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So is the shower sequence. In the black-and-white version, Hitchcock used chocolate syrup as fake blood; this time around, the porcelain is drenched with gallons of dark-cherry goo. "It was fun but tedious," laughs Heche, who refused a body double. "I mean, three days of going in the shower, drying off, then going back in. It was dry, wet, dry, wet, wet, wet, dry. 'O.K., scream.'"
Vaughn faced the most difficult task: reprising an infamous character so strongly identified with another actor. "There were some things I did as a tribute to Anthony," says Vaughn, whose larger frame gives him some physical distance from the gaunt Perkins. "I liked what he did with stuttering and body language, but I didn't mimic him completely. It would have been insulting." Van Sant says he chose Vaughn for his ordinary yet edgy demeanor--"that ability to snap."
It's too soon to tell if cinema traditionalists will snap as well. Perhaps they'll find some solace in the nod to the usual cameo appearance that Hitchcock made in his films. But perhaps not. This time, thanks to the wonders of movie magic, he's glimpsed chatting with Van Sant.