It's chocolate syrup, you know.

Hitch felt the density of chocolate was more realistic, in black and white, than stage blood, and so the iconic, incredibly shot shower scene had actress Janet Leigh covered in the sticky stuff.

Why black and white at a time when Hollywood had pretty much moved all its productions to all-colour? Because after Paramount didn't want to make the film, Hitch brought in his own funds to produce it for less than a million dollars, and because -- in a sly move recently replicated by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill Vol 1 -- the black and white let him get away with gristlier gore.

But that's just three magnificent minutes. The rest of the film was as memorable, the story of an embezzling woman trapped and murdered in a secluded motel, while naive-looking motel-owner Norman Bates seems genuinely puzzled as a private detective comes to investigate.

The psychologically fraught climax was fantastic, and the film -- single-handedly spawning the psychological horror genre -- created such an impact that Hitchcock, who was hitherto struggling to deal with me-too thriller directors, was now reestablished as the unquestioned master of suspense.

Bernard Herrmann's unforgettable score, fantastic performances from Anthony Perkins and Leigh, Saul Bass' titles, and one of the finest theatrical trailers of all time -- click here to watch it -- all combined in one of cinema's most justifiably legendary films.

Also read: 25 years since Hitchcock

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