Psycho (film series)
Encyclopedia
The Psycho
film series
is an American horror film franchise loosely based on the Psycho novels by Robert Bloch
. The first film, Psycho, was directed by legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock
in 1960, with three sequels, a spin-off, and a remake following. The official films consist of Psycho
, Psycho II, Psycho III
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
. Two related but non-canon films in the series are Bates Motel
and a remake of the first film
. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
is currently in pre-production, with scheduled releases in 2012. An independent documentary called The Psycho Legacy
was released on October 19th 2010 which mostly focused on Psycho II, Psycho III
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
, but did discuss the impact and legacy of the original film. While the original Psycho is considered a classic of American cinema, the three sequels have garnered a small cult following mostly on the Internet. The series is the fourth highest grossing American horror franchise in the genre.
The films are based around the twisted personality and murders of Norman Bates
, a disturbed young man who operates the Bates Motel who is haunted by the spirit of his deceased mother.
by car. While en route to Sam's California
home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitation, follows her. When she trades her car for another at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel.
Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of the motel's disconnection from a new interstate
, and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to supper. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house, and during the meal she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like this, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An anonymous female figure enters the bathroom and stabs her to death. Finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions — including the money — in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
Shortly afterward, Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister Lila and private detective Milton Arbogast, who has been hired by Marion's employer to recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who unconvincingly lies that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will call again after he questions Norman's mother.
Arbogast enters Norman's house and at the top of the stairs is attacked by a figure who slashes his face with a knife, pushes him down the stairs, then stabs him to death. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers is perplexed to learn Arbogast saw a woman in a window, since Norman's mother died ten years ago. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but against her will Norman carries her to the cellar.
Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search Marion's room, where they find a scrap of paper in the toilet with "$40,000" written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new hotel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the semi-preserved and mummified
body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila, but she is rescued by Sam.
After Norman's arrest, a forensic psychiatrist
tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche
as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, the pair lived as if they were the only people in the world. When his mother found a lover, Norman went mad with jealousy and murdered them both. Consumed with guilt, Norman "erased the crime" by bringing his mother back to life in his mind. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he was "Mother", he acted, talked, and dressed as she would. The psychiatrist concludes that the "Mother" personality now has complete control of Norman's mind.
In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in "Mother's" voice. In a voiceover, "Mother" explains that she plans to prove that she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. The final shot shows Marion's car being recovered from the swamp.
(Anthony Perkins
) is released from a mental institution. Lila Loomis (Vera Miles
), the sister of Bates' victim Marion Crane
, vehemently protests with a petition that she has been circulating with signatures of 743 people, including the relatives of the seven people Norman killed prior to his incarceration, but her plea is dismissed.
Norman is taken to his old home, the Bates Motel, with the house behind it on the hill, by Dr. Bill Raymond (Robert Loggia
), who assures him everything will be fine. He is introduced to the motel's new manager, Warren Toomey (Dennis Franz
). The following day, Norman reports to a prearranged job at a nearby diner, run by a kindly old lady named Emma Spool (Claudia Bryar
).
One of his co-workers there is Mary Loomis (Meg Tilly), a young waitress. Mary claims she has been thrown out of her boyfriend's place and needs a place to stay. Norman offers to let her stay at the motel, then extends the offer to his home when he discovers that Toomey has turned his beloved establishment into a sleazy adult motel.
Norman's adjustment back into society appears to be going along well until "Mother" begins to make her presence known. Norman gets mysterious notes from "Mother" at the house and diner. Phone calls come from someone claiming to be Norman's mother. Toomey picks a fight at the diner after Norman fires him. Later, a figure in a black dress stabs Toomey to death with a kitchen knife as he is packing to leave the motel.
Norman begins to doubt his sanity when he begins hearing voices in the house. He enters his mother's bedroom to find it looks exactly as it did 22 years ago. A sound lures him to the attic, where he is locked in.
Believing the house to be abandoned, a teenage couple sneaks in through the cellar window. They notice a female figure pacing in the next room. As they try to climb out, the boy is stabbed to death. The girl escapes and alerts the police.
Mary eventually finds Norman in the attic. The sheriff questions them about the boy's murder. He finds the cellar neat and orderly. Norman is about to admit that something suspicious is going on, but Mary claims that she has cleaned up the basement herself. After the sheriff leaves, Norman asks Mary why she lied. She explains that she had to save him from being arrested. Norman collapses into the chair with his head in his hands and moans, "It's starting again!"
Mary is startled later when she discovers someone looking at her through a peephole in the bathroom wall. She calls out to Norman, who is downstairs and out of reach. The two are horrified to find a bloody cloth that has been stuffed down the toilet. Norman appears confused and believes he may have committed another murder.
Mary goes down to check the motel. In the parlor she is surprised by Lila, who reveals herself to be Mary's mother. She has been calling Norman claiming to be his mother, even going so far as to dress up as her and allowing him to see her in the window. Mary has been helping her. She was responsible for restoring Mother's room at the house and locking Norman in the attic. All of this was an attempt to drive Norman insane again and have him recommitted.
Mary's growing feelings for Norman, however, have been preying on her conscience leaving her to reconsider her actions. Meanwhile, Dr. Raymond discovers Mary's identity as Lila's daughter and informs Norman. He also orders the corpse of Norma Bates (which was buried in a proper grave after the events of the original film) to be exhumed, to prove that Norman isn't being haunted by his mother.
Mary admits to Norman that she has been part of Lila's ruse, and that while she now refuses to continue, Lila won't stop. Mary goes to Lila's hotel and their argument is overheard by a bartender. Later, Lila drives over to Norman's house, unaware that Dr. Raymond is watching her from the Bates Motel as she sneaks into the cellar.
While removing her "Mother" costume from a loose stone in the floor, another figure dressed as "Mother" steps out of the shadows and murders her. Dr. Raymond runs up to the house. Lila's body is not in the cellar. Meanwhile, Mary discovers that a car has been retrieved from the swamp, with Toomey's body in the trunk.
Realizing the police will shortly arrive to arrest Norman, Mary returns to warn him. The phone rings in the house, Norman answers, and starts speaking to his "mother." Mary listens in and discovers that nobody is on the line with Norman. Terrified, Mary runs downstairs into the cellar, and quickly dresses up as Mother to confront Norman. Someone grabs her from behind, and she plunges the butcher knife into ... Dr. Raymond, who has sneaked back into the house.
A stunned Mary runs downstairs and is confronted by a deranged Norman, who promises to cover up for "Mother." Mary tries to keep him away, repeatedly stabbing him in the hands and chest. He backs Mary into the fruit cellar to hide and slips on a pile of coal, which avalanches away from the wall, revealing Lila's body hidden behind it. Mary is now convinced that Norman had been committing the murders. She raises her knife to stab him and is shot to death by the incoming police.
The sheriff inaccuratetely believes Mary committed all the murders. That evening, a woman walks up the steps to the Bates' mansion. Bandaged from his injuries, Norman has set a place for dinner when he hears a knock at the door. It is Emma Spool, the kindly woman from the diner.
Norman gives her a cup of tea. Ms. Spool tells him that she is his real mother, that Mrs. Bates was her sister, who adopted Norman as an infant while Ms. Spool was institutionalized. She further reveals that she was the murderer, having killed anybody who tried to harm her son. As she sips the tea, Norman kills her with a sudden blow to the head with a shovel.
Norman is now completely insane again. He carries Ms. Spool's body upstairs to Mother's room and we hear Mother's voice warn Norman not to play with "filthy girls." Norman reopens the Bates Motel and stands in front of the house, waiting for new customers as Mother watches from the window upstairs.
), a mentally unstable young nun, on top of a bell tower about to commit suicide. When another nun tries to get her to come down, Maureen accidentally pushes her over the railing to her death. Another nun tells Maureen that she will burn in hell. She is forced to leave the convent after this ordeal.
