Psycho IV: The Beginning
Encyclopedia
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television
horror
film that serves as both the third (and final) 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. The events in it are inconsistent with the unsuccessful and little-seen network TV pilot Bates Motel
, broadcast shortly after Psycho III, in which Norman Bates dies in a mental institution. It was first broadcast on the Showtime cable network on November 10, 1990. The fourth and final film in the Psycho series, it stars Anthony Perkins
, Henry Thomas
, Olivia Hussey
and C. C. H. Pounder.
The film was written by Joseph Stefano
, who also wrote the screenplay of the original film. The original musical score was composed by Graeme Revell
.
is again released from the mental hospital he was placed in at the end of Psycho III
after serving another few years and is apparently rehabiliated for the second time. Norman is now married to a young nurse named Connie and is expecting a child. However, Norman fears that the child will inherit his mental illness
.
Meanwhile, radio talk show host Fran Ambrose is discussing the topic of matricide
with guest Dr. Richmond, Norman's former psychologist. The radio station receives a call from Norman, who uses the alias "Ed" to tell his story.
Norman's narrative is seen as a series of flashbacks set in the 1940s and 1950s, some slightly out of order
. When Norman is five years old, his father dies, leaving him in the care of his mother, Norma
. Over the years, Norma (who is implied to suffer from schizophrenia
and borderline personality disorder
) dominates her son, teaching him that sex is sin
ful and dressing him in girl's clothes as punishment for getting an erection
in her presence.
The two live isolated at the large house as if there is no one else in the world, until in 1950 she becomes engaged to a brutish man named Chet Rudolph, who helps build and finance their family motel. Driven over the edge with jealousy, Norman kills both of them by serving them poisoned iced tea, then steals and preserves his mother's corpse. He develops a split personality in which he "becomes" his mother to suppress the guilt of murdering her; when this personality takes over, he dresses in her clothes, puts on a wig, and talks to himself in her voice. As "Mother", he murders two local women who try to seduce him during their stay at his newly opened motel.
Dr. Richmond realizes "Ed" is Norman and tries to convince Ambrose to trace the calls. Richmond's worries are dismissed. Norman fears he will go insane and kill again. He tells Fran that Connie got pregnant against his wishes and that he does not want to create another "monster". He then tells Fran he realizes that his mother is dead, but that she will kill Connie "with my own hands, just like the first time."
Norman takes his wife to his mother's house and does attempt to kill her. But after Connie reassures Norman that their child will not be a monster, he drops his knife 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, his mother and eventually himself preserving her corpse. Bates barely gets out of the burning house alive.
He and Connie leave the next day, with Norman proclaiming himself finally free of his mother. The doors of the house cellar close on the rocking chair that continues to rock, while "Mother" cries to be freed. The screen fades to black and the sound of a baby crying is heard, indicating the birth of Norman's child.
in Orlando, Florida
from June 4 to July 13, 1990. The facade of the Bates Motel and the Bates mansion were re-created at the theme park. Anthony Perkins
wanted to direct the film but Psycho III
was a critical and financial failure so Universal rejected this idea and Mick Garris
was brought in. Joseph Stefano
was the screenwriter of the original film and was brought back to write the fourth film. He had disliked the two films between I and IV, feeling that they were too commercial and catered to the conventions of slasher movies. In an interview, Stefano stated "Gearing up for Psycho IV, I decided to ignore the two sequels – like the business in II about Norman’s mother."
Actress Olivia Hussey
was directly offered the role of Mrs. Bates. It was the intention of writer Joseph Stefano to make her at a young age as attractive as Norman had been in the first film. When Henry Thomas
was cast as Young Norman Bates
, Perkins wanted to meet with him and discuss the role. Thomas stated: (in the documentary The Psycho Legacy
) "Looking back on it now, he knew he had to have this conversation with me but I don't think that he was really into it. He just gave me a few broad strokes and told me to play the character real, that was it." During filming, Perkins was diagnosed with the Aids
virus and had to receive treatment during production. Director Mick Garris
has stated in numerous interviews that he had some creative control issues with Perkins. " He would get into long, drawn-out discussions in front of the crew, testing his director, making sure choices were not made "because it looks good", and seeing how deep the understanding of the story and process were. He could be very forceful, just shy of bullying, but also really appreciated helpful direction. I would have to say he was the most difficult and challenging actor I've every worked with, but he ended up going on and on about how happy he was with the film. That was gratifying", Garris says.
