†(literally) to hit the market.
Gym Ratz: A Tail of Terror is a Hitchcockian-inspired story that tells the tale of a washed up, former Olympic boxer and how he has an adverse reaction to steroids, turning him into a ravenous man-sized rat that causes havoc in his gym.
There are thrills, scares and laughs as you witness the metamorphosis of this Mickey Rourke-type character in Darren Arronfosky’s The Wrestler transition into a monstrous varmit.
My co-writer and I are adapting our award-winning screenplay into a graphic novel. Make sure to stay tuned on the launch of our Kickstarter campaign and for a chance to win some fun prizes and gifts.
This will be one roller coaster ride you won’t want to miss. Just enter your e-mail here and we’ll also send you a free and fun, cool comic titled “Creature from the Backlot Lagoonâ€.