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins
) is still manning the desk at the Bates Motel and living with the preserved corpse of his "true" mother, Emma Spool
(Claudia Bryar
), whom Norman killed at the end of Psycho II. Local law enforcement and Norman's ex-boss Ralph Statler (Robert Alan Browne
) are concerned since Mrs. Spool has been missing for over a month. Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey
), a sleazy musician in his 20's desperate for money, is offered the job of assistant manager at the Bates Motel. Maureen, now the new long-term tenant, has some issues to resolve in her life. She gave up her vows as a nun only days before, and she isn't sure just how she feels about either spiritual or earthly matters.
Sheriff John Hunt (Hugh Gillin
) and Statler have a conversation at the diner, when Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell
), a pushy journalist from Los Angeles, interrupts them. She is working on an article about serial killers being put back on the streets. Venable is trying to back up her theory that Norman is back to his old ways again. Norman appears and Venable jumps at the chance to talk with him. Unaware of her ulterior motives Norman opens up to her, but is distracted when an exhausted Maureen enters and sits at the lunch counter. He is startled by Maureen's presence, because he feels she strongly resembles Marion Crane (Janet Leigh
). Seeing the initials "M.C." on her suitcase Norman freaks out and leaves the diner.
After the conversation with "Mother", Norman spies on Maureen as she undresses and heads into the bathroom to take a shower. Keeping "her" word, "Mother" enters Maureen's motel room with plans to kill her. Upon pulling back the shower curtain, it is revealed Maureen has attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, a sight which snaps Norman back to his "normal" side. Maureen looks up at "Mother" who is so weakened by what "she" sees, "she" lowers the knife. Due to blood loss, Maureen hallucinates and she mistakes Norman, dressed up as "Mother," is the Virgin Mary holding a silver crucifix.
Meanwhile, Tracy has met with Duane at a bar where they discuss Norman, and it seems Tracy blames Norman for Mrs. Spool's disappearance. When she leaves, Duane picks up another girl at the bar, Red (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
s Juliette Cummins
). Norman gets Maureen to the local hospital to save her life. After she is released, he invites her to stay back at the motel and they begin a romantic relationship.
The same night, Duane and Red arrive at the motel and hear an argument between "Mother" and Norman, but think it's just a TV turned up too loud. Red and Duane, head to cabin 12 where they make love. Later that night, Red, makes it clear she wants more than just a fling. Calling him a pig, they argue. Duane, infuriated, throws her out of the cabin. Red heads down to the payphone to call a cab, where she realizes she is wearing her blouse backwards. As she takes it off to put it on the right way, "Mother" shatters the phone booth door and stabs a trapped Red to death. The next morning, Duane finds Norman scrubbing down the phone booth.
A group from out of town arrive at the motel where they plan to watch the local football
game. Tracy comes to find Norman and ask questions about his past and "Mother". Norman becomes defensive with the reporter and tells her to leave, never to return. Later that night, he and Maureen go to a restaurant, where they dance and talk romantically, while Tracy searches Mrs. Spool's apartment. She discovers the Bates Motel's telephone number written on a magazine cover. Norman and Maureen return to the motel to find most of the other guests engaged in drunken stupor. Norman goes with Maureen to her room and they fall asleep in each other's arms having refused to make love. Some time afterwards, Patsy Boyle (Katt Shea Ruben), the only sober guest, wakes up Maureen to ensure her safety as Norman had left the door open, a bad idea with all the drunken guests around. Patsy needing to use the bathroom finds the one in Norman's parlor unoccupied, but "Mother" again emerges and slashes her throat. Norman (an homage to the reaction of finding Marion dead in the shower in the original
) gasps when he discovers Patsy's body. He buries her in the motel's ice chest outside the office.
The next morning, Sheriff Hunt and Deputy Leo appear at Norman's house to investigate Patsy's disappearance. Norman tries to prevent Hunt from entering his mother's bedroom, when he discovers that "Mother"/Mrs. Spool has disappeared completely. Outside, Tracy tells Maureen about Norman, and she, rather upset, leaves the motel and goes to stay with Father Brian, who took care of her at the hospital. Meanwhile, Tracy is convinced Norman is behind the latest disappearances. Norman searches for his mother all over the house and finds a note from her stating that she is in cabin 12. When Norman arrives at the cabin, he learns it was Duane who took "Mother". Duane confronts him then attempts to blackmail Norman into paying him off, or he'll turn Norman into the police. He tells Duane he doesn't have that kind of money, but Duane reminds him that Norman has made a lot of cash from his business, and if Norman doesn't give money for his silence, he will go to the police. He agree's to Duane's blackmail demands, but he then unexpectedly throws an ashtray at Duane's head. They fight and Norman seemingly kills Duane by hitting him several times with his own guitar. Terrified of what he has done, he blames "Mother" for this.
Tracy talks to Statler and Myrna (Lee Garlington
) about Mrs. Spool and discovers she was working at the diner before Statler bought it from Harvey Leach. Tracy meets with Leach, a resident at an assisted living facility, and is informed that Mrs. Spool had also once been institutionalized for murder. Meanwhile, Norman drives Duane's car to the swamp with Duane and Patsy's bodies in it. Duane turns out to be alive and attacks Norman, who accidentally drives the car into the swamp. He struggles out of the car while Duane drowns. Tracy reads some old newspapers at her study and discovers about the "Bates kidnapping".
Maureen convinces herself that Norman is her true love. She returns to the motel and takes a shower before visiting Norman at his house. They share a tender moment at the top of the staircase when "Mother" shouts furiously at Norman, which startles and causes him to lose grip on Maureen's hands. She falls down the stairs into the cupid statue at the base of the stairs. She goes limp and sinks to the floor revealing the arrow had punctured her skull. Distraught, Norman, screams and confronts his mother that he will get her for this. "You don't have the guts boy!" utters "Mother." Then, Tracy arrives at the motel and tries to find Maureen. She enters the house only to find her lying dead on the couch of the living room which is filled with lit candles. Then she sees Norman dressed as "Mother," bearing a knife, and tries to flee. She tries to reason with Norman by explaining his family history: Emma Spool, who was in fact his aunt, was in love with Norman's father, but he married her sister, Norma, instead. Mrs. Spool, having serious psychological problems, kidnapped Norman when he was a baby, after she killed Mr. Bates, believing Norman was the child "she should have had with him."
She discovers Mrs. Spool's corpse in the bedroom, and Norman takes off his mother's dress. "Mother" orders him to kill Tracy, and when Norman raises the knife, he brutally attacks "Mother", dismembering her preserved remains. The last scene shows Sheriff Hunt taking Norman to his squad car, with Father Brian and Tracy following behind. Hunt informs Norman that they may never let him out of the institution again, Norman replies "But I'll be free...I'll finally be free." Norman, sitting silently in the back of the squad car on the way to the institution, enjoys his victory over his mother by caressing a trophy: the severed hand of Mrs. Spool. He smiles sardonically as the screen fades to black and the credits roll.
' former psychologist. The radio receives a call from Norman Bates, who has re-entered society and married another of his former psychiatrists, Connie. Under the alias of "Ed" (Possibly a reference to Ed Gein the killer his character was modeled after), Norman tells his story, which the audience sees as a series of flashbacks. Some flashbacks are slightly out of order
. The chronological story is: In 1950 Norman's mother, Norma Bates had schizophrenia (see Psycho II) and was smothering Norman and would have violent mood swings. Due to Norman's sexual repression at her hands, when she was frolicking with him he had an incestuous erection, causing her to dress him in women's clothing and taunt him by calling him "Norma". She then got engaged to a man named Chet Rudolph who would beat up Norman. Eventually Norman got fed up with her allowing Chet to be in their lives and poisoned them both, albeit reluctantly. He then developed his infamous multiple personality disorder and stole her corpse to create the illusion that she was alive - whenever her corpse spoke to him, the "Norma" personality would take over. This caused Norman as "Norma" to kill two women who wanted to have sex with him.
Throughout the spaces in the flashbacks, Dr. Richmond realizes "Ed" is Norman and tries to convince Fran to trace the calls. Richmond's worries are dismissed because they cannot trace the call and they believe they can talk Norman out of the reason he called: he fears he will kill again. He tells Fran that Connie got pregnant against his wishes and that he does not want another "monster". He then tells Fran he does believe his mother is dead, but he will kill Connie "with my own hands, just like the first time". He then takes Connie to his mother's house and attempts to stab her, but after Connie reassures Norman that their child will not be a monster, he drops his knife in shame and Connie forgives him. He then burns the house where all his unhappiness began. As he tries to escape the flames, he hallucinates that he sees his victims, Chet, his mother and eventually himself preserving her corpse. He and Connie leave the scene with Norman stating, "I'm free".
