Well folks there you have it, the entire “Psycho” franchise. It’s a franchise that has buried itself in a-lot of Horror fans hearts and will continue to scare generations to come.
What’s that you say? I’m missing a film? Oh you mean Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake with *cough* Vince Vaughn *cough* as Norman Bates, yes I know and I’ve done it on purpose, I refuse to write an entire article on that abomination. So I think you can guess what my thoughts are on that film.
The star of the films is obviously Anthony Perkins, his role as Norman Bates was fantastic and he pulled it off with style. Bates is a character that we feel emotion for, we feel sorry him and that’s a rarity with killers in films. It’s really a tragic story of a young boy with an overbearing Mother and we see the effects of that.
The first film was truly revolutionary, it pushed the Horror genre forward whether it wanted to or not. It also gave us one of the greatest twists in film history, plus made a-lot of people have fears of shower curtains (Janet Leigh was not bothered by the filming of the famous shower scene, seeing it on film profoundly moved her. She later remarked that it made her realize how vulnerable a woman was in a shower. To the end of her life, she always took baths) and Bernard Herrmann gave us one amazing score!
Alfred Hitchcock was a genius film-maker, it’s a shame we don’t have his type around any-more. He truly was a master of suspense and that is clearly evident with “Psycho” just imagine if there were more of him around in todays genre.
Talking of Hitchcock there is a biographical film in the works with none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins playing Hitchcock, just look at the photo below, it’s amazing how much he looks like him. The film is simply titled “Hitchcock” and also stars Jessica Beil & Scarlett Johansson. We also have an upcoming TV series called “Bates Motel” which is in the early stages but honestly I’m not exactly hyped for it.
Personally I feel the franchise is very over-looked, yes the first film was HUGE but the later releases are very entertaining and if you haven’t seen them you are truly missing out.
