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Digital Dismemberment: Psycho III Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review

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Digital Dismemberment: Psycho III Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review

Psy3BRCover72dpiDirector– Anthony Perkins

Producer– Hilton A. Green and Don Zepfel

Special FX– Michael Westmore, Louis R. Cooper, Danny Lester and Karl G. Miller

Cast– Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, Roberta Maxwell, Hugh Gillin, Lee Garlington, Robert Alan Browne, Gary Bayer, Patience Cleveland, Juliette Cummins, Steve Guevara, Kay Heberle, Donovan Scott, Karen Hensel, Jack Murdock, Katt Shea, Hugo Stanger, Lisa Ives, Angela Ritter and Diane Rodriguez

Released By– Shout!/Scream Factory

Release Date– 09/24/2013

 

 

MOV_a3b985f9_bThe Premise: Anthony Perkins returns to the role of Norman Bates and makes his directorial debut in this second sequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho.

The Bates Motel is once again the site of something evil as the rehabilitated Norman attempts to help a disturbed young woman, Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid – Mommie Dearest), who has left the convent because she can’t find any proof that God exists. Maureen bears a striking resemblance to one-time Bates Motel guest Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) which puts Norman on edge. At the same time, a nosy reporter is snooping around town looking into Norman’s past. Suspense, terror and black comedy worthy of the master himself are in hearty supply in the most shocking Psycho of them all!

What can be harder than following up a successful sequel to one of the most iconic horror films of all time? Anthony Perkins answers that question with his directorial debut in Psycho III, and for a first time director, he does a very admirable job. With enjoyable performances by Diana Scarwid and Jeff Fahey to lead the story on, Perkins delivers what may be his most unhinged performance of Norman as he continues to run the motel after the events of the second film. You can certainly question why anyone would want to stay at Norman’s motel even if they did not know the circumstances of what had happened there in the past just by some of his facial reactions and body language, but Perkins still manages to show his duality with exuding some of the boyish charm that Norman still possesses throughout the film. Perkins himself stated that he felt he was not ready to direct this film on an experience and technical level, even asking Psycho II director Richard Franklin to co-direct (he said no), but he manages to deliver a film that follows through with the story-lines that were presented in the previous two films. The film certainly delivers more nudity and gore than the previous entries of the series and that may throw some viewers off that are looking for more of the voyeuristic look and feel of the original, but by becoming more graphic, it certainly shows a whole other to side to Norman’s madness that we may not have contemplated…

Maureen is praying in front of a statue of The Virgin Mary, begging for a sign. She then goes to the top of the bell tower at her church, with the other nuns trying to stop her from jumping. As she pulls away from one of the nuns, the nun slip and falls to her death below. In disgrace, Maureen runs away through the desert until she runs into Duke (Jeff Fahey). He gives her a ride until she rebuffs his advances, and once again wanders through the desert. The next day, we see the Bates Motel with a sign in the window for “Help Wanted”. Norman walks through and picks up some dead birds to use as his taxidermy dummies. While working and eating in the kitchen, we see a newspaper article about Emma Spool and a flashback to Norman killing her at the end of the second film. Duke shows up at the motel and winds up applying for the desk job. As Norman goes to the Statler’s Cafe to pick up food, we hear the owner and Sheriff talking about the disappearance of Mrs. Spool. A news reporter is there and starts trying to dig up things on Norman. She is warned by the Sheriff to leave him alone, but she starts in on Norman, who at first answers her
questions until Maureen comes into the diner and he starts having flashbacks to the original murder…

Maureen winds up walking to the motel and runs into Duke. He assures her he is sorry for the other night and she rents a room. Norman comes down and is quite shaken by the fact that she is in room 1. Norman goes back to the house and has an argument with Mother about what to do about her. Duke goes into town and runs into the reporter. She shoots him down until she finds out he works at the Bates Motel. Back at the motel, Norman spies on Maureen as she gets ready for a shower. He goes in for the kill but finds she has slit her wrists in the tub and saves her life. While passing out, she thinks he is the Virgin Mary. At the bar, the reporter tells Duke everything about Norman. At the hospital, Norman is praised as a hero by everyone, but the reporter continues to stir the pot. He invites her to stay at the motel free of charge and she agrees. When he gets home, he argues with Mother again while Duke shows up with another lady from the bar. After a wild night of drugs and sex, Duke kicks her out. While making a phone call outside, she is brutally murdered by someone…