) out of debt, Marion Crane (Anne Heche
) steals $400,000 from her employer and flees Phoenix, Arizona
by car. While on route to Sam's California
home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel.
Owner Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn
) tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new interstate nearby and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house, and during the meal she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An anonymous female figure enters the bathroom and stabs her to death. Finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions — including the money — in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
Shortly afterward, Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister Lila (Julianne Moore
) and private detective Milton Arbogast (William H. Macy
), who has been hired by Marion's employer to find her and recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who unconvincingly lies that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will contact her again within an hour after he questions Norman's mother.
Arbogast enters Norman's house and at the top of the stairs is attacked by a figure who slashes his face three times with a knife, pushes him down the stairs, then stabs him to death. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers (Philip Baker Hall
) is perplexed to learn Arbogast saw a woman in a window, since Norman's mother died ten years ago. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but against her will Norman carries her to the cellar.
Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search Marion's room, where they find a scrap of paper in the toilet with "$400,000" written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house to search for his mother. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the semi-preserved and mummified
body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila, but she is rescued by Sam.
After Norman's arrest, forensic psychiatrist
Dr. Fred Richmond (Robert Forster
) tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche
as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, the pair lived as if they were the only people in the world. When his mother found a lover, Norman went over the edge with jealousy and murdered both of them. Consumed with guilt, he tried to "erase the crime" by bringing his mother back to life in his mind. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he is "Mother", he acts, talks, and dresses as she would. Norman imagined his mother would be as jealous of a woman to whom he might be attracted just as he was of his mother's lover, and so "Mother" kills any woman he has feelings for; when Norman regains consciousness, he believes that his mother has committed the crime, and covers up for her. It is implied that Norman is responsible for the unsolved disappearances of two young girls. Richmond concludes that the "Mother" personality has now taken complete control of Norman's mind.
In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in "Mother's" voice. In a voiceover, "Mother" explains that she plans to prove to the authorities she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. The final shot shows Marion's car being recovered from the swamp, and then goes to end credits.
After the credits, we see the swamp again, except this time it turns red.
) is a man who roomed with Norman Bates at the state lunatic asylum for nearly 20 years. After the death of Bates, Alex finds that he is in Norman's will as the inheritor of the Bates Motel, which has been vacant since the time of Norman's arrest. Alex travels to Fairvale, California and with a little help from a teenage runaway, named Willie (Lori Petty
), Alex struggles to re-open the motel for business, only to have strange things happen. Is someone trying to drive him away, or is the motel really haunted by the ghost of Norman's mother?
Series gross: $118,347,736
. Author Robert Bloch
lived 40 miles away from Gein's farmhouse and liked the idea of somebody being able to kill people in a small community and get away with it for years without being caught. The character of Norman Bates
was very different in the novel than in the film version. In the novel, Bates is overweight, in his early 40's and drinks heavily. When Joseph Stefano
adapted the novel into the screenplay, he made the character of Norman young, attractive and vulnerable. In 1982, Bloch wrote a sequel novel called Psycho II
which had nothing to do with the 1983 film version. In the novel, Norman Bates escapes the mental institution and goes to Hollywood to stop the production of a film based on his life. Many critics and fans described the novel as being silly and weird and couldn't have possibly been made into a film. In 1990, due to the pressure from his publishing company Bloch wrote a third novel called Psycho House
. However according to horror writer David J. Schow
, when writing it Bloch originally called it Psycho 13. In the novel, the Bates mansion and motel are bought as tourist attractions and a series of murders begin to take place.
and Hollywood Reporter reported that Arts & Entertainment Network
would produce a television film or miniseries based on the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
. Later, the motion picture feature rights were optioned by several major companies.
In 2011, director Sacha Gervasi
was announced as being in negotiations to direct a dramatic feature motion picture based on the book for producer Ivan Reitman
, executive Tom Pollock, the Montecito Picture Company and producers Tom Thayer
and Alan Barnette. Anthony Hopkins
has been widely mentioned to star as Alfred Hitchcock
. The original screenplay draft was by John J. McLaughlin with subsequent drafts by Stephen Rebello
.
. It included interviews with cast and crew from all four Psycho films. It also featured interviews with current horror filmmakers who are fans of the series.The documentary was written,produced and directed by horror journalist Robert Galluzzo. Director Robert Galluzo claimed that he made the documentary due to the lack of information on the sequels and also to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the original film. The documentary discussed the impact and legacy of the original Psycho and the production stories of Psycho II, Psycho III
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
. To the surprise of some critics and fans, the failed TV pilot Bates Motel
and the Gus Van Sant
remake
were not discussed in the documentary, however originally in the deleted scenes section on the DVD two short segments on the two films were supposed to be on there, however for unknown reasons they were left off of the DVD when it was released. The documentary sold well, received mostly positive reviews and garnered new interest in the series from horror fans.
box set containing the films Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning was released in Fall 2003 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
in the UK. In America, Psycho was released on DVD on May 26, 1998 and a 2-Disc Special Edition with digitally remastered picture and new extras was released on October 7, 2008. As for the sequels, Goodimes released Psycho II on DVD in full screen on March 2, 1999 and released Psycho III on September 28, 1999. Then, Universal re-released Psycho II and Psycho III on September 13, 2005. A "Triple Feature" collection containing Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning (for the first time on DVD) was released on August 14, 2007. The Psycho remake was released on DVD on August 29, 2000. To this day, Bates Motel has never been released on DVD. In 2010,The Psycho Legacy
documentary was released as a 2 disc set with the 87 minute documentary and 3 hours of special features.
, a telefilm produced in 1987, was a partial continuation of the series as it continued from where Psycho left off yet ignored continuity with Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning due to the death of Norman Bates in the film, while in "Psycho II", Bates is deemed sane and returns to the Bates Motel. Psycho
(1998), a shot-for-shot remake
of the first film is not considered to be an official sequel of the original series as it breaks complete continuation from the last film "Psycho IV: The Beginning". It is sometimes referred to as a reboot of the Psycho series, however, some still consider it an installment of the films.There are also some continuity problems in "Psycho IV: The Beginning" that have to due with some of the past events explored in "Psycho","Psycho II" and "Psycho III".
was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe award for writing Psycho II, Psycho III
was nominated for a Saturn award for Best Horror Film and Psycho IV: The Beginning
was also nominated for a Saturn award for Best Genre Television Series. There has been past Psycho merchandise such as posters, t-shirts, shower curtains, DVDs, books; all that are mostly sold at gift shops at Universal Studios. Much of the merchandise is related to the fictional "Bates Motel". Items with the "Bates Motel" logo on them include shot glasses, postcards, light up signs, stationary, mugs, hats, pens and more.
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
film series
Film series
A film series is a collection of related films in succession. Their relationship is not fixed, but generally share a common diegetic world. Sometimes the work is conceived as a multiple-film work, for example the Three Colours series, but in most cases the success of the original film inspires...
is an American horror film franchise loosely based on the Psycho novels by Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
. The first film, Psycho, was directed by legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
in 1960, with three sequels, a spin-off, and a remake following. The official films consist of Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
, Psycho II, Psycho III
Psycho III
Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
. Two related but non-canon films in the series are Bates Motel
Bates Motel
Bates Motel is a 1987 television movie about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the infamous Bates Motel.-Plot:...
and a remake of the first film
Psycho (1998 film)
Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is the title of a non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello.First published in May 1990 by Dembner Books and distributed by W. W. Norton and Company, the book details every aspect of the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller Psycho released to...
is currently in pre-production, with scheduled releases in 2012. An independent documentary called The Psycho Legacy
The Psycho Legacy
The Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It...
was released on October 19th 2010 which mostly focused on Psycho II, Psycho III
Psycho III
Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
, but did discuss the impact and legacy of the original film. While the original Psycho is considered a classic of American cinema, the three sequels have garnered a small cult following mostly on the Internet. The series is the fourth highest grossing American horror franchise in the genre.
