Man, do I love that poster.

Lol yeah no...

I've always found it interesting that when Hitchcock's original Psycho was released in 1960 -- even knowing that he had that GREAT "haunted house" as key to the setting of his first horror movie -- Hitchcock and Paramount did NOT put the house in the print ads. They opted instead for one "main photo" of Janet Leigh in bra and slip; and smaller photos of Anthony Perkins(odd: he was kind of the star), John Gavin (shirtless -- a shirt was airbrushed on him in some cities), and Vera Miles.

For Psycho II, the house was brought in -- finally -- in a big way, with Norman's figure down below.

But this: the Psycho house isn't in the poster for Hitchcock's 1960 film but Hitchcock DID release a production still of Perkins next to the big house which is, I would say , much scarier in its representation of Perkins as being a tall, solid "Frankenstein-like" figure...pretty scary. This photo made it into billboards all over Los Angeles for the film's local TV debut in 1967.

In this poster for Psycho II, Norman's figure is less scary and more...scared? Kind of boyish and yielding, if only in silouette.

When Psycho III came out in 1986, Universal opted to bring the house BACK, but to put Anthony Perkins prominently in the poster, too, for once we can see his FACE, in "close-up" with the house behind him and a motel key in his hand. (Too bad: while the house up on the hill to the left finally got into the posters, the motel on the right never did -- at least this motel key made a reference...)

I have a t shirt of it. I attended a radio station sneak preview of Psycho II in 1983. I recall a DJ introduced the movie saying "this movie is about Melvin Bates"and the entire full house yelled back..NORMAN Bates! They handed out t-shirts. Got a poster, too.