Watching Psycho recently, I became intrigued as to why we are treated to subtitles placing the opening scene - Marion's assignation with Sam Loomis in a Phoenix hotel room - but no other scene is nailed down in such a documentary realist fashion. Psycho is not based on a real story, even if loosely based on the exploits of Ed Gein. And having nailed the time and place down, why are there no hints that, by 11 December, Christmas is, as we are now experiencing, only a fortnight away? Surely there would be fake icing and Christmas trees in the town where Marion trades her car. And why no plastic Santa and holly in Norman's office? OK, Norman's crazy, I hear you say...but my point is why did Hitch scrupulously set up the time and place only to let the doco realist mood fall by the wayside? Did I miss something here?