Mother Knows Best: The Forgotten Psycho Sequels

May 25, 2021 ● Cal Moores

It’s undeniable that throughout the whole of the 1980s nothing was more popular than the slasher movie; horror franchises ruled the box offices worldwide and we were all treated to an endless slew of masked killers, stalkers in the night, and reanimated corpses. Year after year the same group of movies released their inevitable sequels, and for almost a full decade the genre was helmed by unstoppable killing machines such as Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Leatherface. However, there was one serial killer who still waited in the shadows, patiently biding his time since 1960 and after 23 years, Norman Bates returned home.

Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal masterpiece Psycho was released to great critical acclaim and insatiable amounts of public backlash in 1960. Nominated for multiple Academy Awards and at the same time being hammered by censors for showing a flushing toilet and for lead actor Anthony Perkins not being a heterosexual conformist. Psycho still remains one of the most perfectly crafted pieces of cinema ever produced and will go down in history as being the film that started the ‘slasher’ genre as we know it.

Despite its huge cultural impact and influence on the horror genre as a whole, it took Hollywood a staggering 23 years to release a sequel. I personally believe that comes down to two major factors: the first being that nobody in their right mind would want to be involved with making a follow-up movie to one of the greatest and most influential films ever created, and the second being that horror movies meant big bucks in 80’s Hollywood, everything even slightly horror related had a sequel made, so why not Psycho. 

I’m in absolutely no doubt that Psycho II (1983) was made with the intention of being nothing but a quick cash-grab, even just thinking about there being more than one of these movies still boggles my brain. So you may be utterly shocked to learn that I, a horror movie fan, think that Psycho II is better in every single way than its predecessor.

Now at this point, you may want to stop reading and sure I’ll totally understand, call me sacrilegious, call me a fake horror fan. I don’t care that I adore these stupid little films, they’re utterly pointless and that’s what makes them perfect.

Anthony Perkins reprises his role of mummy’s boy, Norman Bates in this film and you simply can’t take your eyes off him every time he’s on screen. He owns this movie (and the whole franchise) and he really gets a chance to show off some serious acting chops in this picture. The story focuses on a recently released Bates who returns back to his mother’s motel following the events of the first film. He’s now been certified sane and wants to live out his days in peace working in the local greasy spoon diner. However, things don’t go to plan when people begin going missing and Norman begins receiving phone calls from his apparently dead mother.

Psycho II really hits it out of the park by not being what the audience was expecting whatsoever. It’s a thriller and a slow burn one at that. It takes its time showing us how Norman is trying to come to terms with his past and simply trying to be a normal guy once again.

The film focuses heavily on how difficult life is outside of prison for offenders, it shows us how they deal with previous versions of themselves and how the general public simply won’t allow them to move on from their past mistakes. Apologies for the spoilers but Norman actually only murders one person in the entire two-hour runtime of the movie and I won’t lie, they totally deserved it. But besides that, all the other killings are carried out by somebody else with the intention of framing our now rehabilitated Bates, and back in 1983 having a horror movie based around this premise is quite simply outstanding filmmaking. 

Psycho III (1986) on the other hand, takes everything established in Psycho II, throws it out the window, stabs it a few times and leaves it for dead in a phone booth and needless to say, it’s incredible.

Perkins naturally returns once again as our now entirely insane once again Norman Bates and also helms the director's chair on this movie and surprisingly enough he does an outstanding job of creating one of the most intelligent slashers of the 1980s. There’s no denying that Psycho III is nothing but a surprisingly nudity filled slasher, it’s a complete u-turn from the previous movies in the series and doesn’t let off the gas for its 90-minute runtime. With Norman killing every teenager, musician and drug dealer who steps foot on Bates Motel, it finally gives Perkins the opportunity to have some fun on screen and don his mother’s old outfit for the vast majority of the movie. Upon its release in 1986, it was slammed with entirely mixed reviews from critics, Variety wrote that it was “futilely trying to breathe new life into a tired body” whilst The Washington Post claimed it was "a playful, artfully made horror movie" and I personally agree with the latter of these statements. Psycho III is a hugely fun movie with some great kills and an utterly fantastic score which fits the tone of the film perfectly. What more do you want from a horror movie?

I’m just going to come out and say that this is when I jump ship on the franchise, there is quite simply not many movies worse than Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990).

Anthony Perkins yet again portrays our ‘hero’ Norman, who is now happily married with children and lives nowhere near the old Bates Motel after once again being declared as sane and released. Seriously? This guy straight up slaughtered about ten people in the previous movie and four years later he’s been set free? The judicial system in this universe is appalling.

Anyway, one evening whilst listening to the radio they begin talking about matricide and of course, our pal Norman knows all about that. He decides to ring this station and spend the rest of the movie recounting his childhood to the DJ at this radio station which sadly is shown to the audience via the use of dreaded flashbacks. Half of the movie's runtime is spent with Perkins being off-screen and when we do see him, we see Norman do absolutely nothing except chat to a lady down the phone. I completely understand that this was a made for television movie and clearly had some budget constraints, but the only reason anybody is still watching these films is for Anthony Perkins acting prowess, not for some child in an hour-long flashback. The entire movie was shot in just one month, being completely filmed at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, you can sense my eyes rolling, can’t you? But regardless of this film not being worth the celluloid it’s recorded on, once again Perkins is outstanding and shows off his acting chops as Norman one final time. 

Sadly, this was Perkins final on-screen portrayal of Norman Bates and one of his last acting roles in general, succumbing to HIV (after being diagnosed during the filming of Psycho IV) only two years after its release. However, still to this day, he remains the godfather of the modern slasher movie and one of my all-time favourite actors, starring in other brilliant movies such as Ken Russell’s immensely underappreciated Crimes of Passion (1984), Mike Nichols Catch-22 (1970) and Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974), my personal favourite adaptation of the classic novel.

So why don’t you stay at Bates Motel once more and check out Psycho II & III (maybe skip IV)? I promise you’ll have a killer time.

Cal Moores ● Writer

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Cal Moores is a Manchester based music photographer and sporadic film writer. Having a passion for films ranging from 80’s slashers to 70’s American New Wave. Never ask him what his favourite horror movie is, he’ll undoubtedly blurt out Psycho III and instantly regret it.