Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced today that Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho will be released in a Blu-ray edition on October 19, 2010, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the film’s release.

Of course seeing the film released in HD will be great, but the accompanying news that Universal has created a “new 5.1 Surround Sound Mix” for the release is reminiscent of the Vertigo “restoration” debacle of 1996.  Once again claiming that the “restorers” went to painstaking effort to “bring Psycho’s soundtrack up to the expectations of contemporary audiences while maintaining the original integrity of the filmmaker’s vision,” Universal had its BluWave Audio team (their in-house post production sound facility) and Paris-based Audionamix doctor the original mono music tracks and sound effects from the studio’s library to create a 5.1 mix.
There was no mention in the studio’s press release as to whether or not a foley team was employed to create new sound effects as occurred in the controversial Vertigo “restoration.” Nevertheless, I’d suggest holding onto those previous releases in whatever format you’ve got. With DVD, laserdisc, and 16mm, I’m taking no chances!