Digital Dismemberment: Psycho II Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review
Director– Richard Franklin
Producer– Hilton A. Green and Bernard Schwartz
Special FX– Greg C. Jensen
Cast– Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz, Hugh Gillin, Claudia Bryar, Robert Alan Browne, Ben Hartigan, Lee Garlington, Tim Maier, Jill Carol and Chris Hendrie
Released By– Shout!/Scream Factory
Release Date– 09/24/2013
The Premise: “Director Richard Franklin deftly keeps the suspense and tension on high…” – Variety
Anthony Perkins makes a terrifying homecoming in his roles as the infamous Norman Bates, who after years of treatment in a mental institution for the criminally insane, has come home to run the Bates Motel. Vera Miles returns as the woman who is still haunted by her sister’s brutal murder and the ominous motel where it all occurred many years ago. Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia and Dennis Franz co-star in the terrifying sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film.
Trying to follow up one of the horror genre’s most iconic films had to be a daunting task, but Richard Franklin manages to put together an amazing story along with a compelling and emotional performance by Anthony Perkins. While nothing will ever capture the sheer terror created by Psycho, the film manages to have many twists and turns while nodding to the original. Perkins’ performance is highly believable, finding ways to make you feel compassion for a man that is certainly disturbed. When the film was being discussed, Anthony Perkins voiced reservations about taking up the role of Norman Bates again and the role was briefly going to be offered to Christopher Walken, but Perkins obviously took the role (In fact, the movie was going to be a TV sequel until Perkins agreed to come aboard). The movie works on many levels, but the fact that they waited so much time in between the first film and the sequel really helps with Norman’s state of mind and the events that followed that much more believable. You certainly see some parallels in the camera work to the original and Franklin certainly is able to squeeze a fantastic amount of atmosphere out of his script and actors. Certainly a worthy sequel and worth a look!
A flashback to the original shower murder scene from the original Psycho is shown, and then we flash forward 22 years later to Norman at a competency hearing where he is declared “cured” and released back into society. Lila Loomis is in court and argues with a signed petition that Norman should not be released, but the courts say otherwise. After being confronted by Lila outside of court, Norman and his doctor, Bill Raymond, head back to the hotel where Norman decides to stay. After exploring the house for a bit, Norman finds a note left by his Mother by the phone and has auditory and visual flashbacks to the night he killed his Mother. Later, he heads into town and gets a job working at a local diner as a cook’s assistant. While there, Norman meets Mary, a young waitress that also works at the diner and is in dire need of a place to stay after her boyfriend kicks her out. After a brief discussion, Norman convinces her to come back to the motel to stay the night. Upon arriving, Norman meets Warren Toomey, the man that has been running the motel while he was away. Visibly upset about how Toomey is running the motel, Norman fires him and tells him to have his stuff out by the next day. Toomey taunts Norman as he heads to the house, but Norman ignores him…
After making a sandwich for both of them, Mary shakes Norman a bit when she asks if he has a knife to cut the sandwich. After nervously cutting the sandwich, Norman and Mary both declare that they are no longer hungry. They discuss Norman’s history and after a mild discussion, Mary agrees to stay in the house for the night. Norman shows Mary his Mother’s room and then they both sleep for the night. The next day, Toomey shows up at the restaurant and harasses Mary and Norman. Another note shows up at the restaurant and Norman comes out of the back and confronts Toomey (thinking he is the one that left the note) in a verbal altercation before heading back to the kitchen after Toomey dares him to pick up a knife. After Norman can’t produce the note, he is sent home from work. Mary shows up later that evening and decides to stay with Norman at the house after the way he defended her earlier. After a bit of small talk, Mary heads upstairs to take a shower. While in the shower, someone is spying on Mary. After she gets out, she heads downstairs and finds Norman playing the piano in the living room. Later in the evening, Toomey shows up drunk and throwing rocks at the house, yelling he is there to pick up his stuff. As Norman is watching from the window, the phone rings and someone claiming to be Norman’s mother is on the other end. Norman hangs up, thinking it is Toomey. Meanwhile, Toomey is slashed to death in the hotel office by someone dressed like Mrs. Bates…
Norman’s doctor comes by to see how he is doing, and Norman tells him he is re-opening the motel and that Mary is staying with him. Mary discovers the hole in her bedroom wall and sees that it connects to Mrs. Bates room. Later, the doctor goes to see the sheriff and let’s him know that Norman has been harassed a few times and to keep an eye on him and to check out Mary’s background. As Norman is painting the motel, he sees someone in the window that was his Mother’s room. Upon going to investigate, he finds the room fixed up and decorated as if his Mother was home. He finds another note, and after going to investigate a noise in the attic, is locked in. We then see two teenagers break into the basement to make out, but the young man is stabbed to death by someone that looks like Mrs. Bates as the young lady escapes. Later, Norman wakes up in the attic as Mary gets home and finds him. After telling Mary about his Mother’s room, he shows it to her but it is empty. The Sheriff stops by after the young lady tells the story of the murder, but after investigating, no evidence of foul play is found. Becoming more and more confused, is Norman slipping back into his madness and killing those that get close, or is someone else tormenting Norman and trying to get him sent back to jail? You are going to have to watch to find out…
Bonus Features:
Audio Commentary – Audio 1: Commentary with Screenwriter Tom Holland (Brand new for this release!)
Psycho II: The Electronic Press Kit– (Run time of 36 minutes) This is the electronic press kit and interviews that were sent out by the studio for the films release. There is footage from the film and interviews with the cast and the crew of the film at the time of its making. There are parts that repeat themselves during viewing and parts of the audio drop in and out, but these are technical flaws of the original tapes, not Shout!/Scream Factory errors. Very informative and nostalgic.
Theatrical Trailers– Two different theatrical trailers for the film.
TV Spots – Four different TV spots for the film.
Still Gallery- Over 80 stills of the cast, crew and locations during the filming of Psycho II.
You can also listen to the audio of the cast and crew interviews while watching the film as well!
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 yet another genre film of my youth to Blu-Ray DVD with Psycho II. With the previous editions being released on DVD back in 2005 by Universal and by Gaiam Americas in 1999, it should come as no surprise that this Shout!/Scream Factory shatters those two editions. It should go without saying that the video and sound transfer are amazing, and it is nice to see Anthony Perkins on my screen again. The inclusion of several trailers and TV spots brings about a nice feeling of nostalgia much like the Day of the Dead release, and the inclusion of the electronic press kit is a nice piece of history that gives us insight to the film that we would otherwise not get! If there is any complaint about this disc, it would be the inclusion of more special features, such as modern day interviews with Vera Miles and Robert Loggia, but considering that Anthony is no longer with us, the EPK is a fine substitute! Once again, this release is the perfect example of why Shout!/Scream Factory is the standard bearer for Blu-Ray horror releases!
Movie Rating: 3.5 out of 5
DVD Rating: 7 out of 0
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Nice review. I personally like this sequel much better than the first. There is no doubt Hitchcock was a master of suspense and that certainly was present in Psycho. But if watched now it is pretty tame. Psycho 2 uses the original premise and builds from there to make an actual slasher where you not entirely sure what is going on until the end.