The films are based around the twisted personality and murders of Norman Bates
Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
, a disturbed young man who operates the Bates Motel who is haunted by the spirit of his deceased mother.
Psycho (1960)
In need of money to marry her boyfriend Sam Loomis, Marion Crane steals $40,000 from her employer and flees Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
by car. While en route to Sam's California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitation, follows her. When she trades her car for another at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel.
Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of the motel's disconnection from a new interstate
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
, and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to supper. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house, and during the meal she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like this, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An anonymous female figure enters the bathroom and stabs her to death. Finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions — including the money — in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
Shortly afterward, Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister Lila and private detective Milton Arbogast, who has been hired by Marion's employer to recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who unconvincingly lies that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will call again after he questions Norman's mother.
Arbogast enters Norman's house and at the top of the stairs is attacked by a figure who slashes his face with a knife, pushes him down the stairs, then stabs him to death. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers is perplexed to learn Arbogast saw a woman in a window, since Norman's mother died ten years ago. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but against her will Norman carries her to the cellar.
Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search Marion's room, where they find a scrap of paper in the toilet with "$40,000" written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new hotel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the semi-preserved and mummified
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila, but she is rescued by Sam.
After Norman's arrest, a forensic psychiatrist
Forensic psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, the pair lived as if they were the only people in the world. When his mother found a lover, Norman went mad with jealousy and murdered them both. Consumed with guilt, Norman "erased the crime" by bringing his mother back to life in his mind. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he was "Mother", he acted, talked, and dressed as she would. The psychiatrist concludes that the "Mother" personality now has complete control of Norman's mind.
In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in "Mother's" voice. In a voiceover, "Mother" explains that she plans to prove that she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. The final shot shows Marion's car being recovered from the swamp.
Psycho II (1983)
Convicted killer Norman BatesNorman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
(Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
) is released from a mental institution. Lila Loomis (Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
), the sister of Bates' victim Marion Crane
Marion Crane
Marion Crane is a fictional character from the 1960 film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Fictional character biography:Unhappy in her relationship with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis , Marion rejects his idea to take the afternoon off and rushes back to her storefront real estate office. Her boss,...
, vehemently protests with a petition that she has been circulating with signatures of 743 people, including the relatives of the seven people Norman killed prior to his incarceration, but her plea is dismissed.
Norman is taken to his old home, the Bates Motel, with the house behind it on the hill, by Dr. Bill Raymond (Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
), who assures him everything will be fine. He is introduced to the motel's new manager, Warren Toomey (Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
). The following day, Norman reports to a prearranged job at a nearby diner, run by a kindly old lady named Emma Spool (Claudia Bryar
Claudia Bryar
Claudia Bryar was an American actress who mostly specialized in television. Active from the 1950s to the 1980s, she is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs...
).
One of his co-workers there is Mary Loomis (Meg Tilly), a young waitress. Mary claims she has been thrown out of her boyfriend's place and needs a place to stay. Norman offers to let her stay at the motel, then extends the offer to his home when he discovers that Toomey has turned his beloved establishment into a sleazy adult motel.
Norman's adjustment back into society appears to be going along well until "Mother" begins to make her presence known. Norman gets mysterious notes from "Mother" at the house and diner. Phone calls come from someone claiming to be Norman's mother. Toomey picks a fight at the diner after Norman fires him. Later, a figure in a black dress stabs Toomey to death with a kitchen knife as he is packing to leave the motel.
Norman begins to doubt his sanity when he begins hearing voices in the house. He enters his mother's bedroom to find it looks exactly as it did 22 years ago. A sound lures him to the attic, where he is locked in.
Believing the house to be abandoned, a teenage couple sneaks in through the cellar window. They notice a female figure pacing in the next room. As they try to climb out, the boy is stabbed to death. The girl escapes and alerts the police.
Mary eventually finds Norman in the attic. The sheriff questions them about the boy's murder. He finds the cellar neat and orderly. Norman is about to admit that something suspicious is going on, but Mary claims that she has cleaned up the basement herself. After the sheriff leaves, Norman asks Mary why she lied. She explains that she had to save him from being arrested. Norman collapses into the chair with his head in his hands and moans, "It's starting again!"
Mary is startled later when she discovers someone looking at her through a peephole in the bathroom wall. She calls out to Norman, who is downstairs and out of reach. The two are horrified to find a bloody cloth that has been stuffed down the toilet. Norman appears confused and believes he may have committed another murder.
Mary goes down to check the motel. In the parlor she is surprised by Lila, who reveals herself to be Mary's mother. She has been calling Norman claiming to be his mother, even going so far as to dress up as her and allowing him to see her in the window. Mary has been helping her. She was responsible for restoring Mother's room at the house and locking Norman in the attic. All of this was an attempt to drive Norman insane again and have him recommitted.
Mary's growing feelings for Norman, however, have been preying on her conscience leaving her to reconsider her actions. Meanwhile, Dr. Raymond discovers Mary's identity as Lila's daughter and informs Norman. He also orders the corpse of Norma Bates (which was buried in a proper grave after the events of the original film) to be exhumed, to prove that Norman isn't being haunted by his mother.
Mary admits to Norman that she has been part of Lila's ruse, and that while she now refuses to continue, Lila won't stop. Mary goes to Lila's hotel and their argument is overheard by a bartender. Later, Lila drives over to Norman's house, unaware that Dr. Raymond is watching her from the Bates Motel as she sneaks into the cellar.
While removing her "Mother" costume from a loose stone in the floor, another figure dressed as "Mother" steps out of the shadows and murders her. Dr. Raymond runs up to the house. Lila's body is not in the cellar. Meanwhile, Mary discovers that a car has been retrieved from the swamp, with Toomey's body in the trunk.
Realizing the police will shortly arrive to arrest Norman, Mary returns to warn him. The phone rings in the house, Norman answers, and starts speaking to his "mother." Mary listens in and discovers that nobody is on the line with Norman. Terrified, Mary runs downstairs into the cellar, and quickly dresses up as Mother to confront Norman. Someone grabs her from behind, and she plunges the butcher knife into ... Dr. Raymond, who has sneaked back into the house.
A stunned Mary runs downstairs and is confronted by a deranged Norman, who promises to cover up for "Mother." Mary tries to keep him away, repeatedly stabbing him in the hands and chest. He backs Mary into the fruit cellar to hide and slips on a pile of coal, which avalanches away from the wall, revealing Lila's body hidden behind it. Mary is now convinced that Norman had been committing the murders. She raises her knife to stab him and is shot to death by the incoming police.
The sheriff inaccuratetely believes Mary committed all the murders. That evening, a woman walks up the steps to the Bates' mansion. Bandaged from his injuries, Norman has set a place for dinner when he hears a knock at the door. It is Emma Spool, the kindly woman from the diner.
Norman gives her a cup of tea. Ms. Spool tells him that she is his real mother, that Mrs. Bates was her sister, who adopted Norman as an infant while Ms. Spool was institutionalized. She further reveals that she was the murderer, having killed anybody who tried to harm her son. As she sips the tea, Norman kills her with a sudden blow to the head with a shovel.
Norman is now completely insane again. He carries Ms. Spool's body upstairs to Mother's room and we hear Mother's voice warn Norman not to play with "filthy girls." Norman reopens the Bates Motel and stands in front of the house, waiting for new customers as Mother watches from the window upstairs.
Psycho III (1986)
The film begins with Maureen Coyle (Diana ScarwidDiana Scarwid
Diana Scarwid is an American actress. Scarwid has done work in film, television and theater.-Personal life:Scarwid was born in Savannah, Georgia, and left Georgia at the age of 17, heading to New York to become an actress. She graduated from Pace University and The American Academy of Dramatic...
), a mentally unstable young nun, on top of a bell tower about to commit suicide. When another nun tries to get her to come down, Maureen accidentally pushes her over the railing to her death. Another nun tells Maureen that she will burn in hell. She is forced to leave the convent after this ordeal.
