USA, 1990
Review:
JA Kerswell
While it doesn’t have the surprising cleverness of PSYCHO II (1983) nor the gonzo, sleazy weirdness of PSYCHO III (1986), this conclusion to the Bates Motel saga certainly has its moments despite its small-screen origins. Acting as both a prequel and sequel, Norman Bates’ seemingly normal suburban life threatens to unravel over fears he will pass on his psychopathy to a son or daughter. His confessions to a radio DJ that he will kill again—and revelations about his past—result in a race to prevent him from picking up the butcher’s knife once again and reconnecting with Mother like old times.
Relying on a set of contrivances, Norman (Anthony Perkins’ swan song in the role) tunes into a nighttime radio show by Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder) debating matricide. Joining her is a psychiatrist (Warren Frost) who happened to have treated Norman and recognises his voice when he calls in despite attempting anonymity with the name Ed (presumably a nod to notorious necrophile Ed Gein, who was the inspiration for Robert Bloch’s original novel). To add to this array of implausibilities, we discover that Norman has married another psychiatrist who treated him, Connie (Donna Mitchell), and settled into a nice white-picket lifestyle—despite only being carted off to the asylum for life at the end of the previous movie. Ed—or Norman—reveals that Connie surprised him with the news that she is pregnant. In a relapse, he is now convinced he must kill her to stop his murderous bloodline.
Both intrigued and horrified by his confessions, Fran attempts to keep him on the line to find out more about his past and try to convince him not to slay his wife. In flashbacks—where Norma Bates is played by Olivia Hussey and a young Norman by Henry Thomas—we see the origins of the abuse that drove the character to kill. Norma is sweet and attentive one minute and cruelly vindictive the next, which is best shown in a scene where she tickles an even younger Norman (Ryan Finnegan) at his father’s funeral and then slaps him when he laughs. She also invites flirtatious incestuousness but then violently repels it from her confused son. This leads to her attempt to emasculate Norman by forcing him to wear a dress and locking him in a closet. Later, we see how Norman kills his mother—and her new lover, Chet (Thomas Schuster)—with poison. However, even death can’t break her grip on him, and, with his personality forever split, he adopts the dual personality of Norman and Norma—with his dead mother’s internal voice compelling him to kill women every time he becomes sexually aroused.
Who will win the internal battle for the mind of Norman Bates, and will his wife and unborn child survive?
Utilising a dual narrative approach through flashbacks and the present day is an effective storytelling device. However, the film perhaps rather just joins the dots than tells us anything particularly new. Hussey and Thomas are good in their roles, although, arguably, Hussey is miscast as Norma due to her incongruous European accent and beauty (she was 39 years old when she made this). The film makes a somewhat unconvincing case as to why Norman sees his mother as an old crone—and voices her as one. However, despite this Hussey gives an admirably weird, unhinged performance—with Thomas’ blank-eyed, desecrated innocence a good foil.
In contrast, Anthony Perkins continues with his arched eyebrow and the somewhat sardonic approach to the character, which he maintained throughout the series—especially in the sequels. In this, the older and younger Norman Bates are really nothing alike, which is something of a misstep. Given the familiarity with the role, Norman is arguably no longer a frightening character—especially as the audience is usually encouraged to hope that his good side will win through. Disappointingly, the whole radio talk show plot is jettisoned in the last third of the movie in favour of a rather predictable cat-and-mouse game between Norman and his wife at the old Bates’ house above the infamous motel.
Despite its origins, PSYCHO IV is nicely shot and evidently has an ample budget ($4 million). Given that it was made by Universal Television and debuted on the cable channel Showtime, it retains some of the more exploitative elements from the sequels that wouldn’t have been possible for a network TV movie at the time—with some light nudity (including from Hussey). While there is some bloodletting, it isn’t especially graphic (the film only has four on-screen deaths)—although the murder of an older woman (Bobbi Evors) by strangulation is presumably a nod to Hitchcock’s FRENZY (1972). The fact that Evors is something of a dead ringer for Kim Novak—one of Hitch’s ice blondes—is an example of director Mick Garris’ playful approach (the casting of director John Landis in a minor role is another).
