Psycho II
Encyclopedia
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 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.
(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.
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. The studio also wanted Jamie Lee Curtis
(daughter of Psycho star Janet Leigh
) to play the role of Mary Loomis.
Psycho II was filmed at Universal Studios
in Universal City, California
on Stage 24 from June 30, 1982 to August 1982. The Bates house set was still standing from 1960, but the motel had to be reconstructed. 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.
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."
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."
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. This release is currently out of print
. The second release came in 2005 from Universal Studios itself. The third release came in 2007 as part of a triple feature package with Psycho III
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
.
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
film directed by Richard Franklin
Richard Franklin (director)
Richard Franklin was an Australian-born film director.-Early life and career:Franklin was born and grew up in Brighton, Melbourne and was educated at Haileybury College. In the 1960s, Franklin was the drummer in the Melbourne band The Pink Finks, which also featured Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford,...
and written by Tom Holland
Tom Holland (director)
-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
. It is the sequel to Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Psycho and stars Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
, Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
, Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
and Meg Tilly. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
.
The film did well financially (leading to two further sequels) and moderately well critically. Several critics 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
Psycho II (novel)
Psycho II is a 1982 novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a sequel to his 1959 novel Psycho. The novel was completed before the screenplay was written for the unrelated 1983 film Psycho II. According to Bloch, Universal Pictures loathed the novel, which was intended to critique Hollywood splatter films...
by Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
, which he wrote as a sequel to his original novel Psycho.
Plot
Norman BatesNorman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
(Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
) is now being released from a mental institution after spending 22 years in confinement. Lila Loomis (Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
), sister of Marion Crane
Marion Crane
Marion Crane is a fictional character from the 1960 film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Fictional character biography:Unhappy in her relationship with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis , Marion rejects his idea to take the afternoon off and rushes back to her storefront real estate office. Her boss,...
, 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
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
), who assures him everything will be fine.
Norman is introduced to the motel's new manager, Warren Toomey (Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
). 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
Claudia Bryar
Claudia Bryar was an American actress who mostly specialized in television. Active from the 1950s to the 1980s, she is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs...
). 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
Butcher knife
A butcher knife is a knife designed and used primarily for the butchering and/or dressing of animals.During the late 18th century to mid 1840s, the butcher knife was a key tool for mountain men. Simple, useful and cheap to produce, they were used for everything from skinning beaver, cutting food,...
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 PerkinsAnthony PerkinsAnthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
as Norman BatesNorman BatesNorman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock... - Vera MilesVera MilesVera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
as Lila LoomisLila CraneLila Loomis is a fictional character from the 1959 Robert Bloch novel Psycho and its 1960 film adaptation. Additionally, she appears in Bloch's sequel novel and the unrelated sequel film of the same name.- Fictional biography :... - Robert LoggiaRobert LoggiaRobert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
as Dr. Bill Raymond - Meg Tilly as Mary Samuels
- Dennis FranzDennis FranzDennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
as Warren Toomey - Hugh GillinHugh GillinHugh Gillin was an American film and television actor. Gillin was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He is best known for playing Sheriff John Hunt in Psycho II and III. Gillin has appeared in a total of 75 films and television series...
as Sheriff John Hunt - Robert Alan BrowneRobert Alan BrowneRobert Alan Browne is an American actor most notably recognized for his role as John Perkins on NBC's soap opera Santa Barbara, a role that he portrayed in 1984. He also played a minor character in Psycho II and Psycho III.-External links:...
as Ralph Statler - Claudia BryarClaudia BryarClaudia Bryar was an American actress who mostly specialized in television. Active from the 1950s to the 1980s, she is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs...
as Ms. Emma SpoolEmma SpoolMrs. Emma Spool is a fictional character in the Psycho film series, created by Tom Holland for the screenplay of the 1982 sequel to the 1960 film Psycho, Psycho II. More attention is given to her character in Psycho III, although she's a corpse...
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. Originally, the film was intended as a made-for-cable production. Anthony PerkinsAnthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
originally turned down the offer to reprise the role of Norman Bates
Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
, but when the studio became interested in others (including Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
), Perkins quickly accepted. The studio also wanted Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
(daughter of Psycho star Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
) to play the role of Mary Loomis.
Psycho II was filmed at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in Universal City, California
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
on Stage 24 from June 30, 1982 to August 1982. The Bates house set was still standing from 1960, but the motel had to be reconstructed. The town of Fairvale (seen when Lila Loomis is tailed by Dr. Raymond) is actually Courthouse Square
Courthouse Square
Courthouse Square is a backlot located at Universal Studios. The set is composed of several facades that form an archetypal American town square with a courthouse as its centerpiece...
, which is located on the Universal Studios backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The reflection of young Norman Bates
Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
in the doorknob when he flashes back to his mother's poisoning is Oz Perkins
Oz Perkins
Osgood Robert "Oz" Perkins II is an American actor.He was born in New York City, New York, the elder son of the actor Anthony Perkins and the photographer and actress Berry Berenson, who was killed in the 9-11 attacks...
, 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.Psycho II was received generally well by the public and critics and was a surprise box office success. However, film critics Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
and Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
both gave the film thumbs down on At the Movies
At the Movies
At the Movies is an Australian television program on ABC1 hosted by film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, in which they discuss the films opening in theatres that week.-History:...
, 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."
In the British magazine Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
, film critic Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
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."
Psycho II has been released three times on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The initial release came in 1999 when Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
leased the film out to Goodtimes Home Video. This release is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. The second release came in 2005 from Universal Studios itself. The third release came in 2007 as part of a triple feature package with Psycho III
Psycho III
Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
and Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Psycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
.
See also
- Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- Psycho (1998 film)Psycho (1998 film)Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
, a remake directed by Gus Van Sant - Psycho IIIPsycho IIIPsycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The film stars Anthony Perkins , Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue...
, a 1986 sequel to the first and second films - Psycho IV: The BeginningPsycho IV: The BeginningPsycho IV: The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-cable-television horror film that serves as both the third sequel and a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, as it includes both events after Psycho III while focusing on flashbacks of events that took place prior to the original film...
, a 1990 prequel to the first film - Bates MotelBates MotelBates Motel is a 1987 television movie about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the infamous Bates Motel.-Plot:...
, 1987 television movie - The Psycho LegacyThe Psycho LegacyThe Psycho Legacy is a 2010 independent documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of Norman Bates, it is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It...
, 2010 documentary about the series
External links
- Psycho 2 at Psychomovies.net
- See a complete set of 8 American Lobby Cards from Psycho II