"Psycho III" is a good sequel, but it's loaded with blood and disgusting moments that just make it a regular slasher film from the 80's with no sense of suspense or terror that made the first two films so good. Anthony Perkins again puts on a terrific performance as the nervous, stuttering Norman trying to cover up the murders his "mother" commits.
The plot picks up about one month after "Psycho II" left off. Norman is still "rehabilitated", reopened the motel, and is hiring some help. He meets up with a drifter named Duke (Jeff Fahey) who he hires as an assistant manager and with a young woman known as Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), who bears a striking resemblance to one of his former victims (who we all know of!). A snoopy reporter named Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell) is also around, trying to prove that Norman had something to do with the disappearance of Mrs. Spool, from "Psycho II".
There are so many scenes in this film that remind me of the original "Psycho" that it's not hard to figure out that Perkins was owing tribute to the master of suspense. Examples: reuse of the lines, "we all go a little mad sometimes" and "mother, oh god mother, blood! blood!", scenes of Janet Leigh getting hacked up in the shower, a woman who looks like Marion Crane, whom Norman falls in love with, scene with Norman looking through the peephole, a take on the shower scene but this time in a phone booth, the shouting matches with Mother, a take on the falling down the stairs death, and plenty of other ones I can't think of right now. There is way too much blood in this though, though "Psycho II" had it's share of violent moments, this entry goes overboard with the blood, and senseless killings. The cast is so so. Roberta Maxwell is annoying, Diana Scarwid is ok, and Jeff Fahey was downright nasty and awful. The only cast member who does a terrific job, as usual, is Anthony Perkins. This is followed by "Psycho IV: The Beginning", which was a made-for-tv prequel, but I don't consider it a real part of the series. It wasn't well made and it contradicts a lot of which the previous movies said happened. Just have the first three as a trilogy and you could get the real story of Norman.
The plot picks up about one month after "Psycho II" left off. Norman is still "rehabilitated", reopened the motel, and is hiring some help. He meets up with a drifter named Duke (Jeff Fahey) who he hires as an assistant manager and with a young woman known as Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), who bears a striking resemblance to one of his former victims (who we all know of!). A snoopy reporter named Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell) is also around, trying to prove that Norman had something to do with the disappearance of Mrs. Spool, from "Psycho II".
There are so many scenes in this film that remind me of the original "Psycho" that it's not hard to figure out that Perkins was owing tribute to the master of suspense. Examples: reuse of the lines, "we all go a little mad sometimes" and "mother, oh god mother, blood! blood!", scenes of Janet Leigh getting hacked up in the shower, a woman who looks like Marion Crane, whom Norman falls in love with, scene with Norman looking through the peephole, a take on the shower scene but this time in a phone booth, the shouting matches with Mother, a take on the falling down the stairs death, and plenty of other ones I can't think of right now. There is way too much blood in this though, though "Psycho II" had it's share of violent moments, this entry goes overboard with the blood, and senseless killings. The cast is so so. Roberta Maxwell is annoying, Diana Scarwid is ok, and Jeff Fahey was downright nasty and awful. The only cast member who does a terrific job, as usual, is Anthony Perkins. This is followed by "Psycho IV: The Beginning", which was a made-for-tv prequel, but I don't consider it a real part of the series. It wasn't well made and it contradicts a lot of which the previous movies said happened. Just have the first three as a trilogy and you could get the real story of Norman.
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