Psycho II

Psycho II (1983)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Richard Franklin

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Robert Loggia, Meg Tilly, Dennis Franz

From: Universal

I was going to put this up yesterday but I was too busy. So, I am doing this now and tonight I'll post my review for Psycho III. The reason why I rate II highly is below in my Letterboxd review:

This is a movie I had seen once before, but it was a long while ago so needless to say I never reviewed it. Viewing it for a second time last night, it turned out that I had only remembered a small bit of it; how I forgot about the hilariously sleazy character that Dennis Franz played, I am not quite sure, but I did. To think that this movie came about because Universal got mad at Robert Bloch (author of the novel upon which Psycho was based on) did a sequel years later which skewered Hollywood filmmaking, so they decided to create their own unrelated Psycho II.

Since the previous night I saw the original on the big screen, it made perfect sense to watch this the night after. It thankfully was better than I had remembered, although it is a little far-fetched, and not just how most of the town is not too up in arms about a crazed killer like Norman Bates being released from a mental hospital, even after 22 years and even after having been said to be “cured”. Marion Crane's sister Lila certainly Anyhow, Norman tries to acclimate to life back in public; who knows what he thought of the Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine at the diner he works at. This is where he meets a young waitress named Mary and they become pals. Strange things then begin happening and Norman starts to wonder if he's losing his mind again.

The movie's updated for the 80's so you have such things as slasher elements, nudity and graphic moments. But it's still a suspenseful tale and while it's not a classic like the original, I did like it a lot. The talent in front and behind the camera is quality: Jerry Goldsmith did the score, Dean Cundey the cinematography, it was written by Tom Holland and the director was a huge Hitchcock fan who got to know the legendary director personally. I have seen a few films from the late Richard Franklin and eventually I'll review both Road Games and Cloak & Dagger for this site, as I like them both. Here, he mirrors his idol pretty well.

It was nice to see familiar faces like Franz and Robert Loggia, but it is Perkins in his most famous role and Meg Tilly as Mary that make the movie. Both do a tremendous job. As I said before they become pals; it's not that way at first but eventually she does care about Norman. Besides the obvious age difference, it is nice that it's just a friendship and it isn't a cliché romance sort of thing. Unfortunately the two ended up not getting along in real life after an inadvertent slight on her part but on screen they are a solid and interesting duo.

There are various fun twists & turns through the almost 2 hour runtime that never feels so long as the movie took its time and that was the right decision. It may seem weird to sympathize with a character like Norman Bates but the film does so and it is an approach that works. In short, this is far better than what you'd expect for a 2 decade plus sequel made after a legendary original motion picture. I certainly have no faith that Hollywood could do it correctly today.