UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Horror >

Psycho

Psycho (1998)

December. 04,1998
|
4.6
|
R
| Horror Thriller Mystery

A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel, which has terrible secrets of its own.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Micransix
1998/12/04

Crappy film

More
Dorathen
1998/12/05

Better Late Then Never

More
Zlatica
1998/12/06

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

More
Philippa
1998/12/07

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

More
willowwkmua
1998/12/08

Why did they basically try to remake the original with no changes. it's like they purposely tried to add in the "old school" acting but it just came across corny and very poor! Some parts are word for word it's horrible. They missed a great opportunity to create something wonderful! Luckily Bates Motel was smart enough to do the story justic without ruining it

More
dwasifar
1998/12/09

I was unimpressed by this when it first came out, but I thought I'd give it another chance recently and tried to watch it with an open mind. No; it's still not good. And the thing is, it could have been good, if the cast had found something new in the characters. But they mostly didn't, and I think that's because of the extremely questionable casting decisions. Anne Heche in particular seems lost and floundering in her role, and she is not helped by the crew cut that plays up her resemblance to Pee-Wee Herman. Once you see that, you can't unsee it, and it's Pee-Wee as Marion from then on. Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates is another bad choice. Anthony Perkins' Norman is superficially likable, and when he turns scary, the transformation is unsettling. Vaughn's Norman is creepy from the beginning, so there's no unsettling shift when he turns out to be a creep. Viggo Mortensen's affected aw-shucks cowboy accent deprives the Sam Loomis character of its needed gravity; and Julianne Moore tries hard to convey the steely desperation that Vera Miles earlier brought to Lila Crane, but in the end just comes off as cranky. Only William H. Macy brings something new and welcome to his role, giving the Arbogast character a refreshing abrasive charm, different from Martin Balsam, but as good if not better. In the supporting roles, there's nothing much to comment on except maybe for James Remar's note-perfect reproduction of the original film's state trooper.This is intended to be a shot-for-shot remake, yet Van Sant felt compelled to add a couple of needless things. For example, we don't need to see Norman masturbating as he looks through the hole in the wall; it's better if his desire is completely frustrated. And having Lila cut loose with martial-arts moves at the end seems like a gratuitous nod to obligatory female empowerment. In any ordinary movie it would be unremarkable, but in this film, when you know it didn't happen in the original, it sticks out like a sore thumb and you know immediately that it was added for the wrong reasons.I'd like to see someone else try this again. It's not really a BAD idea. It's just bad execution.

More
swilliky
1998/12/10

A nearly complete copy of the original just slightly updated for the 90s, Pscyho is remade by Gus Van Sant. Marion Crane (Anne Heche) is introduced again lying in bed with Sam Loomis (Viggo Mortensen) as she laments having to go back to work and he worries about not having enough money. When Marion is entrusted with ten times greater cash than the original $400,000, she takes off towards Los Angeles and Sam. Her paranoia increases steadily as she is trailed by a cop who catches her sleeping by the side of the road. She trades in her car for a new one and continues on the drive imagining the conversations of her boss and coworker.Tired and barely able to see in a rainstorm, Marion pulls off to the Bates Motel. She rents a room from Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn) who offers to make her dinner. They talk for a while then Marion returns to her room. The scene where Norman spies on her is a bit more graphic with him masturbating before returning upstairs. The recreation of the iconic shower scene also goes for violence but inexplicably cuts away to clouds. The similarities are remarkable as they copy the same shots from many of the scenes and the dialogue is pretty much identical. Norman discovers what his mother has done, cleans up the mess, and disposes of her body and car in a swamp. Check out more of this review and others at swiliky.com

More
Edith Hobbart
1998/12/11

19 years after the original shock of seeing one of the great Hitchcock classics massacred by one of the greatest living directors, I sat to watch it again. Surprise, surprise. Gus Van Sant's daring attempt could have been another masterpiece if the casting of Norman Bates, in particular, had been more visionary and less opportunistic. Imagine what a break for an actor to re-invent that iconic character. Imagine what Heath Ledger, Billy Crudup, Ryan Gosling or Guy Pearce could have done with it. I'm sure that if you had been riveted rather than embarrassed by that characterization, if Vince Vaughn was more of a serious actor who understood the responsibility of his endeavor Van Sant's Psycho would have been a triumph.

More