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Summary: This is one of the few sequels that is worth watching!
Review: I really like this film, it has everything in it, as did the original. It even has Alfred! I've seen this film six times and it was the first time I noticed it! Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly walk into "Mother"'s room for the first time. Look to the right of the screen, Alfred is "back from the dead"! I have all the Psycho films except for number 4. This film is great!
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Summary: this movie is the best psycho movie made
Review: To me, Psycho 2 was the best pyscho movie made at of all the pyscho movies made. It was like ten times better than the first one.
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Summary: Can you say PSYCHO????
Review: PSYCHO PSYCHO PSYCHO PSYCHO ...in other words it ruled. I loved the movie...it is scarry and unpredictable. Buy it today!!
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Summary: Psycho II Reviewed
Review: Psycho II picks up twenty two years after the original, when Norman Bates is released from a mental hospital and returns home, the murders happen again as Norman tries to fix up the motel and make it respectable. END
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Summary: He's BACK!!!
Review: Psycho II is a good follow-up to the Hitchock classic. It's not a masterpiece by any means, like its 1960 predecessor, but it does a decent job of re-introducing audiences to Norman Bates for a bloodier, more violent film that delivers decent suspense. A terrific cast, which includes pre-fame Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue) and the wonderful Meg Tilly, as well as the return of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and Vera Miles as Lila, add to the fun. Wish Janet Leigh had somehow made a cameo.This is the plot in a nutshell: Norman Bates has been locked away in a mental institution for over 20 years, but is finally released. Lila Loomis, Marion Crane's (Janet Leigh) sister, protests his release, but her arguments fall on deaf ears. Now Bates is back in town and trying to do right by working in a small diner. Soon he starts to see his long-deceased mother in the Bates Motel window and brutal murders start once again. Could it be Bates or is someone else feeding their deviant need to kill? Psycho II starts off with the famous shower scene from the original Psycho and holds interest. The film could have resorted to the cheap slasher techniques of the day, but instead it concentrates on developing the character of Norman Bates--a sympathetic soul who is fighting to overcome his past and live as a normal person. Norman is a victim of crazed people who insist on persecuting him and, as a result, seems incredibly sane by comparison. Unfortunately the end to Psycho II contradicts this development, turning Norman into a leering loon in preparation for another sequel. It would impossible for Psycho II to live up to the original, but the cast and crew give it their best shot. The film is actually pretty competent throughout, though the silly finale ruins what is otherwise an interesting and suspenseful (if totally unnecessary) sequel. Overall, this is a decent sequel with a great cast, and worth seeing for fans of the original, who may or may not like it. Either way, it's good to see and compare.
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Summary: As good as sequels get.
Review: The original "Psycho," a classic in the great tradition of Hitckcock's many films, brought so much to the world of movies that it was hard to imagine that any sequel to a movie as stupendous as this would be any good. Sequels, especially those of the horror genre, tend to be very trite and uninvolving, which is why, after watching "Psycho II," I was in a state of shock over how good it actually was. Of course, it's not Hitchcock, and will never live up to the caliber of the first film, but for what it's worth, it gets its formula right and keeps it right. The movie picks up many years later, after the horrific murders at the Bates Motel, and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) has just been released back into the world despite harsh protest from Lila Crane (Vera Miles), the sister who stopped at nothing to find her sister, Bates's shower victim. He returns to the motel, a drug-ridden sex house run by a sleazy man, and to his home, the place where his mental problems all began. And soon they begin resurfacing. He is haunted once again by the voice of his mother, as well as by images of events gone by. At his new job, he is befriended by Mary Samuels (Meg Tilly), who, after being kicked out by her boyfriend, moves into Norman's house. From the beginning, she feels very uncomfortable there, even more so when strange, incriminating things occur. Of course, all eyes look to Norman, but we know that he is not responsible. But who is? It's hard to believe that this movie is as good as it is, though it's not so hard to explain why. The movie gets it right by choosing to place most of the movie in the Bates home, which was rarely seen in the first film. Recalling the way in which that house looked so foreboding from the outside, it's absolutely intriguing to actually see the guts of it, to get to see the inside of the house. Seeing everything inside makes the voices and images that haunt Norman believable and convincing. Perkins must also be commended for the film's surprising success. He is able to keep the timidity and degree of gentility that his character possessed in the first outing, and that's what makes us able to care more for him in this film. There's also a very nice suspense and mystery factor to be dealt with, something unusual in horror sequels. The movie wastes no time in setting Norman up for a fall that is not his fault, and up until the point when we know who is actually behind everything that goes on, the movie is very tense and interesting. And then we have a nicely done climax, in which all is revealed to the viewer, and we realize what has been going on. But just as we can begin to feel some sort of slight sympathy for Norman, the movie goes on, and in the final, anticlimactic sequence involving a woman claiming to be his mother, the movie ends with yet another possibility of a sequel, and things go sour. But, for what it's worth, "Psycho II" stands on its own as one of the better horror sequels to come along ever. It stays in touch with the nuances of the original, and plays on its old tricks in new ways. The mystery and intrigue can sometimes reach a fever pitch, though the ending is a bit unfitting. All-in-all, a well-crafted thriller.
