Psycho III
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Movie Reviews of Psycho III
Movie Review: Perkins drops the ball on "Psycho 3"
Summary: 2 Stars
Psycho? Classic. Psycho 2? In a different league than the original, but still a worthy follow up in its own right. Now prepare yourself for Psycho 3: Norman Bates tries to become some type of 80's slasher rip off. Too bad he's about as menacing as the old fossil in line at McDonald's complaining about how senior coffees used to be a dime cheaper. This installment abandons any level of wit set forth by the previous two movies, and replaces it with sleaze and a higher body count. A halfway legitimate storyline is all but absent as well.
Continuing directly where part two left off, Norman continues living his life as a free man running his less than successful motel business. A runaway nun who has lost her faith winds up at the Bates Motel and instantly captivates Norman due to her resemblence to his original, and most memorable victim. Now Norman must choose between pursuing this newfound romance or carrying out Mother's biddings as usual. Meanwhile a nosy reporter along with Norman's new hired hand are on a mission to reveal Norman as the killer he is.
Basically Psycho 3 decides to go the typical slasher route, and it works out less than splendidly. The character Norman Bates isn't even consistent with the character he was from the past movies. Since when was Norman aggressive and outspoken? Since when did he dare defy Mother? Never that I can recall. With Perkins himself directing Psycho 3, it's plain to see that the acting took a hit. The plot simply makes use of the "kill someone every ten minutes to keep things interesting" formula until it culminates into the Psycho series' first disappointing ending. Truly a shame when considering the past endings of the series.
For what it is, Psycho 3 is alright. It's just that in contrast to the first two installments, there's nothing memorable about it at all. It may be worth a watch if you love the series, or if you're a horror fan who has seen just about everything else. If not you aren't missing anything.
Movie Review: Why Hitchcock Hated Sequels
Summary: 2 Stars
Alfred Hitchcock, the director of the incredible original "Psycho" film, despised the very concept of sequels and refused to make even a single one during his film career. Movies like this are exactly why.
For a basic plot summary, "Psycho III" sees Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) still running his hotel business and still harboring the embalmed corpse of Emma Spool, his supposed "real mother". When a young nun (Diana Scarwid) who bears a striking resemblance to Marion Crane needs a place to stay, Norman takes her in and clashes with "mother" once again.
The strange thing about this movie is that, storyline-wise, it really isn't all that bad. Basically, it isn't just bad for bad's sake, and director Perkins does a great job of re-creating the continuity from "Psycho II" and making this film feel like part of the anthology.
The problem, though, is that "Psycho III" doesn't know what kind of flick it is. It tries to be a slasher film for a while, but the overall Psycho narrative doesn't lend itself to that. It also tries to look at Bates' insanity from a new perspective, but only ends up muddying the waters even further. Plus, a religious aspect is introduced into the narrative, but doesn't accomplish anything in terms of character development.
Thus, this seems to me to be a film that started off with great intentions, but quickly descended (production-wise) into a nightmare. A few moments are decent enough for the franchise fans to keep watching, but others will just find it stupid. This effort can easily be skipped in the series.