Although Stefano did not immediately disclose his decision to ignore the two sequels (thus ignoring the character of Norman's aunt Emma Spool
), horror fiction writer and critic Robert Price has noted that "Psycho IV seems to be intended as a direct sequel to the original Psycho, with no reference to Psycho II or III. Norman may have been healed and released from his first confinement, not from the confinement that takes place at the end of Psycho III." Horror writer James Futch regards this as a defect, complaining that the film "ignores much of the Psycho mythology".
in Region 1
as part of a triple feature package with Psycho II and Psycho III
on May 6, 2008 by Universal Studios
Home Entertainment.
Universal has also released some four-title Region 2 packages that include the 1960 original
A single-disc Region 2 version of Psycho IV (titled Psychose: L'origine) was released in France
in 2007 by Aventi Distribution.
Several characters common to film II and III are absent from IV including the new town sherriff, while several characters seen previously only in I reappear in the "prequel" material of IV such as Dr. Richmond. However, Price devoted an entire essay to the shifting identity of Norman's mother, whom over the series we alternately believe to be either Norma Bates or Emma Spool
, although both are mad.
Psycho II introduced the character of Norman's aunt Emma Spool
, and in that film both the audience of Psycho II and Norman Bates were led to believe she was Norman's real mother. (Indeed a few recent sources still refer to her as Norman's real mother.) In Psycho III, it was revealed she only delusionally believed she was Norman's mother, and furthermore Spool had been in a love triangle with Norman's father and mother and that she had killed Norman's father. By Stefano's conscious decision, Spool is wholly absent and never even mentioned in Psycho IV, according to which Norman's father died of multiple bee stings, while it is heavily implied in IV that Norman himself killed his mother, as is also stated in the Hitchcock original.
The events of the earlier and little-seen TV pilot Bates Motel in which Norman dies are also ignored in Psycho IV.
Reflecting on all these discontinuities, Robert Price writes "It seems that all the different Psychos drift into and out of one another. There is no real sequence. All are variant versions of the same myth. The deep conflict being rehearsed and resolved in these movies is that of the Oedipal complex".
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film that serves as both the third (and final) sequel and a prequel to 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...
'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. The events in it are inconsistent with the unsuccessful and little-seen network 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:...
, broadcast shortly after Psycho III, in which Norman Bates dies in a mental institution. It was first broadcast on the Showtime cable network on November 10, 1990. The fourth and final film in the Psycho series, it stars 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:...
, Henry 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:...
, 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...
and C. C. H. Pounder.
The film was written by 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...
, who also wrote the screenplay of the original film. The original musical score was composed by Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
.
Plot
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...
is again released from the mental hospital he was placed in at the end of 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...
after serving another few years and is apparently rehabiliated for the second time. Norman is now married to a young nurse named Connie and is expecting a child. However, Norman fears that the child will inherit his mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
.
Meanwhile, radio talk show host Fran Ambrose is discussing the topic of matricide
Matricide
Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, motives can vary significantly.- Known or suspected matricides :* Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC....
with guest Dr. Richmond, Norman's former psychologist. The radio station receives a call from Norman, who uses the alias "Ed" to tell his story.
Norman's narrative is seen as a series of flashbacks set in the 1940s and 1950s, some 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...
. When Norman is five years old, his father dies, leaving him in the care of his mother, Norma
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...
. Over the years, Norma (who is implied to suffer from schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
and borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
) dominates her son, teaching him that sex is sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
ful and dressing him in girl's clothes as punishment for getting an erection
Erection
Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...
in her presence.
