HITCHCOCK

HITCHCOCK is a drama exploring the relationship between film director Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville during the production of his classic film 'Psycho'. It is rated 12A for moderate horror, threat and sex references.

The film includes scenes of moderate horror, such as when Hitchcock has recurrent nightmares of the infamous serial killer Ed Gein dragging the corpse of an apparently murdered and bloodied woman up some stairs. The woman looks dead but suddenly rises up in a jumpy moment of horror, causing Hitchcock to awaken from his bad dream. There is also a scene in which the Ed Gein character comforts his dead mother in her bed as if she were alive. The corpse's face is seen in a brief close up as he puts his arm around it. In a very brief moment in his Hollywood studio, Hitchcock holds up an unclear photograph of a naked-looking female murder victim, in order to show his secretary his inspiration for making 'Psycho'.

There is some moderate threat, including the opening shot of the film in which two men are talking and one of them, Ed Gein, strikes the other on the back of the head with a shovel.

The film also contains moderate sex references when Alma Reville makes a derogatory reference about a film critic who she says "hasn't climaxed in years". In another scene, whilst Hitchcock is directing his leading actress Janet Leigh, he describes how another character can "smell the rancid, pungent smell of sex" on her. Later, when his wife points out that Hitchcock has retained some nudity in his film, he responds by saying, "Her breasts were rather large. It was a challenge not to show them".

There is also mild bad language (eg 'bloody', 'crap', 'hell', 'damn', screw').

No-one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video or DVD.