Directed by:
Richard FranklinScreenplay:
Tom HollandCinematography:
Dean CundeyComposer:
Jerry GoldsmithCast:
Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz, Hugh Gillin, Tom Holland, Osgood Perkins, Lee Garlington, Jill Carroll, George Dickerson (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
After years of treatment at a mental institution for the criminally insane, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) still can't quite elude the demands of "Mother." Vera Miles also returns as the inquisitive woman who is haunted by her sister's brutal murder and the ominous motel where it all occurred. (official distributor synopsis)
Reviews (3)
Better than I expected, and not as pointless as I feared. Hitchcock's atmosphere is somewhere else, of course, but the ambiguity of the main, ahem, character was an absolute delight who, in my case at least, arouses alternating pity and fear while for quite some time eludingan understanding of what exactly is going on in his head. The bloody finale was downright monstrous and the final blow sealed everything. My only regret was the sloppy behavior of the cops, who the script didn't care about half as much as Bates and Co. Jerry Goldsmith's music was fine – nothing memorable, but 100% effective.
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It's like the Gus Van Sant remake, I don't see much reason to film this, but if anything, I'm certainly not offended by Franklin’s take. But, it's also a beautiful example of how a plot twist in the last minutes can reliably flush the entire logic of a story down the toilet. Otherwise, I enjoyed it more than I would have expected, Anthony Perkins with his gaunt, sinewy physique was perfectly suited to the torn psychotic, and Jerry Goldsmith, although he's going about half throttle, still manages to embellish the tense scenes with disturbing music. Too bad the screenwriter went off his meds in the last few pages and lost his mind.
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It's even close to the first Psycho, if only because it's in colour. On the other hand, the protagonist, the unpredictable plot with apt music and the suspense until the end, those have remained.
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