Psycho II (film)

Psycho II
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Franklin
Produced by	Bernard Schwartz Hilton A. Green
Written by	Tom Holland
Starring	Anthony Perkins Vera Miles Robert Loggia Meg Tilly
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Editing by	Andrew London
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 3, 1983 (1983-06-03)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$5,000,000 (est.) [1]
Box office	US$34,725,000 [2]

Psycho II is a 1983 American psychological thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and written by Tom Holland. It is the sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and stars Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Robert Loggia and Meg Tilly. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

The film did well financially (leading to two further sequels) and moderately well critically. Several critics^[3] noted that the film worked hard to sustain the suspenseful atmosphere of the original. Inevitably, it was seen lacking the unique Hitchcock touch, with the plot weakened by the contrivance of leaving the door open for further sequels.

It is unrelated to the 1982 novel Psycho II by Robert Bloch, which he wrote as a sequel to his original novel Psycho.

Plot

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is now being released from a mental institution after spending 22 years in confinement. Lila Loomis (Vera Miles), sister of Marion Crane, vehemently protests with a petition that she has been circulating with signatures of 743 people, including the relatives of the seven people Norman killed prior to his incarceration, but her plea is dismissed. Norman is taken to his old home, the Bates Motel, with the house behind it on the hill, by Dr. Bill Raymond (Robert Loggia), who assures him everything will be fine.

Norman is introduced to the motel's new manager, Warren Toomey (Dennis Franz). The following day, Norman reports to a prearranged job as a dishwasher and busboy at a nearby diner, run by a kindly old lady named Emma Spool (Claudia Bryar). One of his co-workers there is Mary Samuels (Meg Tilly), a young waitress. After work, Mary claims she has been thrown out of her boyfriend's place and needs a place to stay. Norman offers to let her stay at the motel, then extends the offer to his home when he discovers that Toomey has turned what had been a shabby but respectable establishment before Norman was committed into a sleazy adult motel.

Norman's adjustment back into society appears to be going along well until "Mother" begins to make her presence known. Norman gets mysterious notes from "Mother" at the house and diner. Phone calls come from someone claiming to be Norman's mother. The next day, drunk Toomey picks a fight at the diner after Norman fires him. Back at the motel Toomey yells hysterically up to the house at Norman saying he's moving out. Later, a human figure in a black dress walks in and slashed his face and stabs him to death with a kitchen knife as he is packing to leave the motel. As Norman begins to reconstruct his motel, he begins to doubt his sanity when he spots a human figure staring out of the upstairs window resembling his mother. Shocked by this, Norman runs into the house and enters his mother's bedroom to find it looks exactly as it did 22 years ago. A sound lures him to the attic, where he is locked in.

At the same time, a teenage couple, believing the house to be abandoned, sneaks in through the cellar window. As they were making out, they noticed a human female figure dressed in black pacing in the next room and heading towards the cellar trapdoor with a large kitchen knife. The girl tries to climb through a small window, but knocks over a pile of logs. As they try to climb out, the window slams down on his hands and the boy is stabbed to death. The girl escapes and alerts the police. Mary eventually finds Norman in the attic, but the door is unlocked confusing Norman. Minutes later, the sheriff arrives at the house and questions them about the boy's murder. He finds the cellar neat and orderly. Norman is about to admit that something suspicious is going on, but Mary claims that she has cleaned up the basement herself. After the sheriff leaves, Norman asks Mary why she lied. She explains that she had to save him from being arrested. Norman collapses into the chair with his head in his hands and moans, "It's starting again!"; Norman is aware that he is slipping into insanity again.

That evening, Mary goes down to the motel to look for a bottle of brandy. In the parlour she is surprised by Lila, who reveals herself to be Mary's mother and ask her why she alibied for him. She has been calling Norman claiming to be his mother; Mary has also been helping her. She was the figure Norman spotted in the window, and also restored mother's room in the house plus locking Norman in the attic. All of this was an attempt to drive Norman insane again and to have him recommitted. Mary's growing feelings for Norman, however, have been preying on her conscience, leaving her to reconsider her actions. Lila becomes annoyed at Mary for giving an alibi to the police, because she is desperate for Bates to be recommitted. Mary, however, believes Norman to be innocent and states there could be somebody else lurking in the house. As she leaves, Lila warns her that Norman will eventually kill her just like the rest. As Norman enters the bathroom he calls for Mary, and the two are horrified to find a bloody cloth that has been stuffed down the toilet and overflowing. Norman appears confused and believes he may have committed another murder. Mary tells Norman it could not have been him as he was in the attic, and tells Norman to make them both a drink.