The two live isolated at the large house as if there is no one else in the world, until in 1950 she becomes engaged to a brutish man named Chet Rudolph, who helps build and finance their family motel. Driven over the edge with jealousy, Norman kills both of them by serving them poisoned iced tea, then steals and preserves his mother's corpse. He develops a split personality in which he "becomes" his mother to suppress the guilt of murdering her; when this personality takes over, he dresses in her clothes, puts on a wig, and talks to himself in her voice. As "Mother", he murders two local women who try to seduce him during their stay at his newly opened motel.
Dr. Richmond realizes "Ed" is Norman and tries to convince Ambrose to trace the calls. Richmond's worries are dismissed. Norman fears he will go insane and kill again. He tells Fran that Connie got pregnant against his wishes and that he does not want to create another "monster". He then tells Fran he realizes that his mother is dead, but that she will kill Connie "with my own hands, just like the first time."
Norman takes his wife to his mother's house and does attempt to kill her. But after Connie reassures Norman that their child will not be a monster, he drops his knife 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, his mother and eventually himself preserving her corpse. Bates barely gets out of the burning house alive.
He and Connie leave the next day, with Norman proclaiming himself finally free of his mother. The doors of the house cellar close on the rocking chair that continues to rock, while "Mother" cries to be freed. The screen fades to black and the sound of a baby crying is heard, indicating the birth of Norman's child.
Cast
- Anthony PerkinsAnthony PerkinsAnthony 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:...
as Norman BatesNorman BatesNorman 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... - Henry ThomasHenry ThomasHenry 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:...
as Young Norman Bates - Olivia HusseyOlivia HusseyOlivia 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...
as Norma Bates - C. C. H. Pounder as Fran Ambrose
- Warren FrostWarren FrostWarren 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...
as Dr. Leo Richmond - Donna Mitchell as Connie Bates
- Thomas Schuster as Chet Rudolph
- Sharen Camille as Holly
- Bobbi Evors as Gloria
- John LandisJohn LandisJohn David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
as Mike Calvecchio - Kurt PaulKurt PaulKurt Paul is an American actor and stuntman. He is perhaps best known for his work within the Psycho movie franchise, where he performed as a stunt double for Anthony Perkins in Psycho II and Psycho III, and played "Mother" in all of the scenes of Psycho III except when Perkins' face was visible...
as Raymond Linette
Production
Psycho IV: The Beginning was filmed at Universal Studios FloridaUniversal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida is an American theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies," and it features numerous attractions and...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
from June 4 to July 13, 1990. The facade of the Bates Motel and the Bates mansion were re-created at the theme park. 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:...
wanted to direct the film but 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 a critical and financial failure so Universal rejected this idea and Mick Garris
Mick Garris
Mick Garris is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California.-Biography:He is best known for his adaptations of Stephen King stories, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers starring Madchen Amick and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror...
was brought in. 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...
was the screenwriter of the original film and was brought back to write the fourth film. He had disliked the two films between I and IV, feeling that they were too commercial and catered to the conventions of slasher movies. In an interview, Stefano stated "Gearing up for Psycho IV, I decided to ignore the two sequels – like the business in II about Norman’s mother."
Actress 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...
was directly offered the role of Mrs. Bates. It was the intention of writer Joseph Stefano to make her at a young age as attractive as Norman had been in the first film. When Henry 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:...
was cast as Young 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...
, Perkins wanted to meet with him and discuss the role. Thomas stated: (in the documentary 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...