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
) is still manning the desk at the Bates Motel and living with the preserved corpse of his "true" mother, Emma Spool
Emma Spool
Mrs. Emma Spool is a fictional character in the Psycho film series, created by Tom Holland for the screenplay of the 1982 sequel to the 1960 film Psycho, Psycho II. More attention is given to her character in Psycho III, although she's a corpse...
(Claudia Bryar
Claudia Bryar
Claudia Bryar was an American actress who mostly specialized in television. Active from the 1950s to the 1980s, she is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs...
), whom Norman killed at the end of Psycho II. Local law enforcement and Norman's ex-boss Ralph Statler (Robert Alan Browne
Robert Alan Browne
Robert Alan Browne is an American actor most notably recognized for his role as John Perkins on NBC's soap opera Santa Barbara, a role that he portrayed in 1984. He also played a minor character in Psycho II and Psycho III.-External links:...
) are concerned since Mrs. Spool has been missing for over a month. Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
), a sleazy musician in his 20's desperate for money, is offered the job of assistant manager at the Bates Motel. Maureen, now the new long-term tenant, has some issues to resolve in her life. She gave up her vows as a nun only days before, and she isn't sure just how she feels about either spiritual or earthly matters.
Sheriff John Hunt (Hugh Gillin
Hugh Gillin
Hugh Gillin was an American film and television actor. Gillin was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He is best known for playing Sheriff John Hunt in Psycho II and III. Gillin has appeared in a total of 75 films and television series...
) and Statler have a conversation at the diner, when Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell
Roberta Maxwell
-Background:Roberta Maxwell began studying for the stage at the age of 12. She joined John Clark for 2 years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television, before becoming the youngest actress apprentice at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario,to pursue...
), a pushy journalist from Los Angeles, interrupts them. She is working on an article about serial killers being put back on the streets. Venable is trying to back up her theory that Norman is back to his old ways again. Norman appears and Venable jumps at the chance to talk with him. Unaware of her ulterior motives Norman opens up to her, but is distracted when an exhausted Maureen enters and sits at the lunch counter. He is startled by Maureen's presence, because he feels she strongly resembles Marion Crane (Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
). Seeing the initials "M.C." on her suitcase Norman freaks out and leaves the diner.
After the conversation with "Mother", Norman spies on Maureen as she undresses and heads into the bathroom to take a shower. Keeping "her" word, "Mother" enters Maureen's motel room with plans to kill her. Upon pulling back the shower curtain, it is revealed Maureen has attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, a sight which snaps Norman back to his "normal" side. Maureen looks up at "Mother" who is so weakened by what "she" sees, "she" lowers the knife. Due to blood loss, Maureen hallucinates and she mistakes Norman, dressed up as "Mother," is the Virgin Mary holding a silver crucifix.
Meanwhile, Tracy has met with Duane at a bar where they discuss Norman, and it seems Tracy blames Norman for Mrs. Spool's disappearance. When she leaves, Duane picks up another girl at the bar, Red (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is a 1985 slasher film. It was released on March 22, 1985. It is the fifth film in the Friday the 13th film series...
s Juliette Cummins
Juliette Cummins
Juliette Marie Cummins is an American actress best known for her role in the 1985 horror movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning as Robin...
). Norman gets Maureen to the local hospital to save her life. After she is released, he invites her to stay back at the motel and they begin a romantic relationship.
The same night, Duane and Red arrive at the motel and hear an argument between "Mother" and Norman, but think it's just a TV turned up too loud. Red and Duane, head to cabin 12 where they make love. Later that night, Red, makes it clear she wants more than just a fling. Calling him a pig, they argue. Duane, infuriated, throws her out of the cabin. Red heads down to the payphone to call a cab, where she realizes she is wearing her blouse backwards. As she takes it off to put it on the right way, "Mother" shatters the phone booth door and stabs a trapped Red to death. The next morning, Duane finds Norman scrubbing down the phone booth.
A group from out of town arrive at the motel where they plan to watch the local football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game. Tracy comes to find Norman and ask questions about his past and "Mother". Norman becomes defensive with the reporter and tells her to leave, never to return. Later that night, he and Maureen go to a restaurant, where they dance and talk romantically, while Tracy searches Mrs. Spool's apartment. She discovers the Bates Motel's telephone number written on a magazine cover. Norman and Maureen return to the motel to find most of the other guests engaged in drunken stupor. Norman goes with Maureen to her room and they fall asleep in each other's arms having refused to make love. Some time afterwards, Patsy Boyle (Katt Shea Ruben), the only sober guest, wakes up Maureen to ensure her safety as Norman had left the door open, a bad idea with all the drunken guests around. Patsy needing to use the bathroom finds the one in Norman's parlor unoccupied, but "Mother" again emerges and slashes her throat. Norman (an homage to the reaction of finding Marion dead in the shower in the original
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
) gasps when he discovers Patsy's body. He buries her in the motel's ice chest outside the office.
The next morning, Sheriff Hunt and Deputy Leo appear at Norman's house to investigate Patsy's disappearance. Norman tries to prevent Hunt from entering his mother's bedroom, when he discovers that "Mother"/Mrs. Spool has disappeared completely. Outside, Tracy tells Maureen about Norman, and she, rather upset, leaves the motel and goes to stay with Father Brian, who took care of her at the hospital. Meanwhile, Tracy is convinced Norman is behind the latest disappearances. Norman searches for his mother all over the house and finds a note from her stating that she is in cabin 12. When Norman arrives at the cabin, he learns it was Duane who took "Mother". Duane confronts him then attempts to blackmail Norman into paying him off, or he'll turn Norman into the police. He tells Duane he doesn't have that kind of money, but Duane reminds him that Norman has made a lot of cash from his business, and if Norman doesn't give money for his silence, he will go to the police. He agree's to Duane's blackmail demands, but he then unexpectedly throws an ashtray at Duane's head. They fight and Norman seemingly kills Duane by hitting him several times with his own guitar. Terrified of what he has done, he blames "Mother" for this.
Tracy talks to Statler and Myrna (Lee Garlington
Lee Garlington
Ann Leslie "Lee" Garlington is an American actress.Garlington was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. She has guest starred in a number of notable television series, including The West Wing, 7th Heaven, 8 Simple Rules, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy, L.A...
) about Mrs. Spool and discovers she was working at the diner before Statler bought it from Harvey Leach. Tracy meets with Leach, a resident at an assisted living facility, and is informed that Mrs. Spool had also once been institutionalized for murder. Meanwhile, Norman drives Duane's car to the swamp with Duane and Patsy's bodies in it. Duane turns out to be alive and attacks Norman, who accidentally drives the car into the swamp. He struggles out of the car while Duane drowns. Tracy reads some old newspapers at her study and discovers about the "Bates kidnapping".
Maureen convinces herself that Norman is her true love. She returns to the motel and takes a shower before visiting Norman at his house. They share a tender moment at the top of the staircase when "Mother" shouts furiously at Norman, which startles and causes him to lose grip on Maureen's hands. She falls down the stairs into the cupid statue at the base of the stairs. She goes limp and sinks to the floor revealing the arrow had punctured her skull. Distraught, Norman, screams and confronts his mother that he will get her for this. "You don't have the guts boy!" utters "Mother." Then, Tracy arrives at the motel and tries to find Maureen. She enters the house only to find her lying dead on the couch of the living room which is filled with lit candles. Then she sees Norman dressed as "Mother," bearing a knife, and tries to flee. She tries to reason with Norman by explaining his family history: Emma Spool, who was in fact his aunt, was in love with Norman's father, but he married her sister, Norma, instead. Mrs. Spool, having serious psychological problems, kidnapped Norman when he was a baby, after she killed Mr. Bates, believing Norman was the child "she should have had with him."
She discovers Mrs. Spool's corpse in the bedroom, and Norman takes off his mother's dress. "Mother" orders him to kill Tracy, and when Norman raises the knife, he brutally attacks "Mother", dismembering her preserved remains. The last scene shows Sheriff Hunt taking Norman to his squad car, with Father Brian and Tracy following behind. Hunt informs Norman that they may never let him out of the institution again, Norman replies "But I'll be free...I'll finally be free." Norman, sitting silently in the back of the squad car on the way to the institution, enjoys his victory over his mother by caressing a trophy: the severed hand of Mrs. Spool. He smiles sardonically as the screen fades to black and the credits roll.