As Mary cleans up the mess, she is startled when she discovers someone looking at her through a peephole in the bathroom wall. She screams and then calls out to Norman, who is downstairs and out of reach. Mary then returns to her room to fetch her gun, which she has been keeping in her bag, and enters Norman's mother's bedroom. As she enters, she discovers a peephole behind a painting and looks through and finds somebody else staring at her through the bathroom wall. Norman rushes to her aid and is saddened at her and aimed a gun at him in horror, thinking it is because of him she carries it, which Mary denies.

Norman goes downstairs into the kitchen, grabs a butcher knife for protection, and goes into the hallway to search for the intruder. As he walks towards the stairs he is shocked to hear a faint voice coming from the cellar calling his name. Norman then runs into Mary's room and locks the door stating his mother is downstairs waiting to kill Mary. Mary tells him his mother is dead but Norman states he was wrong and that she is alive. Mary, who to herself thinks Lila is tormenting him, tries to convince him to confront her, but Norman refuses, claiming it is to dangerous, and tells her that he will protect her through the night.

Meanwhile, Dr. Raymond discovers Mary's identity as Lila's daughter and informs Norman. He also orders the corpse of Norma Bates (which was buried in a proper grave after the events of the original film) to be exhumed, to prove that Norman is not being haunted by his mother. Mary admits to Norman that she has been part of Lila's ruse, and that while she now refuses to continue, Lila will not stop. Mary goes to Lila's hotel and tells her to leave Norman alone, mentioning the bloodied cloth and the peephole. Lila states her innocence, claiming she returned to her hotel after seeing Mary and their argument is overheard by a desk clerk. Lila tells Mary to dress up as "Mother" one last time to send him over the edge, which she refuses. Later, Lila drives over to Norman's house, unaware that Dr. Raymond is watching her from the Bates Motel as she sneaks into the cellar.

While removing her "Mother" costume from a loose stone in the floor, another human figure dressed as "Mother" steps out of the shadows and murders her, by shoving a knife through her throat. Dr. Raymond runs up to the house; Lila's body is not in the cellar and the "Mother" figure is gone. Norman enters the cellar and Dr. Raymond tells him about Lila and leaves the house to try and prove to Norman that Mary and Lila are the ones tormenting him. Meanwhile, Mary discovers that a car has been retrieved from the swamp, stunk with Toomey's dead body in the trunk. Realizing the police will shortly arrive to arrest Norman, Mary returns to warn him hysterically. The phone rings in the house. Norman answers, and starts speaking to his "mother" but it's actually Dr. Raymond who is calling Norman from the motel parlour telling him Lila used the office phone to place the calls but Norman believes he is still talking to his "mother". Mary listens in and discovers that nobody is on the line with Norman.

Terrified that Norman has slipped back into insanity, Mary runs downstairs into the cellar and quickly dresses up as Mother to confront Norman and arms herself with a large butcher knife. She picks up the phone and tells Norman she's his mother and tells him to hang up. Someone grabs her from behind as she is on top of the stairs calling out for Norman she screams and plunges the knife into Dr. Raymond as he falls upside down the stairs as the knife went into him further, who has sneaked back into the house. A stunned Mary runs downstairs and is confronted by a completely deranged Norman, who promises to cover up for "Mother." Mary tries to keep him away, repeatedly stabbing him in the hands and chest. He backs Mary into the fruit cellar to hide and slips on a pile of coal, which avalanches away from the wall, revealing Lila's body hidden behind it. A shocked Mary is now convinced that Norman has been committing the murders. Norman denies doing any of the killings and thinks "Mother" committed them. She raises her knife to stab him but is shot dead by one of the incoming police deputies. The sheriff inaccurately places a story to the authorities believing Mary committed all the murders and killed Lila to protect Norman. That evening, a woman walks up the steps to the Bates' mansion. Bandaged from his injuries, Norman has set a place for dinner when he hears a knock at the door. It is Emma Spool, the kindly woman from the diner.

Norman gives her a cup of tea. Ms. Spool tells him that she is his real mother, that Mrs. Bates was her sister, who adopted Norman as an infant while Ms. Spool was institutionalized. She further reveals that she was the murderer, having killed anybody who tried to harm her son. As she sips the tea, Norman kills her with a sudden blow to the head with a shovel. Norman is now completely insane again. He carries Ms. Spool's body upstairs to Mother's room and we hear Mother's voice warn Norman not to play with "filthy girls". Norman reopens the Bates Motel and stands in front of the house, waiting for new customers. Thunder is heard and Mother watches from the window upstairs.

