DIRECTED BY Anthony Perkins (huzzah!)
YEAR 1986

ALSO STARRING
Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, Roberta Maxwell

BEST QUOTE
"I can't have that sort of thing going on in my motel. Gives the place a bad name!" Tony gets all the best lines!

BEST MOMENT
Norman trashing that guitar right over Duke's head! I was sick of all that "watch the guitar" rubbish!

WORST MOMENT
Seeing Tony in full "Mother Bates" gear. Holy CRAP, boy!

MY REVIEW
This is such a cool (if not a little weird) movie. Tony absolutely rocks and does a really impressive job directing it. I read somewhere that he actually wanted to film it in black & white like the original, but Universal wouldn't let him. This really turned out to his advantage I think, because he plays around a lot with moody lighting that sets the whole tone of the movie perfectly. The atmosphere is really dark, and on my first viewing I actually didn't like it because it was quite heavy going. But Psycho III is a fun film (in a sick kind of way), and it is unfortunate that it didn't do quite so well when it was first released in 1986.

This sequel is basically all from Norman's point of view, because for the first time we see him talking to the corpse, or should I say "Mother", and everything he gets up to in the house. It follows him from the beginning, wheras in the original and the first sequel it is filmed from the outsider's point of view. This is the reason why it is so dark and miserable, because it is like from inside this insane, troubled mind. The dialogue throughout the film is brilliant, and gives the viewer a constant feeling of deja-vu with so many references to the original, and also with Diana Scarwid's resemblance to Marion Crane. (I strongly recommend that you see her in What Lies Beneath if you haven't already, she's really funny! Great Hitchcockian homage too.) Tony piles on the dark humour as well, which I love, as well as his artsy shots.

And, who would have thought that Norman was real ladies' man? A great part of it all is the tragic love story between him and Maureen- when she dies (oops! Sorry if that just ruined it for anyone who hasn't seen! but come on, if you're a blonde woman in a psycho film you're asking to be killed off anyway) and he screams "MOOTTHHEERRRRRR!!!" you can really hear the anger and despair in his voice. Give the poor guy a break, or at least let him get laid first! It's very sad and frustrating. The only thing I don't like as much is the fact that the producers made Tony gore it up, "to appeal to the jaded generation of teenage fans". I think that graphic violence and gore cheapens the whole thing, and is where the Psycho series stumbles. It goes from being a sophisticated thriller, to simple slasher flicks. Each installment is completely different from the next, and don't get me wrong, extremely enjoyable in their own way, but they seem to lead further away from what made the original so memorable and full of impact. The two things that make me cringe more than anything is the thought of slashing your wrists, or having your throat cut. I'll leave it at that!

SEE THIS IF YOU LIKE:
Psycho, Red Dragon, Crimes of Passion