Psycho II (1983)
Directed by Richard Franklin
Horror sequels are super super common. Just look at the Friday the 13th series and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series as examples. Whether or not a movie warrants a sequel, doesn’t necessarily matter, hell they made two Sorority House Massacre movies! Psycho II is an odd case of a sequel where it was made 20 years after the original. Does it live up to the original? That’s what I wanted to know so I bought a bundle DVD set of Psycho II, III, IV, and Bates Motel.
The plot revolves around Norman Bates being let out of the mental institution after he is deemed no longer a threat to anyone. Norman is given a job as a cook at the local diner and he opens up his hotel again. While at work Norman meets Mary, a young waitress down on her luck. She moves in with Norman and the two develop a friendly bond. All the while someone keeps leaving notes and calling Norman claiming to be his dead mother. You can see Norman slowly begin to crack and revert to his deranged ways from the first film. With Mary’s help Norman is able to fight off his demons initially but they get stronger and stronger as the movie continues. Suddenly people begin dying off and Norman is the first to blame. Did he kill the people or was it Mary? It could be anyone really!
The acting is pretty good. Anthony Perkins does a great job reprising his role as Norman Bates and he is excellent at playing a mentally troubled man, but yet seems rather gentle and caring at the same time. Mary is played by Meg Tilly, Jennifer Tilly’s sister. She does an apt job, she’s not great but she’s slightly above average. It is funny how much Meg and Jennifer look alike, except Jennifer is crazy stacked and Meg is not. Robert Loggia plays Norman’s doctor. Yes Robert Loggia, that’s R as in Robert Loggia, O as in Oh my god that’s Robert Loggia, B as in by god that’s Robert Loggia…yeah you get it. He basically plays the same character he plays in every other movie he’s in. Kind of scruffy, hard around the edges but encouraging and thoughtful.
The kills are pretty fun in this and the gore is alright. One scene a woman gets a knife through her screaming mouth which made me wince, so that was rather effective. Others are your typical stabbings, common for the genre. While the kills are kind of tame by slasher standards, it is the atmosphere and tension that truly makes the film. You keep wondering who is making these calls to Norman, who is writing these notes and is it Meg’s mom or just Norman finally cracking? The ending wraps everything up rather cleverly but I wont ruin it for you. Even though this movie is 30 years old, I feel like not many people have seen it, so I will leave it up to you to see it.
I enjoyed Psycho II, it was a nice change from the hack and slash 80s movies without story or acting chops. If you like the original, you’ll enjoy this. The sequel stays truthful to the original, which is a masterpiece for sure. The atmosphere and tension really keep a relatively slow movie moving forward. The kills are decent but not over the top, the knife to the mouth especially was pretty awesome. I would give this a B. The acting really brings the movie up, but it was a little slow for me.
