In celebration of Bates Motel’s return, we rank all of the Psycho films from worst to best.
Yes, even that remake….
The third season of A&EsBates Motelis here, and it looks to be its best season yet.
Of course, strange things begin to happen and maybe this wasnt a good idea after all… ## Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
What we have here is quite the messy prequel.
The film has tons of continuity errors.
Seriously, there are flubs like Normans dad dying from bee stings rather than Normans hand.
Its really just a conduit to jump through Normans life, but it works well enough.
Basically, Norman killing his wife eliminates this larger evil from happening.
But other than that, you just have a lot of flaming wreckage.
Psycho (1998)
Its perhaps not the worst idea out there to remake HitchcocksPsycho.
What perhapsisntthe best idea is remaking the film as a shot-for-shot recreation of the original.
Just because you’re able to, doesnt mean you should.
Really, the only redeeming factor is theonlyelement thats different: the cast.
The performances might not make this experience worthwhile in the end, but they are certainly thought provoking.
For instance, Vince Vaughn as Norman brings a credible performance to the iconic character.
Why couldnt Gus Van Sant (or Quentin Tarantino for that matter) have remadePsycho IIinstead?
[related article: The American Slasher Movie: How Did This Happen?]
The feeling of the originalPsychois effectively captured with Norman submerged in darkness right from the start.
Perkins even wanted to film it in black-in-white to match the original.
Youre also given the deeply satisfying scene of Norman fully dressed as his mother and talking in her voice.
Hes much more of a nervous mess this time.
Norman, in fact, would have been the hero by killing him and saving the day.
In that scenario, Norman isnt as crazed.
I mean, he still kills Ms. Spool, but he wouldnt be committingallof the murders.
This ending was aborted because Universalmadethem revert Norman into being a killer.
If you havent seen it, youve seen it imitated somewhere else.
Theres a lot to like here with virtually everything from Hitchcocks signature style to Bernard Herrmanns perfectly executed score.
The ending is such an engaging moment because were drawn into this mans psychosis even further.
Anthony Perkins reprises his role and hes just outstanding here.
At times he doesnt even feel like the same person from the first film.
you might see that Perkins really cares about this character and franchise, and he give it his all.
In contrast, this allows the ability for patterns to now be seen.
Psycho IIis far from just fan service though.
Lets also not forget theridiculousending that has a huge reveal and twist with an even crazier reaction.
Its super satisfying and enhances thePsychomythos even more while still remaining faithful to the original film.
Its a great mind-bending movie thats deeper than the original, if you’re able to believe it.
It feels like weve probably hit the saturation point withPsychoas a film franchise.
Yet, the history has comfortably found a home withinBates Motel.
Maybe were just around the corner of getting a new trilogy exploring the tortured souls youth (again)?
Such a thing would make so many of us mad.
Then again…we all go a little mad sometimes…
