Psycho III

The place is a bit rundown - okay. There's a history of murder and death permeating every corner - that's fine. The owner is a certified Looney - forgive and forget. The assistant manager is a misogynistic rockster - love his "no car trouble" bit. The wifi is an extra charge of $5.00 - I'm sorry, we'll stay somewhere else.

What the hell? It's even better than the first sequel ... what's going on?

Holy shit, Jeff Fahey is goddamn nuts in this movie! Sorry Michael Caine, I'm retroactively removing your 1986 Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters and passing it on to Mr. Fahey. Beyond this character the movie is a bit more of the generic Psycho sequel you'd expect and the second one actually kind of rose above being, though not entirely without merit. I felt the climax/ending kind of fizzled out though, I would have been happy to just chill at Bates Motel for longer.

If nothing else, Tony Perkins - who presumably refused to return to the role unless he got to direct this time around - proves that directing yourself is indeed quite difficult since this might be the worst acting he's ever done. Script-wise, unlike its predecessor, this seems to have given up at least making an effort to live up to the original w/ the only interesting new wrinkle being Norman hooking up w/ a nun whose lost her faith. But it's never explored. Still, the ending's unexpected.

This feels like it's in the same universe as Wild at Heart and maybe Twin Peaks? Far better than it should be.

This is way better than the first sequel and despite a shit ending it's actually worth watching if you're a fan of the series or genre. Fahey is batshit crazy.

There is no God! What, one sequel more!? Anthony Perkins was not a good director at all and he could not improve his own acting. Actually his acting was pretty lame.

Perkins's underrated directing debut is the best of the Psycho sequels. Tony's assured direction includes deft homages to _Vertigo_, _Frenzy_, and _Deep Red_ and the cast is excellent. Plus, there's an emotional impact to much of Pogue's script that gives the characters and story far more depth than one would usually find in your average third-hand follow-up.

Feels like a been there done that movie. Nothing truly unique but still quite interesting to watch if you enjoy Norman Bates

I'm really surprised that I liked this. I assumed that after Psycho II proved to be decent it would mean a complete nosedive but Perkins' own interpretation of Norman Bates keeps it going. Sure, it's got a lot of the same problems as Psycho II (horrible line readings being the most distracting flaw) but it's solid 80s horror. And I'm glad that it retcons that business with Mrs. Spool from the end of II.

So much better than you'd think it would be. I own all three Psychos (I can't find Psycho IV on DVD) and they are all great films.

There's one great scene early on (the bathtub bit), but then it goes totally off the rails, just like I expected it would.

41.6.

"Perkins tries to imitate Hitchcock's visual style, but most of the film is made without concern for style of any kind..."

tynd suppe kogt på gamle knogler....

Perkins' directorial debut tries to dig deeper into Bates' psychosis with mixed results. He attempts to elicit a degree of sympathy for the character, focusing on his futile attempts to resist his killing impulse. In short, Norman doesn't want to kill, he feels compelled to, and Perkins dramatises this conflict effectively in some moments, while in others he merely literalises what was made implicit in previous installments, thus dulling its impact. It's watchable, but it's more miss than hit.

You twirl my baton!

Even more surprisingly good

Very much like its predecessor, it casts Norman Bates as the reluctant killer/sympathetic hero. Nowhere near as good as the first entry in the series; about on par with the second entry.

Whoa, what the heck, Psycho III is actually a good slasher? I was expecting garbage going in and was blown away. The lighting, use of rain, and editing (especially during the kill scenes) are all fantastic. Any scene with Fahey is captivating. There are a couple of genuinely clever moments. I can't say enough good things about the subversion of the shower scene with the suicide attempt; brilliant.

The law of diminishing returns continues.

Again, better than you'd think.

With nothing new to say, characters that start arcs which are never finished, bad music and a disappointing surrender to slasher sequel standards, Psycho III is a minor disaster that's not even saved by Perkins in the lead role.

the worst of the series, quite boring and could have been better

Psycho 3 is probably the low point in the series. Under Perkins' direction the tension is still there. However it's undercut by iffy acting and a story not as worthy of the original.

References Vertigo with opening & The Birds with two scenes that includes a murder.