) "Looking back on it now, he knew he had to have this conversation with me but I don't think that he was really into it. He just gave me a few broad strokes and told me to play the character real, that was it." During filming, Perkins was diagnosed with the Aids
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
virus and had to receive treatment during production. Director Mick Garris
Mick Garris
Mick Garris is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California.-Biography:He is best known for his adaptations of Stephen King stories, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers starring Madchen Amick and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror...
has stated in numerous interviews that he had some creative control issues with Perkins. " He would get into long, drawn-out discussions in front of the crew, testing his director, making sure choices were not made "because it looks good", and seeing how deep the understanding of the story and process were. He could be very forceful, just shy of bullying, but also really appreciated helpful direction. I would have to say he was the most difficult and challenging actor I've every worked with, but he ended up going on and on about how happy he was with the film. That was gratifying", Garris says.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews when first broadcasted on Showtime. Henry Stewart of L Magazine said: "Garris evinces high-grade professionalism, but his comic-book approximations of real emotions—like desire, madness and murderlust—feel empty. Hitchcock this most certainly ain’t." Ninja Dixon.com stated: "This is a good tv movie, way better than it's reputation, and continues the tradition of great acting in the series." Cult Reviews.com said: "The film is shot well, the fire sequence, by Rodney Charters, is particularly stunning. The only real trouble with this film is the bad writing, which, considering that it was the baby of the scriptwriter of the original, Joseph Stefano, is very disappointing indeed." Matt Poirier of Direct to Video Connoisseur.com stated: "This was a pretty unmemorable movie. It tried to make references to the original, like one where Perkins cuts his thumb, and the blood going into the drain mimics the blood in the famous shower scene. Way too obvious and pretty obnoxious." Despite some negative reviews, the film received high Nielson ratings with around 10 million viewers watching the premiere. 2 years after the film was released, it was nominated for a Saturn award for Best Genre Television Series.Although Stefano did not immediately disclose his decision to ignore the two sequels (thus ignoring the character of Norman's aunt 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...
), horror fiction writer and critic Robert Price has noted that "Psycho IV seems to be intended as a direct sequel to the original Psycho, with no reference to Psycho II or III. Norman may have been healed and released from his first confinement, not from the confinement that takes place at the end of Psycho III." Horror writer James Futch regards this as a defect, complaining that the film "ignores much of the Psycho mythology".
DVD releases
Psycho IV: The Beginning was released on 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....
in Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
as part of a triple feature package with Psycho II and 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...
on May 6, 2008 by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
Home Entertainment.
Universal has also released some four-title Region 2 packages that include the 1960 original
A single-disc Region 2 version of Psycho IV (titled Psychose: L'origine) was released in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 2007 by Aventi Distribution.
Series continuity
As noted in Production, screenwriter Joseph Stefano chose to ignore the events in Psycho II and III in ways that a few critics such as Robert Price and James Futch (see Reception) found detrimental.Several characters common to film II and III are absent from IV including the new town sherriff, while several characters seen previously only in I reappear in the "prequel" material of IV such as Dr. Richmond. However, Price devoted an entire essay to the shifting identity of Norman's mother, whom over the series we alternately believe to be either Norma Bates or 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...
, although both are mad.
Psycho II introduced the character of Norman's aunt 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...
, and in that film both the audience of Psycho II and Norman Bates were led to believe she was Norman's real mother. (Indeed a few recent sources still refer to her as Norman's real mother.) In Psycho III, it was revealed she only delusionally believed she was Norman's mother, and furthermore Spool had been in a love triangle with Norman's father and mother and that she had killed Norman's father. By Stefano's conscious decision, Spool is wholly absent and never even mentioned in Psycho IV, according to which Norman's father died of multiple bee stings, while it is heavily implied in IV that Norman himself killed his mother, as is also stated in the Hitchcock original.
The events of the earlier and little-seen TV pilot Bates Motel in which Norman dies are also ignored in Psycho IV.
Reflecting on all these discontinuities, Robert Price writes "It seems that all the different Psychos drift into and out of one another. There is no real sequence. All are variant versions of the same myth. The deep conflict being rehearsed and resolved in these movies is that of the Oedipal complex".
See also
- Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- Psycho II (film), a 1983 sequel to the first film (unrelated to the novel Psycho II)
- Psycho IIIPsycho IIIPsycho 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...
, a 1986 sequel to the first film - Bates MotelBates MotelBates 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 network television movie & proposed series pilot - Psycho (1998 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...
, a near shot-for-shot remake of the original directed by Gus Van Sant - 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...
, 2010 documentary about the series