JUSTIN's Psycho III

[StarOpal]

Again I say well done. For some reason, I thought all the Psycho sequels were made for TV, but apparently not.

It's like the community knows he's a serial killer, but it's kind of their one claim to fame? And they'd hate to give that up just because an odd dope-smoking dweeb gets hacked to pieces by "Mother" once in a while.

Yes, exactly!

[DTH]

They should have a warning or new rating certificate for films like Psycho III. Something like:

WARNING! UNNECESSARY SEQUEL!

VIEWING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!

[StarOpal]

I thought that that was what the "III" was for?

[Head Mutant]

I miss Roman numerals in movie titles.

[Head Mutant]

By the way, the fourth Psycho isn't out on DVD (at least not at Netflix), so my marathon stops here.

[StarOpal]

Oh you're not missing much. Keeping in mind that this is from memory from about fifteen years ago...

Norman Bates goes on a radio show to be interviewed about running motels in the middle of nowhere. No I kid it's all, "Gee, Norm -I can you Norm right?- tell us about them there murders." Instead he's all well I'm gonna have a kid (!) and I hope he's not a crazy knife wielder. It seems that he and (assuming she didn't die at the end of III, but I really can't remember) Nun On the Run have been playing house if you know what I mean.

As the title, Psycho IV: The Beginning, implies, the rest of the movie is going back to his childhood. Really uncomfortable Oedipus complex building 'no Mommy, no!' and 'Mommy's boyfriend is sleazy' moments occur. Cue seeing them in bed together ('cause you have to have that) then it turns to Mommy only loves Sleazy Boyfriend and she's supposed to be all mine. I remember Mother has really long hair that she doesn't bother to put back, so she looks like a hippy for most of the movie. Then it turns out he poisoned the mother and boyfriend.

"Creepy" close up back at the radio show. Fin.

[DTH]

Oct 14, 2008 9:46:58 GMT -5 StarOpal said:

I thought that that was what the "III" was for?

Oct 14, 2008 9:52:21 GMT -5 Head Mutant said:

I miss Roman numerals in movie titles.

My understanding is that Hollywood had a rating system whereby reviewers would put a number after a film indicating how bad it was. The lower the number, the better. In fact, once it got to around the 5 mark, you could usually expect a low budget flick that bore no resemblance to its title or predecessors. At least, that was the official reason.

But then a conspiracy began amongst some production companies, principally started by the Reverse Vampires and also believed to involve the Rand Corporation. This conspiracy sought to buck the rating system and get bad films passed the FBI by giving coded names in the title.

This can only account for the likes of Aliens vs Predator - Requiem, 28 Weeks Later, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Ocean's 12 and the tv movie sequels, Another Midnight Run and Midnight Run For Your Life.

It is a scary time for moviegoers, where you might go and see a film and it would turn out to be an unnecessary sequel in disguise! I'm thinking of moving out to the dales where I can lock myself up with a shotgun, a VCR and an old black and white TV so I can watch endless viewings of Cannonball Run where at least I know what I am getting.

[Head Mutant]

The nun does die... that's weird.

[StarOpal]

A little IMDb-fu reveals the mother is a nurse (Connie apparently) from the asylum he was in. But I was more than a little off on the radio thing, he was a call in (so I don't know what other movie I was mixing up in there) and that's not where it ends. He takes Connie back to the old homestead intent on killing her (and therefore his, potential future killer, baby), but she talks him out of it and he burns down the house instead, and they walk off into the sunset.

[CheshireKat]

I've actually seen this one a little more recently. The se/prequel takes place a few years later. Norman has been released again and is involved in a pretty stable relationship with a new lady (not the nun). He calls in under an assumed name to a radio show where the topic is serial killers and proceeds to go about his upbringing. Then come the flashbacks.Henry Thomas does a great job portraying a young Norman and while Olivia Husse does a good job being SEVERELY unhinged and abusing Norman. The bigest problem is it's hard to reconcile the image of a promiscuous freewheeler perpetually wearing her slip with the image of "Mother" from the first film (hair tight in a bun, granny dress), tho one can envision Norman kind of reshaping mother to his own vision. Anyway as he's telling the story the DJ recognizes his case (along with the psychiatrist guest speaker), and he lets it slip that he's going to kill again. The climax icomes when they finally get it out of him why he's going to kill his new girlfriend:
"She let herself get pregnant!" he nearly screams.
He figures that her child is going to be another monster, like him and he can't let that happen. He sets out to kill her but instead he ends up starting a fire and and then carries the girlfriend out while seeing hallucinations of the girls he's killed. The last shot is of the Bates Motel, nothing left but a smouldering ruin. Norman takes a last look, takes his lady in his arms, smiles and says "I'm free", and walks away.