| Psycho III (1986) |
| Synopsis Nun-to-be Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), frightened by the prospect of taking her final vows, leaves the novitiate and stumbles upon wannabe rockstar Duke (Jeff Fahey, apparently hot property throughout films of the mid 1990's - kinda like a 1990's Colin Farrell). A speight of brief unpleasantness ensues and Maureen is left to her own devices. After paying a visit to a local diner, she stumbles upon the Bates Motel. As if by chance she also encounters Duke, who now happens to be working there. Maureen reminds Norman of Marion (they look quite similar and hey! they even have the same initials, MC - at one point he even blurts out "Marion, uh, i mean Maureen!"), which is just a tad problematic for Norman. In a moment of weakness Maureen attempts suicide (before which we see Norman watching her through the peephole in the parlour, another nod to the original film). Norman's memories of what happened between him and Marion are so strong that he dresses up again and goes in after her, only to end up saving her life. During Maureen's recovery, Norman consoles her that "we all go a little mad sometimes". Just as things can't get any worse, in comes an investigative journalist, Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell), wanting to get the lowdown on institutional life from Norman's p.o.v. She meets Duke at a bar in Fairvale where she tells him Norman's life story. To rub salt in the wound, she also tells Maureen who then briefly leaves. While this is going on, the motel gets some visitors, revellers celebrating a big football victory. This causes Norman to come into contact with some of the female members of the party, which is then cause for some unnecessarily gory bloodshed, something insisted upon by Universal with the purpose of appealing to jaded teenage audiences. An attempt is even made to recreate the shower scene, but in a phone booth!! Maureen decides to go back to the motel, thinking that she and Norman can make a go of it. Norman, however, does not agree. In a rather tragic sequence, she meets a dishevelled Norman at the top of the stairs, slips and falls to her death. Filled with rage, Norman begins a frantic search for his mother, whose mummified corpse is stolen by Duke and smuggled into cabin 12. There he knocks Duke unconscious (with his guitar, ironic since he claimed it to be his "bread and butter" - the American Dream has somehow passed Duke by also), and finally gets his revenge on the domineering, maniacal woman who has had a hold on him for the past 40 years. With his disturbed existence shattered, Norman is once again carted off to the institution to face the "cruel eyes studying you", only to emerge 4 years later in Psycho IV: The Beginning. |
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| Directed by Anthony Perkins Cast Anthony Perkins - Norman Diana Scarwid - Maureen Coyle Jeff Fahey - Duane Duke Roberta Maxwell - Tracy Venable Hugh Gillin - Sherrif John Hunt |
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| Check out some of these screencaps taken from Psycho III, changed to b&w courtesy of members of www.thepsychomovies.com |
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