Well, October has rolled around again. Last October I decided to do the October Horror Challenge and watch a Horror movie a day for the month. I went further, not just in that I watched two horrors on the 30th and three on Halloween, but also that I reviewed a horror a day as well (I didn’t review my triple bill, so it totalled 31 reviews). I didn’t start my blog until the following month largely after positive feedback from the reviews, which I had posted to Facebook and Minds. So this year these are going straight to the blog.
Because I’m going to have to do these much faster than my regular reviews I’m keeping each comparatively short, with the length largely dependent on the time I have to do it. Last year I only did movies I’ve not seen before, this year I may be a bit more flexible but I’ll figure that out as I go. Anyway, enough with the explanations, it’s October 1st 2022, time for my first horror review….
Psycho 2 was released in 1982, twenty three years after the original These days that’s nothing but I imagine in 1982 people thought a sequel to Psycho was (appropriately enough), utter madness. I have seen this before, but i barely remembered it so I’m giving it another shot.
On the Back of Giants
We start out with the infamous shower scene from the original before switching to the present day. The first thing of note is right in the credits: Music by Gerry Goldsmith. Gerry is a talented and underrated composer who is all over the soundtracks of the 80’s and 90’s. The original film was scored though by one of the biggest legends of film scores Bernard Herrmann. Sadly Bernard passed in the 1970’s so they had no choice but to look elsewhere. Goldsmith somewhat impersonates the original films score and throws in the odd motif from it, but in general the music sounds smoother, lighter and perhaps a little laid back. The tone isn’t quite right in places, but it’s still a good score.
Someone who had more difficult shoes to fill however is “Blue Lagoon” director Richard Franklin, stepping in for Hitchcock who had also passed before this movie was made. He does a competent job but that’s about it. The movie is also a bit more graphic than the original and perhaps the most obvious change is it is in colour.
Homecoming
The story follows Norman after his release from the sanatorium. He appears a lot more stable, but is being victimised by some unknown entity posing as his Mother. Obviously it’s not his dead Mother, but the question remains is someone messing with him or is it all in his mind. Even if someone is messing with him, there is obviously a danger of him relapsing because of it. As the story progresses however it becomes clear Norman is at the mercy of more than one outside agenda.
Norman is of course played by Anthony Perkins who is easily the highlight of the movie. He plays a character just on the edge of sanity with perfection. Meg Tilly played Mary, a waitress at the dinner where Norman works after his release from the asylum. Mary has an ulterior motive for befriending Norman, but becomes conflicted as he gets to know Norman. Her performance is perhaps a little underplayed but believable.
Conclusion (Spoilers)
The final act involves a twist that comes pretty much from nowhere and somewhat devalues the plot of the rest of the film. Turns out Norman has another Mother, a character that doesn’t turn up as a real character (Instead of a shadowy figure killing people) until the very end of the film. From a character perspective at least things end appropriately enough. Norman has gone full circle. Meanwhile Mary and her mother suffer the price for playing with fire. Mary remains conflicted for the whole movie until that conflict leads to her own demise.
Overall a fairly decent horror that unfortunately can’t escape harsh comparisons with original film. The plot is a little messy, but the characters, especially Norman help to salvage that. It’s just about a 6/10. Not a bad start to my October Horrorthon.
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