Random Observations About Psycho II

 I just can't get enough Psycho.  And in honor of the post I wrote over at The Lightning Bug's Lair today, I had to "get my Psycho on" again.  Except I am heading over to Psycho II, revisiting it yet again to make some random observations. 

Beware of spoilers.  If you haven't seen it (and who the hell are you that you haven't seen it?), you need to!   Then come read this.
Anyway...

*I always found it fantastic that this sequel actually came along 22 years after the original, and Norman had been in jail all that time.  What a concept! None of this 'two years with good measure' bullshit that goes on these days when studios need to resurrect someone to make a few bucks.

*What is up with Lila Loomis (Vera Miles)?  She married Sam?  Whaaa? 
Slut.

*Hm... let's see.  What does Norman have in his cupboard?  Lots of product placements, that's for sure:  Quaker Oats, Minute Rice, Lays Potato Chips, and Lipton Tea Bags.  Love it that he still has the cojones to drink tea after his...troubles.  I see he bought cereal as well.  Looks like Corn Chex in the cupboard. I was thinking more like Grape Nuts or Corn Nuts. Rude, I know.
He does mention that he has cookies for dessert, but we never see them.  Wonder if they were Nutter Butters?

*The inside of the Psycho house reminds me of something.  Now maybe it's because I've seen these movies one too many times and it is burned in my brain, but for some reason it seems so familiar.  I actually think perhaps it is a lot like one of the abandoned houses we used to hang out *cough cough PARTY cough cough * in when I was a teenager.  In fact, that particular house still stands and I so want to head out there and check it out, just for old times sake.  The staircase, upstairs hallways and rooms, and especially the cellar.  SO much like it. 

*I love how many of the same phrases from the original are used here in the sequel.  For instance, when he tells Mary "it's only sandwiches and milk" - exactly the same thing he gave Marion.  And when he shows Mary the bathroom he once again can't seem to say BATHROOM, and she finishes the word.

*It amazes me that people would put butcher knives within Norman's reach.  There's no way, even after 22 years, that the folks in town wouldn't have total recall about just who Norman is and what he did.  Mary hands him a knife to cut a sandwich, his boss at the diner has him cutting lettuce, he has full access to a coconut cake with a giant knife right on the plate... Duh.

*I hate Meg Tilly's hair. 
On a similar note:  imagine how different the film would be if Jennifer Tilly played Mary? Sexah!

*Speaking of the diner, waaaay back in 1982, a hamburger costs $1.75, an order of fries is $.45 and a Pepsi is $.45.  So, thinking back to math class in the fourth grade - if you got two hamburgers, two orders of fries, and two Pepsi's, what would your bill total be?  Now I totally hated those 'story-problem' kind of math puzzles, but I'm pretty sure that total would not be $3.70.  Which is what it says as the balance due on one of the orders at the diner.  Hm... Maybe it's the "old math".  Maybe you don't need to be able to add to be a set designer.

*Dennis Franz makes a really good slimebucket.  Yikes.  I especially like his pseudo-Hawaiian shirt with the turquoise bolero.  Stylin'.

*Would you take a shower in the Psycho house?  Would you?  Seriously?  Well Mary does, with seemingly no qualms whatsoever.  One look at the freaky-ass wallpaper in there and I'd already be looking for peepholes, maybe stick some Q-tips or the top of the toothpaste cap in any holes I find.  Then again, would I even be naked in that house?

*I love it that Norman plays piano.  And he's playing Moonlight Sonata.  Awesome.  Better yet it actually looks as though Perkins is playing the tune. Probably was.

*Music?  Um, yeah.  Speaking of - I love love love the score for this film.  Jerry Goldsmith was a righteous human being.  Word.  He created some of the most memorable scores in the film world (Alien, Poltergeist, and The Omen, just to name a few) and the music of Psycho II is wonderful.  I searched for years to find it.  Even went so far as to buy it off eBay from someone out of the country...on cassette!  Thankfully I have it on CD now - and I won't say from where I got it.  But I have made two copies, one of which is in my fire safe with the score from Ghost Story.  Yes, I said they are in my fire safe.  Just. In. Case.

*I like the curtains framing all the doorways.  Cool retro-antiquey look.  Want that, please.

 *Those kids that sneak into the house through the basement and into the fruit cellar?  That was SO me.
Oh, and I used to have a pair of canvas Nikes just like that dude was wearing.  Very 1982.

