Psycho II (1983)

Directed by Richard Franklin. Starring Anthony Perkins, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Vera Miles, Dennis Franz, Hugh Gillin, Claudia Bryar, Robert Alan Browne, Lee Garlington. [R]

More than twenty years after the events of Psycho, Norman Bates (Perkins) is released from psychiatric care (much to Lila Crane’s outrage, played again here by Miles) and goes home. He gets work at a diner, feels scorn for the sleazy new Bates Motel owner (Franz), and takes in a friendly waitress (Tilly), who just happens be be Lila’s daughter; if glares from the locals and Lila’s hostility aren’t enough to upset Norman, he’s also haunted by the memories (and spectral voice) of his long dead mother. About as good a sequel as one could reasonably hope for, wisely limiting most of its overt homages to the original to the “recap” prologue, in-jokes, and exterior shots of the indelible house, with a pretty good performance from Perkins and a couple decent twists. Franklin is, of course, no Hitchcock, and although there are isolated moments of atmosphere and suspense, the kills usually come abruptly (emphasizing blood over scares) and its stabs (sorry) at dark humor don’t always work, negating the already second-rate chills. Although a Robert Bloch novel called Psycho II was published the year before this film was released, the two bear virtually no resemblance to each other.

60/100