Development for PSYCHO IV started in 1988. The critical and financial reception to the previous sequel had been muted, and this started as a direct-to-video title. However, the 30th anniversary of the original film was too good a hook to ignore, which attracted Showtime and their financing (reportedly another $4 million was spent on promotion, including trailers in cinemas). Janet I. Martineau in The Saginaw News noted: “Psycho was a theatrical movie made by a television crew from Hitchcock’s series. Psycho IV is a made-for-TV movie made by a crew with theatrical movie credits.”
The film was scripted by Joseph Stefano—who also wrote the screenplay for the original. It was intended as a direct sequel to the 1960 original. He said he purposefully avoided continuity with the previous two sequels (which perhaps explains how Norman can be out of the asylum and married just four years after the events of Part III). Mick Garris was initially reticent about accepting directorial duties, having already helmed a sequel, CRITTERS 2 (1988). As for being typecast as a horror director, Garris reasoned, “Better to be labelled than to be nothing.”
PSYCHO IV was filmed during the summer of 1990 over 25 days. The famous Bates house and motel was recreated at Universal Studios' then new theme park in Orlando, Florida. Although filming was originally meant to take place before the park opened, delays meant that visitors could gawp at proceedings. Garris went on record to say that Perkins was the most difficult actor he ever worked with. The film’s rapid-fire filming probably took its toll. Press reports at the time noted that Perkins skipped the wrap party and was in ill humour during the film’s final all-night shoots. Reportedly, the actor discovered he was HIV+ during production, which, understandably, may have shadowed his approach to making it—although he was effusive with praise once it was released. Actors Tom Schuster and Olivia Hussey had only met five minutes previously before they had to get naked in the sack—which they thought was hilarious. Hussey told journalist Catherine Himan in the Orlando Sentinel that the difference between feature and made-for-TV movies was: “You don’t have the luxury of a long shoot, of saying hello and getting to know each other.” Hussey also said it was odd playing against an actor the same age as her real-life son—and would apologise each time she hit or screamed at him for the role. Thomas sought Anthony Perkins’ input into the character but found him to be largely dismissive and gave him only vague advice.
The film debuted on Showtime in early November 1990. It was introduced by actress Janet Leigh—who, of course, played Marion Crane in the original movie. She was instructed to repeat the rumour that multiple endings had been shot to prevent the real one from being leaked. This wasn’t true, but it was all part of Universal and Showtime’s ballyhoo. The original film was shown uncut for the first time on US TV screens and without ad breaks after the sequel finished.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reviews were mixed. Again, Janet I. Martineau in The Saginaw News noted the two child actors who had grown up to play monstrous roles in the sequel. She said, “Hussey beautifully underplays her role as a lusty mother who hugs and cuddles one second and then flies into a Psycho-sexual rage the next.” She also called Thomas’ performance “uncanny”. John Carman in The San Francisco Examiner saw Hussey’s performance in a completely different light and said, “Thomas is wide-eyed and unaffecting as the young Norman and Hussey is oddly amusing in a ‘Mommy Dearest’ sort of way.” However, Tom Shales in The Knoxville News-Sentinel gave it a brutally bad review, saying, “I was seized with an uncontrollable urge to kill, kill, kill! But so may you if you watch Psycho IV … Of course, murder would be too severe a punishment for the impudent muttonheads who made this moronic travesty.”
Ultimately, PSYCHO IV is not a bad film. It is effectively made and largely entertaining. However, Stefano’s determination to kick back against the slasher movie trappings of the other sequels—an obvious irony given what Hitchcock’s original spawned—makes the film seem strangely neutered and muted. Bernard Herrmann’s classic score also serves to remind us we aren’t watching the original. It is, of course, of note because it is the last time that Perkins played the role that he is now best remembered for (he passed away in 1992). The film ends with the suggestion that Norman’s fears may be realised (the film’s extended title teasing a dual meaning for THE BEGINNING), but a continuation featuring the son or daughter of filmdom's most famous Psycho has yet to appear.
BODY COUNT 4:
Female 3 / Male 1