Horror movies are often only as good as their musical scores. What is John Carpenter’s Halloween without its iconic theme? Or A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, and so many others? But perhaps the first truly legendary horror film score came in 1960, with Bernard Herrmann’s music from Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Psycho. We just can’t imagine the world of the Bates Motel and all of its unseemly goings-on without the sounds of those sharp strings.
Now, via Laughing Squid, we’ve seen maybe the best tribute to Psycho’s iconic score yet. Musician Samara Ginsberg performed an eight-part cello cover of the theme, and she does it dressed up as the slash happy Mrs. Bates. Apologies in advance if it makes you want to avoid taking any showers. You can watch the full video right here.
So is Ginsberg dressed as the actual “rotting in the fruit cellar” Mrs. Bates, or is she Norman impersonating his dear old Mother? We’re going to bet on the latter. Since she definitely doesn’t look like Norman used his taxidermy skills on her, and still looks “fresh.” Now, Ginsberg didn’t do the infamous music from Marion Crane’s untimely demise in the shower. But really, that would have taken up less than a minute. We get why she skipped that.
This Psycho tribute is hardly the first cello tribute that Samara Ginsberg has performed via her YouTube channel. And just as with Psycho, there is some cosplay for a few others as well. She put on a pair of rabbit ears when doing the Tiny Toon Adventures theme. And for “The Imperial March,” she donned the helmet of Lord Vader himself. And for you retro cartoon fans, she’s got cello covers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, and Thundercats. Be sure to head on over to her channel to check them out.