D'ya know what? It's pretty damn good.

Take the bit where Norman is searching for Mother, first around the house, getting gradually more and more frustrated, until he finds the note telling him she's in Cabin 12. Then we get the best shot in the whole film, Norman making his way down the full length of the motel, the camera following just his worried face all the way along, a beautiful tracking shot. This one extended shot conveys perfectly Norman's innermost fears as to why he can't be without Mother. It also proves Perkins' direction to be top notch. A lesser director would just cut to Norman opening the door to Cabin 12 and having the set to with Duke. Mr. Perkins deserves far more plaudits for this film than he ever got.

This is my favorite scene in the whole of Psycho III and I agree with every word you said. The music is haunting. Norman's rage and confusion is building. "Mother! Where ARE you?" he screams in panic as he smashes his candy corn bag on the table. The gathering clouds, the flapping ticker tape, the eerie quality of the whole scene, and Woody Woodpecker laughing. Tony Perkins shone as a director and it's a travesty that he didn't get more credit for it. He was a genius who missed out on some awards he well deserved. Psycho II is good, but for sheer atmosphere, dark humor and reverent nods to Alfred Hitchcock, it's III all the way for me.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

You're right, I was really impressed with Psycho III, it deserves a higher rating on here, I liked it just as much as II (maybe more?)
I can understand fans of the original being turned off by some of the sleazy-ness of P3 but I thought it worked and It added a very 80s vibe which highlighted the passage of time between the original film and III - some things change but some things stay very much the same. This movie has a lot of fun callbacks and similar camera shots etc to Psycho, Anthony Perkins did a great job directing imo.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

I totally agree. I love II also, but I actually prefer III. Perkins did a great job with the directing.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

reply share

add reply

formatting help

this feels like the goofiest of the sequels, i guess it partly suffers from being of this time period where they like to get creative with the weird camera shots and horrible 1980's score, you got to give it sure starts off differently, it makes you wonder how far off it would have seemed to have gone if this was the direct sequel after psycho (1960) instead of the third instalment, even his hairstyle has changed from the previous two movies, there are some revisited things from the original in this that weren't in the 2nd, like the bird interest, there is a bit of drop in the cast while some roles return from the 2nd psycho movie, as well as some lines, funny how the flashbacks to the 2nd flick just a few years prior to this is shown in black and white, man, that is one weed filled porch he's sitting on, and the ending of this is so memorable. i wonder if the 2nd flick would get a better reception without the string of (80's, 90's tv movie) sequels that followed it, still i'm happy they were made as i was actually just as hooked on those when i saw them as a teen... who am i kidding, i still freaking love these sequels, it's the original norman bates back in the old house, there is something enjoyable about these sequels, many seem to even prefer this over the second movie, and it's a perfect example of the deterioration since 1960's, you wouldn't expect mother bates to stand for all this sinful behaviour in her motel.



🚿 👵 🛎 🐦 🦉 🍞 🚪 🚓 🛣




youre a witch its plain to see,
you dont even try to hide it,
by your face,
the voices you make,
still i cant go,
cant break the spell of your control.

reply share

add reply

formatting help