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
Fran Ambrose is a radio talk show host who is talking on the topic of "matricide" (when children kill their mothers) with guest Dr. Richmond, who was Norman BatesNorman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
' former psychologist. The radio receives a call from Norman Bates, who has re-entered society and married another of his former psychiatrists, Connie. Under the alias of "Ed" (Possibly a reference to Ed Gein the killer his character was modeled after), Norman tells his story, which the audience sees as a series of flashbacks. Some flashbacks are slightly out of order
Reverse chronology
Reverse chronology is a method of story-telling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order.In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion to the plot...
. The chronological story is: In 1950 Norman's mother, Norma Bates had schizophrenia (see Psycho II) and was smothering Norman and would have violent mood swings. Due to Norman's sexual repression at her hands, when she was frolicking with him he had an incestuous erection, causing her to dress him in women's clothing and taunt him by calling him "Norma". She then got engaged to a man named Chet Rudolph who would beat up Norman. Eventually Norman got fed up with her allowing Chet to be in their lives and poisoned them both, albeit reluctantly. He then developed his infamous multiple personality disorder and stole her corpse to create the illusion that she was alive - whenever her corpse spoke to him, the "Norma" personality would take over. This caused Norman as "Norma" to kill two women who wanted to have sex with him.
Throughout the spaces in the flashbacks, Dr. Richmond realizes "Ed" is Norman and tries to convince Fran to trace the calls. Richmond's worries are dismissed because they cannot trace the call and they believe they can talk Norman out of the reason he called: he fears he will kill again. He tells Fran that Connie got pregnant against his wishes and that he does not want another "monster". He then tells Fran he does believe his mother is dead, but he will kill Connie "with my own hands, just like the first time". He then takes Connie to his mother's house and attempts to stab her, but after Connie reassures Norman that their child will not be a monster, he drops his knife in shame and Connie forgives him. He then burns the house where all his unhappiness began. As he tries to escape the flames, he hallucinates that he sees his victims, Chet, his mother and eventually himself preserving her corpse. He and Connie leave the scene with Norman stating, "I'm free".
Psycho (Remake) (1998)
In need of money to get her boyfriend Sam Loomis (Viggo MortensenViggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
) out of debt, Marion Crane (Anne Heche
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
) steals $400,000 from her employer and flees Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
by car. While on route to Sam's California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel.
Owner Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...
) tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new interstate nearby and mentions he lives with his mother in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house, and during the meal she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but does not want to abandon her.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An anonymous female figure enters the bathroom and stabs her to death. Finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions — including the money — in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
Shortly afterward, Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister Lila (Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
) and private detective Milton Arbogast (William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
), who has been hired by Marion's employer to find her and recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who unconvincingly lies that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will contact her again within an hour after he questions Norman's mother.
Arbogast enters Norman's house and at the top of the stairs is attacked by a figure who slashes his face three times with a knife, pushes him down the stairs, then stabs him to death. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers (Philip Baker Hall
Philip Baker Hall
-Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor...
) is perplexed to learn Arbogast saw a woman in a window, since Norman's mother died ten years ago. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but against her will Norman carries her to the cellar.
Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search Marion's room, where they find a scrap of paper in the toilet with "$400,000" written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house to search for his mother. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the semi-preserved and mummified
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila, but she is rescued by Sam.
After Norman's arrest, forensic psychiatrist
Forensic psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
Dr. Fred Richmond (Robert Forster
Robert Forster
Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
) tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, the pair lived as if they were the only people in the world. When his mother found a lover, Norman went over the edge with jealousy and murdered both of them. Consumed with guilt, he tried to "erase the crime" by bringing his mother back to life in his mind. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he is "Mother", he acts, talks, and dresses as she would. Norman imagined his mother would be as jealous of a woman to whom he might be attracted just as he was of his mother's lover, and so "Mother" kills any woman he has feelings for; when Norman regains consciousness, he believes that his mother has committed the crime, and covers up for her. It is implied that Norman is responsible for the unsolved disappearances of two young girls. Richmond concludes that the "Mother" personality has now taken complete control of Norman's mind.
In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in "Mother's" voice. In a voiceover, "Mother" explains that she plans to prove to the authorities she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. The final shot shows Marion's car being recovered from the swamp, and then goes to end credits.
After the credits, we see the swamp again, except this time it turns red.
Bates Motel (1987)
Alex West (Bud CortBud Cort
Bud Cort is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's 1971 film Harold and Maude and the titular hero in Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud...
) is a man who roomed with Norman Bates at the state lunatic asylum for nearly 20 years. After the death of Bates, Alex finds that he is in Norman's will as the inheritor of the Bates Motel, which has been vacant since the time of Norman's arrest. Alex travels to Fairvale, California and with a little help from a teenage runaway, named Willie (Lori Petty
Lori Petty
Lori Petty is an American film and television actress best known for playing "Tyler Endicott" in Point Break in 1991, "Kit Keller" in A League of Their Own in 1992, and the title role in Tank Girl in 1995.-Early life:...
), Alex struggles to re-open the motel for business, only to have strange things happen. Is someone trying to drive him away, or is the motel really haunted by the ghost of Norman's mother?
Analysis
| Film | Year | Reception | Gross | Release Date | Running Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psycho Psycho (1960 film) Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch... |
1960 | 98% | $32,000,000 | June 16, 1960 | 109 minutes |
| Psycho II | 1983 | 55% | $34,725,000 | June 3, 1983 | 113 minutes |
| Psycho III Psycho III Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue... |
1986 | 59% | $14,481,606 | July 3, 1986 | 94 minutes |
| Bates Motel Bates Motel Bates Motel is a 1987 television movie about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the infamous Bates Motel.-Plot:... |
1987 | 19% | N/A | July 5, 1987 | 100 minutes |
| Psycho IV: The Beginning Psycho IV: The Beginning Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film... |
1990 | 35% | N/A | November 10, 1990 | 96 minutes |
| Psycho Psycho (1998 film) Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock... |
1998 | 36% | $37,141,130 | December 4, 1998 | 105 minutes |
| The Psycho Legacy The Psycho Legacy The Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It... |
2010 | 55% | N/A | October 19, 2010 | 87 minutes |
Series gross: $118,347,736
Graphic Novels
In 1992, a series of graphic novels based on the original Psycho was published by the Innovation Comics group. Today, the novels are out of print and are very rare to find.Novels
In 1959, the novel Psycho was published. The novel was loosely based on the Wisconsin serial killer and cannibal Ed GeinEd Gein
Edward Theodore "Ed" Gein - July 26, 1984) was an American murderer and body snatcher. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes...
. Author Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
lived 40 miles away from Gein's farmhouse and liked the idea of somebody being able to kill people in a small community and get away with it for years without being caught. The character of Norman Bates
Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
was very different in the novel than in the film version. In the novel, Bates is overweight, in his early 40's and drinks heavily. When Joseph Stefano
Joseph Stefano
Joseph Stefano was an American screenwriter, known to genre fans for writing the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and for being the producer and co-writer of the Outer Limits TV series.-Early years:As a teenager, Stefano was so keen to become an actor that he dropped out of high school two...
adapted the novel into the screenplay, he made the character of Norman young, attractive and vulnerable. In 1982, Bloch wrote a sequel novel called Psycho II
Psycho II (novel)
Psycho II is a 1982 novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a sequel to his 1959 novel Psycho. The novel was completed before the screenplay was written for the unrelated 1983 film Psycho II. According to Bloch, Universal Pictures loathed the novel, which was intended to critique Hollywood splatter films...
which had nothing to do with the 1983 film version. In the novel, Norman Bates escapes the mental institution and goes to Hollywood to stop the production of a film based on his life. Many critics and fans described the novel as being silly and weird and couldn't have possibly been made into a film. In 1990, due to the pressure from his publishing company Bloch wrote a third novel called Psycho House
Psycho House
Psycho House is a 1990 novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a sequel to his 1959 novel Psycho and 1982 novel Psycho II....
. However according to horror writer David J. Schow
David J. Schow
David J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as The Crow and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Most of Schow's work falls into the sub-genre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining...