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Summary: He`s back...
Review: I remember sitting in a moviehouse November 1983 and we where ALL terrified! No, it isn`t Halloween... But it`s still great and in my opinon, superior to the 1960-film...
2day`s writers should learn by watching this film... Here the characters are introduced and the slowpaced narrative just builds a tension within us.... It`s a must-see.... Perkins is brilliant as Norman... he knows his character.... Vera Miles and Meg Tilly shines too....
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Summary: I Too Preferred The Movie to the Book!
Review: Like most fans of the Psycho movies I prefer the original Psycho movie that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock but I think Psycho II movie was good and has Norman being declared cured and now completely sane enough to be released and he returns home and gets a job in a diner that his near his old house and motel but someone not happy that Norman has been released decides to get revenge on him and that leads to tragedy! I also read the book Psycho II by Robert Bloch and the plots of the book and movie are different and I think the plot of the movie is better and it is very rare when a movie is actually better than the book!
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Summary: IS HE SANE?
Review: Nowhere near as cheesy as you'd expect a sequel to Hitchcock's classic to be, Psycho 2 holds up rather well on its own, even tossing in a couple twists in the bargain.
After 20 years in the looney pen, Normal is sure he is sane. So are we. Over and over in the first quarter, we realize how normal Norman is, just more normal than others. The ambience is eerie, the music a good homage/extension to its predecessor, and the screenplay quite engaging.
When they do begin, the murders are quite gruesome. Must have been tough to top the amnesia-defying scenes of the original -- e.g. the superbly edited shower murder, or that falling down the long line of steps -- so it seems Richard Franklin deliberately went for shock value. Although in a day and age that extol harrowing mayhem like Kill Bill, this is probably meek stuff.
The film dramatically dips in the last quarter and anyone who calls it unpredictable must have been simultaneously cooking pasta or calling long distance. I could see the "twist" coming from a mile. As the film ramps up towards what looks to be a juicy climax, everything comes asunder and...and....ok, let me refrain from spoiling what little is there to enjoy.
In sum, Psycho 2 is neither great art nor amazing cinema but still a very decent one-time number. To its credit, it at least manages an arm's length from the nutty slasher flick genre.
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Summary: Lives up to the lagecy
Review: "Psycho II" is not as good as the first, but it has so many things going for it, that I had to give it 5 stars. It starts out 23 years after Bates was arrested for the murders at his motel. He has been judged sane and relesed. Lila Crane is not happy. It was her sister Marian who was killed there all thpse years ago, and she wants blood. As soon as Norman returns to the motel, he starts seeing his mother and notes that she's leaving. At the diner that he works at, he meets a young woman who needs a place to stay, so he offers a room in his house, even though he knows he's starting to crack up again. Now, a few murders later, things start going bad from there. Anthony Perkins returns as Norman, and he is a little more subtle now, sympathetic, more a victom than a killer. Vera Miles also returns as Lila Crane, maybe as mad now with grief as Norman was back then. Meg Tilly plays the waitress who is a little more than she appears to be. Robert Loggia plays Dr. Raymond who is trying hard to keep Norman on the streight and narrow, he is alright. Of course the movie's violence is bloodier than the original. The mystery is good and complicated, with a twist at the end that is worthy of the original film.
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