Review of Psycho III (1986) by Tim B — 06 Jul 2013

Bates Motel is the first television show I'm keeping up to date with in real time since X-Files. That show ended in 2003. So yeah, it's been about ten years... It takes a lot out of me to truly get into a TV series.

So seeing as how I have to wait almost another year until Season 2 of Bates Motel, I decided to fill the void by watching all the Psycho flicks. Psycho is such a staple, man I love that flick... was great to watch it for the umpteenth time.

Psycho 2, I find, is a fantastic sequel. Gave the original respect while standing on its own two feet. It was a shocker to me that I liked it as much as I did (along with Bates Motel). Now we get Psycho 3 which dumbs down after Psycho 2 (could you really surpass the first two?) but also has fun with its scenarios.

This scenario was all about Norman Bates, through and through. This entry ranks him amongst other slashers of the genre with Jason, Freddy etc. He isn't a full blown loony who enjoys killing (like them) but that 'star of the show' stat is there with this one.

The study and complexity of the character was what gave me the most intrigue with this entry. On top of starring in the flick, Anthony Perkins took it upon himself to take the director's chair for this one.

No one knows the story like Perkins and he did outstanding for his first role behind the camera.There are some outstanding shot compositions and certain camera angles that definitely acted as an homage to the original Psycho.

You can take it or leave it but I'm a huge fan of the first one and it definitely had me swooning. Suspense was to a minimum, but still effective while the story kept me engaged enough (though also a big take on the original's plot).

Anthony Perkins owns the role at this point and brought through his character dualities very well. RIP, you wonderful man. Diana Scarwid gave a good showing and conveyed a lot of emotion throughout. Jeff Fahey stole every scene he was in and gets all the best lines.

So many one-liners have been used to my own vocabulary thanks to Jeff Fahey. Great showing from a great actor... Roberta Maxwell grated me. I found her character very annoying. Not entirely her fault though.

Hugh Gillin came across as hammy in most scenes, not helped by the hammy lines he had to say throughout. On top of this there's a ton of gore and some titties for the horror junkie, a great score by Carter Burwell (own it), an interesting take on Scarwid's character (faith in God.

.. different for a slasher flick) and a little humor thrown in for good measure. I'm also surprised that Psycho 3 attempted to discard the mystery of Part 2. Normally I'm not down when a sequel goes with 'let's just ignore what the previous one did' but here, it fit.

Cool. Alas, since this entry dumbed down a bit... some elements that made the first two epic was also dumbed down for this entry. First off, one particular character should've gotten killed off and didn't.

I won't name names but it won't be hard to figure out. Major plot holes were also pretty major throughout. The police were seen as dumbasses again. Not only did they overlook some pretty major accusations (missing people are in the swamp? Let's NOT check there!) but also but also couldn't piece together the mystery that another (stupid) character solved in like 8 hours.

In all, although not as extreme as the first two flicks, Psycho respected them while trying to do its own thing and had fun with it. An involving romance/storyline, sympathy for the murderer (unique), some warped humor, an incredible score, gore/titties and watching Anthony Perkins perform is worth the watch alone.

Whether you're hardcore for Hitchcock's classic or not (you best believe I am), you should find something to like with this one. On to Part 4!