An Exercise In Nonsense

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The 1960 'Psycho' is one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films and while it is high up in my list of "scariest films of all time" it doesn't stop it from being a personal favourite. Mainly for the cinematography, Hitchcock's direction, the music score and Anthony Perkins.Before seeing either of the sequels, there was the feeling of "what was the point? The 1960 film was perfect as it was and didn't need a sequel let alone three as well as a television film and a remake". Actually found myself very pleasantly surprised by 'Psycho II', and despite reviews being very, very mixed (leaning towards the negative) 'Psycho III' was also better than anticipated. 'Psycho: The Beginning' both intrigued me and filled me with dread, after giving it a chance with an open mind and no prejudice my thoughts were that it's not bad and better than was anticipated but it could have been much better.It's certainly nowhere near as bad or as pointless as the 1998 remake (few films are), at least it was actually interesting to see Norman's childhood and some development for his mother. It just could have been executed better. It has moments of slickness, a haunting score and there are some good performances.Can't say anything bad about Anthony Perkins, other than that he's underused. Other than that he is both creepy and sympathetic which shows that thirty years on he still had it. Olivia Hussey is marvellously chilling, and then there's an entertaining CCH Pounder and a touching Henry Thomas. One actually feels sorry for Norman here.However, the rest of the acting is really not that great or notable. The only other standout in a bad way is the embarrassingly bad John Landis. That 'Psycho IV: The Beginning' was made for TV mostly does show, especially in the disjointed editing and drab production design.Dialogue was not a strong suit in the previous two sequels, but it is especially laughable here and reeks to high heaven of badly gone off cheese. The story picks up a little bit in the final third, but the over-reliance on flashbacks drags things down and the present day elements confuse the story and sees some glaring gaffes in continuity. Furthermore the scares are too few and when there are any they are pretty tame and lack suspense, while the chemistry between Norman and his mother is so overboard on the overt creepiness and sleaze that it feels uncomfortably gratuitous. Mick Garris's directing lacks the eerie style and nail-biting suspense and instead feels pedestrian.Finally the ending, some may like the feeling of closure, it didn't feel that way to me however and tonally it was too tacked on and tonally jarring and implausible.Overall, has some mild intrigue but some good things are not quite enough to save a disappointing effort. 4/10 Bethany Cox

After two impressive sequels, the Psycho series ends with this made-for-cable movie that, while not totally unwatchable, is still easily the weakest of the lot (not counting the remake, which I have yet to pluck up the courage to watch).This time around, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), now married and supposedly cured, phones radio DJ Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder) who is hosting a chat show on the subject of matricide; Norman recounts his formative years, which are shown in a series of lengthy flashbacks (E.T. star Henry Thomas playing the young Norman), leading up to the murder of his mother (Olivia Hussey) and her lover Chet (Tom Schuster). Norm then reveals that is planning to kill his wife Connie (Donna Mitchell) because she is pregnant and he fears that his child will follow in his footsteps.With the stop-start nature of its flashback sequences, Psycho IV never really gets into full swing until the final act, which finally sees Norman back in full-on twitchy nut-job mode stalking Connie in his old house on the hill. However, after some 'mild peril', the film wraps things up with Norman having a change of heart, his wife happy to instantly forget that, moments earlier, her husband was threatening her with a large carving knife. This implausible 'happy ending', along with a few inconsistencies with the earlier films, and way too much of DJ Fran, go to make this one for Psycho completists only.

Mick Garris delivers a film with visual flair and style, yet in this horror sequel, the lack of story is the most disturbing element.This is a film overly fascinated with back story – something that should be expected from a prequel, I suppose – however, this is why it crumbles. The wonderful subtext that was present in the original Psycho film and even the sequels, is now front and center. The abusive relationship between Norman and his mother is no longer left to the imagination, but is now displayed clearly as a main feature of the movie. While getting a chance to finally meet Norma Bates piques our interest, it could never possibly hope to do justice to all the build up from the last three films. (An over- dramatic performance from Olivia Hussey doesn't help.)The movie in some ways is representative of the Psycho franchise, an incredible opening, a slightly disappointing second act, an interesting and dazzling third, and a sputtering failure for the fourth.Henry Thomas gives a tremendous turn as a young Norman Bates, while Anthony Perkins does as well as he can with the material he's given. Overall, however, these performances and the slick visuals can't carry this generally overacted and poorly written TV drama.

Psycho IV is the perfect finale to the film series. We are able to get the entire back-story on Norman Bates. For the first three movies, insight was given (revealed) about Norman but the insight given still left the viewers with more questions about him. "What was up with Norman's mother?" "Who was Norman's mother?" "What was Norman's mother really like?" "What was it that drove Norman so crazy, so psycho?" - all these questions that fans have wondered will be finally answered in the fourth film: Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990).For those that have never seen one of the psycho films, you should watch them in order to build suspense towards the fourth movie "Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)".The rating on this movie is entirely to low and has unfair bad criticism in my opinion. It's a good finale.9/10