Movie Review #44: Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)

 

I find the Psycho franchise interesting in the fact that most people seem to forget that Psycho is even a franchise, but it's an amazing how large this franchise even is. 5 movies, a failed tv pilot starring BUD CORT in the 1980s. a tv series in the 2010s and everything. It's pretty amazing. I think the franchise is pretty good honestly. The first movie is a classic (the remake of said movie is really bad). The second movie is seriously about 25 times better than it has any right to be. I don't remember the 3rd movie well enough to really comment on it. So expect a review of that movie sometime soon-ish because why not!? Well Psycho IV: The Beginning is something I'm not a fan of.

The biggest reason is that I'm really not a fan of prequels. It's very rare that I can go "yeah that was a good prequel" because you know what will happen. This movie is kind of a mix of a prequel and a sequel. Anthony Perkins was working on other films in 1990 and I guess they just went with a prequel idea. I do not know if he was HIV Positive in 1990 or not. I also think you shouldn't take away all of the mystique of a horror character. The less you know about these guys is better. They are planning on a Freddy Krueger prequel and I can't think of a movie I'd less like to see. You got enough information on Freddy Krueger and his history in those movies. You don't need a single second more of that. That's just me though.

Some of the positives that I can say about this movie is that it's very well directed. That's Mick Garris for you. That dude is seriously underrated and should get to direct better fare than Psycho IV: The Beginning. The acting is honestly pretty good for the most part. CCH Pounder is really good as the Radio Host Norman Bates calls into (She's also really great in the Justice League cartoons as Amanda Waller. Anthony Perkins is on and off this time. Sometime he's really good and sometimes it feels like he's phoning it in. However THE best acting in this film is Olivia Hussey as Norma Bates. Holy hot hell is she ever putting in the work as this crazy woman who just fucked the shit out of her friends head. 

I remember watching this movie when I was a young man and thinking it was totally uninteresting and for the most part I still find the plot uninteresting. I just can't really say anything more about this film. I will say despite that you should watch this because of Olivia Hussey's amazing performance. It's worth watching. The rest of this movie is just not great.

FINAL VERDICT: I honestly believe this movie and most prequels are pointless and uninteresting. Despite talent behind the scenes and in front of the scene this movie is just not really worth watching.