
It's 22 years later. And Norman Bates is coming home. After being judged as "legally sane" in a court of law, Norman Bates is released from a mental institution, against the protests of Lila Loomis (the sister of Marion Crane). Upon his return to his home (and the motel which lays in its shadow) Norman strikes up a friendship with Mary, a waitress at a local diner. Just as he tries to adjust back to normality, the murders around the site of the Bates Motel. Has Mrs. Bates ret... (Full plot summary below)
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It's 22 years later. And Norman Bates is coming home. After being judged as "legally sane" in a court of law, Norman Bates is released from a mental institution, against the protests of Lila Loomis (the sister of Marion Crane). Upon his return to his home (and the motel which lays in its shadow) Norman strikes up a friendship with Mary, a waitress at a local diner. Just as he tries to adjust back to normality, the murders around the site of the Bates Motel. Has Mrs. Bates returned to pull Norman's strings again, or is the bloodbath someone else's handy work?
Leave your thoughts about Psycho II.
| Miami HeraldBill CosfordPsycho II doesn’t live up to the original, but doesn’t dishonor it either, even though its allegiances are clearly with Hitchcock’s film rather than Robert Bloch’s words. Psycho II isn’t perfect or brilliant. But it was good enough to successfully bring a beloved cinematic fixture back into action after an extended hibernation, and savvy and soulful enough to realize that what makes Norman Bates such an icon isn’t his monstrousness, but his trembling, eminently relatable humanity. |
| Washington PostRita KempleyDirector Richard Franklin and screenwriter Tom Holland can’t seem to figure out if Psycho II should resemble a film from the 1950s or the 1980s, so they split the difference, and the result is a bland, meandering movie with no real look or tone at all. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIt's too heavy on plot and too willing to cheat about its plot to be really successful, but it does have its moments, and it's better than your average, run-of-the-mill slasher movie. |
| EmpireKim NewmanSurprisingly, even after waiting 20 years, they managed to turn out a smart, darkly-comic thriller with some imaginative twists. |
| The New York TimesVincent CanbyThough Psycho II is essentially camp entertainment, Mr. Perkins plays Norman as legitimately as possible, and sometimes to real comic effect. His new Norman doesn't seem as much rehabilitated as reconstituted, but as what? That's the point of the film. |
| Chicago ReaderDave KehrFor much of its length, the film is a surprisingly serious plea for the rights of the mentally ill and the legitimacy of the insanity defense. When the need to make a commercial shocker finally asserts itself, the film shifts gears with unseemly, damaging haste. Though far from a worthy successor to the original the film clearly could have been much worse. |
| Washington PostGary ArnoldAlthough Psycho II is obviously a travesty masquerading as a sequel, it's impossible to tell how deliberate the ludicrous aspects of the masquerade were meant to be. In fact, the best sustained mystery element of the show derives from stylistic sloppiness and confusion. |
| User ReviewJPKNot Bad In All Honesty Psycho II is definitely nowhere even close to being as good as the original, But this is still a good sequel with a fantastic performance once again from Anthony Perkins. |
| User ReviewHighlander372Although Psycho II is nowhere near as amazing as the first, but it's still a watchable movie. I do believe that it's better than most second installments from other slasher franchises. As far as sequels go, they tried their best with this one. |
| User Reviewmaskedrider29Making a sequel to a Hitchcock film can't be an easy one. Especially because Hitchock had been dead for a few years by the time this came out. But, I think this movie is a pretty good follow-up. Making sure Anthony Perkins returned, this movie feels in the same vain as the original. |