, when writing it Bloch originally called it Psycho 13. In the novel, the Bates mansion and motel are bought as tourist attractions and a series of murders begin to take place.
List of novels
| Novel | Year | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Psycho | 1959 | Robert Bloch Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock... |
| Psycho II Psycho II (novel) Psycho II is a 1982 novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a sequel to his 1959 novel Psycho. The novel was completed before the screenplay was written for the unrelated 1983 film Psycho II. According to Bloch, Universal Pictures loathed the novel, which was intended to critique Hollywood splatter films... |
1982 | Robert Bloch Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock... |
| Psycho House Psycho House Psycho House is a 1990 novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a sequel to his 1959 novel Psycho and 1982 novel Psycho II.... |
1990 | Robert Bloch Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock... |
| Robert Bloch's Psychos Robert Bloch's Psychos Robert Bloch's Psychos is a 1997 horror anthology that was being edited by Robert Bloch until his death in 1994. Martin H. Greenberg completed the editorial work posthumously.-List of stories:... |
1997 | Stephen King Stephen King Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books... , et al.. |
- Robert BlochRobert BlochRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
was the editor of Robert Bloch's PsychosRobert Bloch's PsychosRobert Bloch's Psychos is a 1997 horror anthology that was being edited by Robert Bloch until his death in 1994. Martin H. Greenberg completed the editorial work posthumously.-List of stories:...
until his death in 1994.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (2010)
In 2005, the newspapers VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and Hollywood Reporter reported that Arts & Entertainment Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
would produce a television film or miniseries based on the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is the title of a non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello.First published in May 1990 by Dembner Books and distributed by W. W. Norton and Company, the book details every aspect of the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller Psycho released to...
. Later, the motion picture feature rights were optioned by several major companies.
In 2011, director Sacha Gervasi
Sacha Gervasi
-Early life and career in screen-writing:Born Alexander Gervasi in London in 1966, Gervasi was educated at Westminster School, and then read modern history at King's College London...
was announced as being in negotiations to direct a dramatic feature motion picture based on the book for producer Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman, OC is a Canadian film producer and director. He is known for the comedies he has directed and produced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.He is the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 2000.-Early life:...
, executive Tom Pollock, the Montecito Picture Company and producers Tom Thayer
Tom Thayer
Thomas "Tom" Allen Thayer is a former American-football center/guard. He played in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears...
and Alan Barnette. Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
has been widely mentioned to star as Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. The original screenplay draft was by John J. McLaughlin with subsequent drafts by Stephen Rebello
Stephen Rebello
Stephen Rebello is an American writer, screenwriter and former clinical therapist.-Biography:Born to parents of third-generation Portuguese-American and French-Portuguese American extraction in Fall River, Massachusetts, Rebello was raised in Somerset, Massachusetts. He graduated from Somerset High...
.
The Psycho Legacy (documentary)
In 2010, a direct to DVD documentary was released called The Psycho LegacyThe Psycho Legacy
The Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It...
. It included interviews with cast and crew from all four Psycho films. It also featured interviews with current horror filmmakers who are fans of the series.The documentary was written,produced and directed by horror journalist Robert Galluzzo. Director Robert Galluzo claimed that he made the documentary due to the lack of information on the sequels and also to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the original film. The documentary discussed the impact and legacy of the original Psycho and the production stories of Psycho II, Psycho III
Psycho III
Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
. To the surprise of some critics and fans, the failed TV pilot Bates Motel
Bates Motel
Bates Motel is a 1987 television movie about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the infamous Bates Motel.-Plot:...
and the Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
remake
Psycho (1998 film)
Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
were not discussed in the documentary, however originally in the deleted scenes section on the DVD two short segments on the two films were supposed to be on there, however for unknown reasons they were left off of the DVD when it was released. The documentary sold well, received mostly positive reviews and garnered new interest in the series from horror fans.
Cast and characters
List indicator(s)
- A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
| Character | Media | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psycho Psycho (1960 film) Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch... |
Psycho II | Psycho III Psycho III Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue... |
Psycho IV: The Beginning Psycho IV: The Beginning Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film... |
Psycho (1998) Psycho (1998 film) Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock... |
|
| Norman Bates Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock... |
Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:... |
Anthony PerkinsHenry Thomas Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas, Jr. is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in more than 40 films and is best known for his role as Elliott in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.-Early life:... |
Vince Vaughn Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers... |
||
| Marion Crane Marion Crane Marion Crane is a fictional character from the 1960 film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Fictional character biography:Unhappy in her relationship with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis , Marion rejects his idea to take the afternoon off and rushes back to her storefront real estate office. Her boss,... |
Janet Leigh Janet Leigh Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis.... |
Anne Heche Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,... |
|||
| Norma Bates Norma Bates (Psycho) Mrs. Norma Bates is a fictional character in the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch and the Universal Studios Psycho franchise starring Anthony Perkins, Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning and the TV spin-off Bates Motel... |
Paul JasminVirginia Gregg Virginia Gregg Virginia Gregg Burket was an American actress best known for her many roles in radio dramas.Born in Harrisburg, Illinois, Virginia Gregg was the daughter of musician Dewey Alphaleta and businessman Edward William Gregg.-Radio:Gregg was a prolific radio actor, heard on such programs as The... Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan was an American radio, film and television actress. Nolan was nominated for four Emmy Awards.-Early life:... |
Virginia Gregg | Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey is an Argentinian actress who became famous for her role as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Academy Award-winning 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. For this role she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress as well as the David di Donatello for best actress... |
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| Emma Spool Emma Spool Mrs. Emma Spool is a fictional character in the Psycho film series, created by Tom Holland for the screenplay of the 1982 sequel to the 1960 film Psycho, Psycho II. More attention is given to her character in Psycho III, although she's a corpse... |
Claudia Bryar Claudia Bryar Claudia Bryar was an American actress who mostly specialized in television. Active from the 1950s to the 1980s, she is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs... |
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| Lila Crane Lila Crane Lila Loomis is a fictional character from the 1959 Robert Bloch novel Psycho and its 1960 film adaptation. Additionally, she appears in Bloch's sequel novel and the unrelated sequel film of the same name.- Fictional biography :... |
Vera Miles Vera Miles Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:... |
Julianne Moore Julianne Moore Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards.... |
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| Sam Loomis | John Gavin John Gavin John Gavin is an American film actor and a former United States Ambassador to Mexico. Gavin is half Mexican and fluent in Spanish.... |
Viggo Mortensen Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The... |
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| Milton Arbogast | Martin Balsam Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :... |
William H. Macy William H. Macy William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though... |
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| Sheriff Al Chambers | John McIntire John McIntire John McIntire was an American character actor.-Career:The craggy-faced film actor was born in Spokane in eastern Washington State but reared in Montana, growing up around ranchers and cowboys, an experience that would later inspire his performances in dozens of westerns.A graduate of USC, McIntire... |
Philip Baker Hall Philip Baker Hall -Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor... |
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| Dr. Fred Richmond | Simon Oakland Simon Oakland Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s... |
Warren Frost Warren Frost Warren Frost is an American actor. His work has mainly been in the theatre, but has worked in movie and television sporadically since 1958. He is known for roles in Twin Peaks, Matlock, The Larry Sanders Show, and Seinfeld. He is the father of novelist, television screenwriter, and producer Mark... |
Robert Forster Robert Forster Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace... |
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| George Lowery | Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Joseph Taylor is an American golfer who turned professional in 1999.Taylor was born in Roanoke, Virginia but was raised in Augusta, Georgia from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High School, he played golf for Augusta State University where he was an honorable mention All-American his... |
Rance Howard Rance Howard Rance Howard is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Life and career:Howard was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt in Oklahoma, the son of Ethel Cleo and Engel Beckenholdt, a farmer. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. He married Jean Speegle Howard... |
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| Tom Cassidy | Frank Albertson Frank Albertson Frank Albertson was an American character actor who made his debut in a minor part in Hollywood at age 13.... |