Cast

• Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates
• Vera Miles as Lila Loomis
• Robert Loggia as Dr. Bill Raymond
• Meg Tilly as Mary Samuels
• Dennis Franz as Warren Toomey
• Hugh Gillin as Sheriff John Hunt
• Robert Alan Browne as Ralph Statler
• Claudia Bryar as Ms. Emma Spool

References to original

• The pseudonym that Meg Tilly uses in the film (Mary Samuels) is based on the pseudonym that Janet Leigh signs in with at the Bates Motel on her fateful night in the original film, Marie Samuels.
• Alfred Hitchcock's image makes an appearance in the first shot of the unused room. Just before the lights come on, the famous Hitchcock silhouette appears as a shadow on the armoire. Hitchcock was known for making cameo appearances in his films. The appearance of the silhouette was included as a tribute to Hitchcock.

Production

In 1982, author Robert Bloch published his novel Psycho II, which satirized Hollywood slasher films. Upset by this, Universal decided to make their own version that differed from Bloch's work.^[4] Originally, the film was intended as a made-for-cable production.^[5] Anthony Perkins originally turned down the offer to reprise the role of Norman Bates, but when the studio became interested in others (including Christopher Walken), Perkins quickly accepted.^[6] The studio also wanted Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Psycho star Janet Leigh) to play the role of Mary Loomis.^[6]

Psycho II was filmed at Universal Studios in Universal City, California on Stage 24 from June 30, 1982 to August 1982.^[5] The Bates house set was still standing from 1960, but the motel had to be reconstructed.^[5] The town of Fairvale (seen when Lila Loomis is tailed by Dr. Raymond) is actually Courthouse Square, which is located on the Universal Studios backlot in California.

The reflection of young Norman Bates in the doorknob when he flashes back to his mother's poisoning is Oz Perkins, Anthony Perkins' son.

Release

When the film opened on June 3, 1983, it earned $8,310,244 in its opening weekend and went on to gross about $34,725,000 million, making it one of the top hits of the year.^[5]

Psycho II was received generally well by the public and critics and was a surprise box office success. However, film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film thumbs down on At the Movies, specifically for its failure to live up to the original. "I think the ghost of the original," said Siskel, "obviously hangs over this movie, and it's too bad because it's a nicely made picture." Ebert wrote of the film: "If you've seen Psycho a dozen times and can recite the shots in the shower scene by heart, Psycho II is just not going to do it for you. But if you can accept this 1983 movie on its own terms, as a fresh start, and put your memories of Hitchcock on hold, then Psycho II begins to work. It'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."^[3]

In the British magazine Empire, film critic Kim Newman gave the film three out of five stars, calling Psycho II "a smart, darkly-comic thriller with some imaginitive twists", writing " The wittiest dark joke is that the entire world wants Norman to be mad, and ‘normality’ can only be restored if he’s got a mummified mother in the window and is ready to kill again." ^[7]

Psycho II has been released three times on DVD. The initial release came in 1999 when Universal Studios leased the film out to Goodtimes Home Video.^[8] This release is currently out of print. The second release came in 2005 from Universal Studios itself.^[9] The third release came in 2007 as part of a triple feature package with Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning.^[10]

See also

• Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Psycho (1998 film), a remake directed by Gus Van Sant
• Psycho III, a 1986 sequel to the first and second films
• Psycho IV: The Beginning, a 1990 prequel to the first film
• Bates Motel, 1987 television movie
• The Psycho Legacy, 2010 documentary about the series

References

1. ^ ..::The Psycho Movies.com::..
2. ^ Box Office Information for Psycho II
3. ^ ^{a b} Psycho II :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews
4. ^ "Interviews - From Psycho to Asylum: The Horror Films of Robert Bloch". The Unofficial Robert Bloch Website. http://mgpfeff.home.sprynet.com/leming_interview1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} A Boy's Best Friend - Psycho 2 - Retroslashers.net
6. ^ ^{a b} Eric's Time Capsule: Psycho II (June 3, 1983) - Film.com
7. ^ http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=134907
8. ^ "Psycho II (DVD)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=3952. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
9. ^ "Psycho II (DVD)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=692535. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
10. ^ "Psycho II / Psycho III / Psycho IV: The Beginning (Triple Feature)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=1327634. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 

External links

• Psycho II at the Internet Movie Database
• Psycho II at AllRovi
• Psycho II at Rotten Tomatoes
• Psycho 2 at Psychomovies.net
• See a complete set of 8 American Lobby Cards from Psycho II