Alfred Hitchcock's movies were quite something for their time. He made a number of horror and mystery movies including famously The Birds, North By Northwest, and 39 Steps. But perhaps one of his most famous was his 1960 psychological horror-thriller movie Psycho. Even today watching this movie can send more than one tingles down one's spine.

It is a movie that continues to haunt people about meeting strangers and is frequently referenced in modern movies. One of the scary sets of this movie is the Bates Motel and the Bates Mansion. The Bates Mansion remains preserved and while the Bate Motel has been rebuilt - and one can visit them. To stay at another haunted attraction in California, see here for what it's like to visit and stay on the haunted Queen Mary Ship.

About the Movie Psycho

"Let them see what kind of person I am, I never hurt a fly, I hope they're watching, they'll see... They'll see and they'll know 'because she couldn't hurt a fly."

One can't help but feel the bejeebies in this movie. A friendly but psychotic man, liking a fleeing girl but thinking his dead mother would be jealous and so brutally stabbing her to death in the shower.

  • Director: Alfred Hitchcock
  • Budget And Box Office: Budget $800,000, Box Office $50 Million
  • Preservation: One Of Eight Hitchcock Movies Selected For Preservation By The National Film Registry, Namely: Rebecca (1940), Shadow of a Doubt(1943), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963)
  • Taboos: Pyscho Broke Filming Taboos Of The Time With Marion in a Bra In Bed With Her Lover, With Nudity, And With Violence

The movie is centered around an encounter between the on-the-run embezzler Marion Crane and the shy but psychotic motel proprietor Norman Bates. It was filmed on a shoe-string budget (like Paranormal Activity). Unlike many modern movies, it didn't confuse excessive screaming, CGI, and jump scares with good cinema.

Today Psycho is one of Hitchcock's most enduring and celebrated films. Being shot on a lower budget than his earlier movie North by Northwest it was filmed in black-and-white. Arguably this even adds to the creepy atmosphere of the movie. The tense atmosphere, the impressive cameraship, and the iconic performances combine to make this one of the best black-and-white movies ever made. It set a new level of acceptability for violence and sexuality in film.

Related: Here Are Some Things You May Not Have Known About Bodie, California's Creepiest Ghost Town

Bates Motel

The Bate Motel has been rebuilt a few times over the years. It was refurbished in 2006 and the motel shows the exterior of the building as was shown in the movie. The indoor scenes with the hair-raising shower murder scene were filmed on a stage (specifically State 18).

This was the motel Marion Crane arrived at after driving up a long and lonely road, on a dark, rainy night. Here, she found a tiny motel with twelve rooms and twelve vacancies.

Universal Studios writes on its website, "There's a vacancy just for you at the legendary Bates Motel from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho."

Bates Mansion (aka Psycho House)

Just across from the motel in the movie was the Bates Mansion. As you approach this haunted stage set look up and spot Norman's dead mother peering out of the upstairs bedroom window, still rocking in her chair.

  • Located: Universal Studios Backlot

Many movie sets to be found on the Backlot are only one-sided or just facades. Unlike them, the Bates Mansion is actually four-sided with a roof (although these have been added, it was more of a facade when it was first filmed).

The Psycho house got off to an early touristic start being one of the main draws for the Universal Tram Tour back in 1964 - four years after the movie was released. Since it was built the house has been moved to a new location two or three times.

While the interior scenes for the Bates Motel were filmed in State 28, the interior scenes for the Bates mansion were filmed in Stage 28.

Related: The Catskills Was Once A Bustling Resort Region, But Now It's Almost Completely Abandoned

Visiting The Universal Movie Set

To see this thrilling attraction next time at Universal Studios buy a tour ticket that permits Backlot tours.

VIP Experience

  • Cost: From $349.00

Universal Studio's VIP Experience includes an expert-guided tour - including the backlot. For more information see here.

As one is touring the set, look out for Norman Bates still wandering around with a knife. See the old late 1950's car with a lifeless body of an unfortunate on-the-run attractive embezzler in the trunk.

For a more innocent, charming, and romantic movie set, put Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings in New Zealand on one's bucket list!

Next: Winchester Mystery House: Why You Should Visit California's Most Haunted Home