Chad Everett Chad Everett Chad Everett is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and television series but is probably best known for his role as Dr. Joe Gannon in the 1970s television drama Medical Center.-Early life:... |
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| Eliza Chambers | Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle was a character actress, who made transitions from vaudeville to radio, to films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's most versatile actresses... |
Anne Haney Anne Haney Anne Haney was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as social worker Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, Greta the secretary in Liar Liar, and for her unique, low-octave voice.-Career:... |
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| Caroline | Patricia Hitchcock Patricia Hitchcock Patricia "Pat" Hitchcock O'Connell is a British-born American actress and producer.-Early life and career:Born in London as the only child of film director Alfred Hitchcock and film editor Alma Reville, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1939, as her father would quickly make his mark... |
Rita Wilson Rita Wilson -Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey.... |
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| California Charlie | John Anderson John Anderson (actor) -Biography:Born in Clayton, John Anderson grew up in Quincy and Adams County, Illinois.Prior to a prolific acting career, Anderson served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II where he met artist Orazio Fumagalli who became one of his best lifelong friends.He was known for several... |
James LeGros James LeGros James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:... |
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| Highway Patrol Officer | Mort Mills Mort Mills Mort Mills was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 200 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1957-1959 he had a recurring co-starring role as Marshal Frank Tallman in Man... |
James Remar James Remar James Remar is an American actor and voice artist. He has appeared in movies, video games, and TV shows. He is perhaps best known as Richard, the on-off tycoon boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character in Sex and the City, as Ajax in The Warriors, as the homicidal maniac Albert Ganz in the 1982... |
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| Mary Loomis | Meg Tilly | ||||
| Dr. Bill Raymond | Robert Loggia Robert Loggia Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy... |
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| Warren Toomey | Dennis Franz Dennis Franz Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt... |
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| Sheriff John Hunt | Hugh Gillin Hugh Gillin Hugh Gillin was an American film and television actor. Gillin was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He is best known for playing Sheriff John Hunt in Psycho II and III. Gillin has appeared in a total of 75 films and television series... |
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| Ralph Statler | Robert Alan Browne Robert Alan Browne Robert Alan Browne is an American actor most notably recognized for his role as John Perkins on NBC's soap opera Santa Barbara, a role that he portrayed in 1984. He also played a minor character in Psycho II and Psycho III.-External links:... |
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| Myrna | Lee Garlington Lee Garlington Ann Leslie "Lee" Garlington is an American actress.Garlington was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. She has guest starred in a number of notable television series, including The West Wing, 7th Heaven, 8 Simple Rules, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy, L.A... |
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| Maureen Coyle | Diana Scarwid Diana Scarwid Diana Scarwid is an American actress. Scarwid has done work in film, television and theater.-Personal life:Scarwid was born in Savannah, Georgia, and left Georgia at the age of 17, heading to New York to become an actress. She graduated from Pace University and The American Academy of Dramatic... |
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| Duane Duke | Jeff Fahey Jeff Fahey Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:... |
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| Tracy Venable | Roberta Maxwell Roberta Maxwell -Background:Roberta Maxwell began studying for the stage at the age of 12. She joined John Clark for 2 years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television, before becoming the youngest actress apprentice at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario,to pursue... |
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| Alex West | Bud Cort Bud Cort Bud Cort is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's 1971 film Harold and Maude and the titular hero in Robert Altman's 1970 film Brewster McCloud... |
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| Willie | Lori Petty Lori Petty Lori Petty is an American film and television actress best known for playing "Tyler Endicott" in Point Break in 1991, "Kit Keller" in A League of Their Own in 1992, and the title role in Tank Girl in 1995.-Early life:... |
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| Henry Watson | Moses Gunn | ||||
| Tom Fuller | Gregg Henry Gregg Henry Gregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:... |
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| Sally | Khrystyne Haje Khrystyne Haje Khrystyne Kamil Haje is an American television and film actress who is best known for her role as Simone Foster in the television series Head of the Class.-Biography:... |
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| Tony Scotti | Jason Bateman Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden... |
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| Barbara Peters | Kerrie Keane Kerrie Keane Kerri Keane is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Obsessed... |
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| Fran Ambrose | CCH Pounder CCH Pounder Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder , known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder , is a Guyanese-American film and television actress... |
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Home media
Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning, the Psycho remake, and Bates Motel have been released on VHS. A DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
box set containing the films Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning was released in Fall 2003 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
in the UK. In America, Psycho was released on DVD on May 26, 1998 and a 2-Disc Special Edition with digitally remastered picture and new extras was released on October 7, 2008. As for the sequels, Goodimes released Psycho II on DVD in full screen on March 2, 1999 and released Psycho III on September 28, 1999. Then, Universal re-released Psycho II and Psycho III on September 13, 2005. A "Triple Feature" collection containing Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning (for the first time on DVD) was released on August 14, 2007. The Psycho remake was released on DVD on August 29, 2000. To this day, Bates Motel has never been released on DVD. In 2010,The Psycho Legacy
The Psycho Legacy
The Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It...
documentary was released as a 2 disc set with the 87 minute documentary and 3 hours of special features.
List of DVDs
- Psycho:Special Edition (1998)
- Goodtimes DVD:Psycho II (1999)
- Goodtimes DVD:Psycho III (1999)
- Universal Legacy Series:Psycho 2-disc Special Edition (2008)
- Psycho (remake):Collector's Edition (2000)
- Universal Triple Feature Collection:Psycho II,Psycho III,Psycho IV:The Beginning (2007)
- Psycho:The Collection I-IV (2003)
- Psycho II (re-release) (2005)
- Psycho III (re-release) (2005)
- The Psycho LegacyThe Psycho LegacyThe Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It...
2 Disc Special Edition (2010) - Psycho 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray Edition (2010)
Continuity
Bates MotelBates Motel
Bates Motel is a 1987 television movie about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the infamous Bates Motel.-Plot:...
, a telefilm produced in 1987, was a partial continuation of the series as it continued from where Psycho left off yet ignored continuity with Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning due to the death of Norman Bates in the film, while in "Psycho II", Bates is deemed sane and returns to the Bates Motel. Psycho
Psycho (1998 film)
Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
(1998), a shot-for-shot remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the first film is not considered to be an official sequel of the original series as it breaks complete continuation from the last film "Psycho IV: The Beginning". It is sometimes referred to as a reboot of the Psycho series, however, some still consider it an installment of the films.There are also some continuity problems in "Psycho IV: The Beginning" that have to due with some of the past events explored in "Psycho","Psycho II" and "Psycho III".
Legacy
The original Bates Motel and Psycho house are on display at Universal Studios California. The set was used for the filming of Psycho II, Psycho III, the failed TV pilot "Bates Motel" and the 1998 remake of the original Psycho. The house and motel are still major tourist attractions at Universal. In 1988, a Bates Motel and Psycho house set was built for the filming of Psycho IV: The Beginning in Universal Studios Florida. The set remained at Universal Studios Florida until 1999, when the set was torn down. To this day the Bates Motel and Psycho house set have remained at Universal Studios California. Some of the props and set pieces are on display at Universal Studios California and Universal Studios Florida. The Psycho films have become one of the most recognizable film franchises in the history of the horror genre. And one of the highest grossing horror franchises with over 118 million dollars in box office returns. The original Psycho has been called the first modern day horror film and was responsible for starting the slasher genre in the early 1970's. The shower scene alone has become one of the most notorious cut scenes in cinema history. Psycho has also been referenced, parodied and spoofed in over 1000 different pieces of media including movies, TV shows, comic strips, articles and more. All the "Psycho" sequels have been nominated for various awards. Tom HollandTom Holland
Tom Holland may refer to:*Tom Holland , American film director*Tom Holland , British author*Tom Holland , British actor*Tom Holland , English footballer...
was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe award for writing Psycho II, Psycho III
Psycho III
Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
was nominated for a Saturn award for Best Horror Film and Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
was also nominated for a Saturn award for Best Genre Television Series. There has been past Psycho merchandise such as posters, t-shirts, shower curtains, DVDs, books; all that are mostly sold at gift shops at Universal Studios. Much of the merchandise is related to the fictional "Bates Motel". Items with the "Bates Motel" logo on them include shot glasses, postcards, light up signs, stationary, mugs, hats, pens and more.
External links
- The Psycho Movies - A comprehensive site for the film series.