Psycho III (dir. Anthony Perkins, 1986)
So by now, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is a full-blown monster. While monster franchises can be fun (I would never impugn Freddy Krueger or Godzilla), I kind of resent that the same thing happens to some of the killers I love. Hannibal Lecter, for instance, is more interesting the less we see of him. I would argue that, similarly, Norman Bates is more interesting the less we know about his background. In a way, the new A&E “Bates Motel” series is the ultimate disservice to an interesting character, a fine actor, and great movie. Imagine if there were a TV version of, say, Casablanca wherein we see Rick’s adventures before he ever met Ilsa. And the series was all about how he was attracted to Ingrid Bergman-type women, and accomplished spy missions with Sam. Oh wait… There was a Casablanca TV series. Oh wait… There were TWO Casablanca TV series. Damn.
Anyway, Psycho III is a pretty run-of-the-mill 90-minute R-rated slasher that only happens to feature a legendary cinema killer. This was Perkins’ first directorial effort, and only one of two films he would ultimately direct. As such, much of the film focuses on Norman’s psychology and his murderous compulsion. This is the first film in the Psycho series that deals entirely with Norman and his murderous lifestyle, now back in full-swing. The way I saw it, Norman didn’t murder too many people leading up to the events of Psycho, and he only murdered one person during the events of Psycho II. Psycho III will feature six deaths at Norman’s hands. The kills are punctuated throughout the film like a general slasher, and the kills are increasingly spectacular (these films get bloodier as we go along), although a much is made of Norman’s desperation and guilt at his murderous actions.
The film opens with a skittish Catholic novice screaming “There is no God!” at the top of her lungs while threatening to throw herself off of a belltower (echoes of Vertigo there). How’s that for a grabbing opening scene? This nun is Maureen (Diana Scarwid from Mommie Dearest), who is thrown into a depression following a crisis in faith. She leaves the nunnery and lands (natch) at the door of Norman Bates. Norman is still the decent boy he always was, but is now casually killing birds and arguing with his new mother’s corpse in his mother’s voice, just like in the old days (Perkins conveniently covers his mouth when “mother” speaks; Perkins did not actually play the voice of the mother). As far as I can tell, only a few months have passed since the events of Psycho II. Maureen checks into the motel, and immediately tries to slash her wrists just as “Mother” was about to stab her for being too sexy. Norman takes pity on the dying woman and rushes her to the hospital. She also had a vision of the Virgin Mary in her dying eyes, leading her back onto a path of hope. She now wants to live with Norman and to love him. Norman finally sees in Maureen a woman with a good heart who might be able to lead him away from his insanity. It’s actually a sweet love story about rekindled faith and hope found through mutual brokenness, and one that could be handled with more emotional deftness in a film that didn’t feature the following scene:
So Jeff Fahey is in this movie as a dangerous drifter named Duane who comes to work for Norman at the Bates Motel. Duane is a hard-drinking lothario who beds multiple women in his Bates suite. In one scene, one of the women drapes the motel’s lamps in pink cellophane, and waves them in a sexual fashion at a woman he picked up in a bar. I’m guessing she does this at his behest, but the woman rolls around in the pink light, moaning orgasmically and licking the collage of porn mags that Duane has glued to the wall. The scene is not sexy, it’s bonkers. Just when you think Psycho III is going to be sweet or meaningful in even a small way, it has a scene like this, and undermines itself.
Indeed, there are many scenes of bonkers humor throughout Psycho III. Sure there were moments of levity in the original (there’s a famous scene where you gasp when a car won’t sink in a nearby swamp, and you laugh at yourself for wanting Norman to get away with his crimes), but those moments were deft and taut and earned. Here, they’re just oddly slapstick moments that arrive out of the blue. There’s a scene where the local sheriff, investigating some disappearances, takes a handful of ice out of the Bates Motel ice machine, not noticing that they are soaked in human blood. He sucks on the ice cubes, blood dribbling down his chin. This scene is played for laughs. Wha?
What else? There’s a nosy reporter (Roberta Maxwell) who prods Norman about his past. There’s a party at the Bates Motel with a buncha horny high school kids who look to be in their 30s. Of course one of them dies. The film eventually turns tragic when Norman – purely by accident – pushes Maureen down a flight of stairs, killing her. The film ends with the ambivalent revelation that Mrs. Spool may not be Norman’s mother after all, and was deluded herself. Norman doesn’t seem to much care one way or the other. Norman kills everyone, and seemingly gets away with it. The end. It’s a pretty unfortunate ending to an almost-sweet but mostly violent slasher film.
So many people died in that house, it’s a wonder that anyone would allow Norman to remain there. Even if all the deaths were accidents, it would seem awfully tragic and horrible to allow Norman to stay there. Maybe those rumors about the tourist who was killed visiting the Psycho house at Universal Studios were more true than anyone cared to admit. Dunh dunh DUNH!
Anyway, that’s where we’ll leave it for this week, Mouseketeers. With Norman still at large. Next week, we’ll examine a TV movie, an attempted ’90s comeback, and the infamous 1998 remake. I’ll also be sure to give a snarky and cynical commentary on the new A&E series without watching any episodes of the show (which is my prerogative; a snarky and cynical commentary will be, I assure you, a lot funnier that a straightforward commentary). Be sure to join me, as we surely have more stabbing to do.
Witney Seibold is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and co-star of The Trailer Hitch. You can read his weekly articles B-Movies Extended, Free Film School and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