Norman catches the reporter at his house and he asks her to leave. Maureen shows back up at the motel as a large party shows up. Norman has had her clothes cleaned and they later go out on the town. The reporter rummages through Mrs. Spool’s old apartment and finds the number to the motel on a magazine. After returning from their date, Maureen makes advances towards Norman, but he just can’t do it. He lays with her for a while, but when she awakens, he is not there. We hear Mother chastising him for being with Maureen. Maureen tries to come to the house and he makes her go back to her room. Later, one of the party goers has her throat slit in the bathroom and Norman hides the body. The police show up and find nothing. As the reporter continues to stir things up, Maureen leaves and Norman has a confrontation with Duke. With everything that is going on, is Norman back to his old ways of killing or is someone trying to frame him again? You are going to have to watch to find out…

shout-factory-logo11Bonus Features:

Audio Commentary Audio 1: Commentary with Screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue (New for this release!)

Watch The Guitar – (Run time of 17 minutes) Interview with Actor Jeff Fahey. Jeff talks about being in awe of the house his first night on the set, his early roles and how he has played off beat characters, working with Anthony and how Perkins slipped into the role on Norman at the drop of a hat, the pressures Anthony had as an actor and director on the film, the cast and crew, the semi-nude scene that he improvised, being injured during the fight scene between Duke and Norman, the car scene and a funny story about Quentin Tarintino and Robert Rodriguez quoting lines from the film. (New for this release!)

Patsy’s Last Night – (Run time of 9 minutes) Interview with Actress Katt Shea. Katt discusses how she became involved in the film (got the role by talking to a bush!), working with Anthony Perkins, her graphic death scene, being put in an ice chest with real ice and nearly freezing while shooting! (New for this release!)

Mother’s Maker – (Run time of 11 minutes) Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator Michael Westmore. Michael talks about how Universal wanted to put together a team of people that worked at the studio going back to the original film for Psycho 3, working with Anthony Perkins, the differences between the look of Mother in the original and Psycho 3, how he did the slit wrist effect in the bathtub and some of the more grisly make-up moments in the film. (New for this release!)

Body Double – (Run time of 5 minutes) Interview with Brinke Stevens. Brinke discusses several of the films she did during the early 80’s, how she became type cast as a horror movie actress, meeting Anthony Perkins for the role as Diana Scarwid’s body double and the generalities of working on the film. (New for this release!)

Theatrical Trailer

Still Gallery

Discs: 1
Format: NTSC
Color: Color
Rating: R
Aspect Ratio: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.85:1)
Language: English

Shout!/Scream Factory brings to us Anthony Perkins directorial debut to Blu-Ray DVD with Psycho III. Vastly superior to the 2005 Universal and the 1999 Gaiam Americas releases, this is certainly the disc to own. While the Psycho II release was light on modern interviews, Shout!/Scream Factory has more than made up for that with this release, and those interview segments alone make this an interesting watch, in particular the Watch the Guitar segment with Jeff Fahey and Mother’s Maker with Michael Westmore. They give keen insights to the passion that the cast and crew had while making the film and show a warmth and love many “III”s don’t get. Also seeing Brinke Stevens talk about her work is a treat considering she has pretty much retired from the industry. As usual, the audio and picture quality are of amazing quality, and even if this film is not your favorite in the series, the Special Features on this release are yet again a perfect example of why Shout!/Scream Factory is the standard bearer for Blu-Ray horror releases!

Movie Rating: 3 out of 5
DVD Rating: 8 out of 10

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Dedman13

Owner of Slit of the Wrist FX and producer, actor, FX artist and writer.

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