Psycho III (1986)

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HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2024

Director: Anthony Perkins

Writers: Charles Edward Pogue, based on characters created by Robert Bloch

Stars: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, Roberta Maxwell, Hugh Gillin, Lee Garlington, Robert Alan Browne, Gary Bayer, Patience Cleveland


This film is better than it needed to be.


Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) continues to struggle with his inner demons in this film, set only a few weeks after the conclusion of "Psycho II."


 New visitors to the Bates motel include a suicidal ex-nun (Diana Scarwid), a sinister musician (Jeff Fahey), an investigative reporter (Roberta Maxwell), and a horde of rowdy party-goers.


 Perkins's performance as Bates is always the best reason to watch any of the "Psycho" sequels, and in this one he steps behind the camera as well.


 He does a good job.


 There is a sense of atmosphere and a nightmarish frenzy to several sequences, placing it several notches above the previous film.


 The script (by Charles Edward Pogue) is better, too, although these continuations continue to make the mistake of trying to "deepen" Bates's character by giving him a more convoluted backstory. (Wait, his aunt loved his father who married his mother so he got kidnapped, then someone got murdered...)









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