To say Psycho was a hit would be an understatement. To this day its influence is felt. It was a box office hit when initially released in 1960. It took a while, but the inevitable sequel arrived in 1982, just as the horror genre was really taking off. That sequel was successful enough to bring about another, and now Shout Factory brings us Psycho II and Psycho III on Blu-ray.
Psycho II starts out in much the same way the original film did, by toying with the audience and building suspension. We know there’s going to be a body count. We know Norman Bates will be involved. That it doesn’t happen right away is great. And there’s a bit of retroactive continuity changes, revelations of what really happened 22 years previously. While Norman Bates is released from psychiatric care, there’s the lingering question about whether or not he is actually cured. if he is, then who is behind the murders. Oh, that’s not really a spoiler, is it?
Then there’s the fact that since we know at this point there’s another sequel, we can assume Norman at some point does fall back into his old habits. The question is when and how. What I liked about Psycho II is that it turns the plot of the original film on its head while still keeping Norman Bates as a psycho, but then turns around and fulfills on that promise. The film provides a solid twist that delivers.
Psycho III picks up the story and what we get is Norman Bates trying to get out from under his own shadow. Or the shadow of his mother. Or … well, you get the idea. Interestingly the filmmakers and even the man famously associated with the character of Norman Bates tried to wrap things up for audiences by providing a story that still fulfils on the promise of what audiences expect from a film of this sort as well as giving the character of Norman Bates some sense of humanity, sympathy, and a sort of farewell that is satisfactory.
I really enjoyed the twist to the infamous shower scene, and once again we get revelations and further revisions of the characters and stories from the previous two films. Is it really all we see? Does answering the questions really solve the problems? It’s an ending, but is it really the end? Will Norman ever truly be free of his demons?
Anthony Perkins was an underappreciated director. While the script for Psycho III may not have been as good as some had hoped, it was still interesting and attempts to do something further with the characters and largely succeeds. What Anthony Perkins does both in front of and behind the camera is a large part of what makes Psycho III work.
Both films come with a wealth of special features, starting off with audio commentaries, each with the film’s respective screenwriter as well as a producer of the Blu-ray. Both are well worth listening to as they provide some decent stories about the making of the films. Psycho II has another audio track which features some interviews from the cast and crew as well as some background narration tying them together. Seperately Psycho II has some vintage interviews in a general “press kit” sort of affair, and it is different from the other audio option. It gets a little heavy with the clips from the films, but still informative.
Psycho III features a few other interviews, the longest of which is with Jeff Fahey who portrays Duane, a musician (and hotel guest) in the film. Then there’s one about the casting and another about the makeup effects, and still another about a body double. Both films come with trailers and stills.
For fans of the original Psycho, both Psycho II and Psycho III offer decent extensions of the story and character. Of course there are twists, and of course there’s a body count, but it is how the whole thing winds up – and while they aren’t as good as the original, they are definitely satisfactory.