*Anthony Perkins is so spot on in this performance.  The stuttering and stammering nervous-nellie is so flawless.  Makes me love him all the more. 

*What are on the pins on Meg Tilly's terribly outdated raspberry cowl neck sweater?  I paused and paused and still can't make it out.  One of them looks a bit like a yin/yang motif.

*Are those bird pictures on the wall upstairs the same ones from Psycho, like one of the ones that falls off the wall outside the bathroom of Room No. 1 after Marion's murder?  Even if it's not, it's sublime that there are bird pictures on the wall, right?  Great homage to the first film.

*I would KILL to have that stove in Norman's kitchen.  Wait, did I say kill?  I'm under the influence of Mr. Bates, sorry.

*How can Mary sleep with Norman in the room with her, and the knife?  And when he tells her about the nice toasted cheese sandwiches, she so should have went down and made him a few.  I saw the bread on the counter, no doubt he had some cheese in that fridge.  It would have made him feel so much better.  Even better with some tea, right?  Though he does finally make himself one at the end of the film. 

*Two words:  Robert Loggia.

*Ah, Mrs. Spool... Could you possibly purse your lips any more in the like, three scenes you have? 

*When Mary pulls that knife through Norman's hand it is one of the single-most disturbing things I've seen, it just looks so damn painful. Ouch!

*Does anyone have this magazine (at left) or know where I can get it? 

*And on an extremely random note:  my cat likes Norman Bates.  He has a strange habit of sitting up like a human in his little rocking chair and staring at the tv when Psycho or any of the sequels are on.

I take that back, he's not as fond of Psycho III. 
But then, neither am I...

31 days, 31 faves: Psycho II

I don't think it's any secret that I am a huge lover of all things Psycho (the film, that it. Nut jobs can steer clear!) I've written about the subject several times for several sites and here on my own paltry blog. Not only is the original Psycho the wonder of all wonders for me, but I happen to be thoroughly captivated by the sequel as well. Now, there are two more in the series after this one, and being such an appreciative Psycho fan, I enjoy them all - but shall I just say this one really does it for me.

I saw it at the drive in way back in 1984, and consider it one of the better sequels made. Period.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins, who else?) is finally out of the slammer. After 22 years he has been deemed mentally sane and fit for release. His shrink, Dr. Raymond (Robert Loggia) is happy as a clam, congratulates him and swears everything will be alright. (That's what they all say!) Meanwhile, causing a ruckus in the courtroom is Lila Loomis, sister of Marion Crane - the shower victim from the first film, if I really have to tell you. Lila is damn sure everything is not going to be peachy keen. She rants to the judge about her misgivings but he isn't hearing it. Even when she provides a petition (signed by 743 people!) the judge basically just waves her away.

Let's talk about Lila for a second. First of all, she could only get 743 signatures? I mean, if you were really trying to prevent a guy from being released back into mainstream society wouldn't you have tried to do better than that? Why didn't she launch a Facebook campaign? That's really the way to go. Oh yeah, 'cause it was 1983 and it didn't exist. Still, I think if there was a chance someone like say, Ted Bundy could have been let go, don't you think - and I really don't think I'm going out on a limb here - more than 743 people would give a shit? Folks would be driving in from out of town to sign that thing. They'd have it at every church in America. Hell, Bundy's cellmate probably would have signed it!
I digress...
Anyway, Lila. And what is up with her being a Loomis? So she mourned her dead sister so much that she married Marion's boyfriend? Wasn't he putting Marion off due to pressure from his ex-wife? Lila must have cashed in a nice life insurance policy on Marion to have obviously taken care of Sam's money woes. Hmpf!

Moving on...
Dr. Raymond gets Norman a job at the local diner, where he meets Mrs. Spool (owner of said diner who believes in giving Norman a chance because it's just the Christian thing to do). He also befriends a hapless waitress named Mary, who has boyfriend troubles and is heard arguing on the phone with him. Later as they leave for the night, Norman overhears Mary fighting with the dolt she lives with yet again. Seems he's thrown her out, so conveniently Norman invites her to stay in his motel. It takes some doing, but she finally agrees.

Unfortunately, the Bates Motel has become a den of drugs and ill-repute run by the swarmy Mr. Toomey (Dennis Franz at his sleazy best). After a heated argument Norman tells Mary to wait for him at the house while he takes care of things. At first hesitant, she again agrees and leaves.
A few moments later Norman arrives, stating he fired Mr. Toomey (who we can hear yelling obscenities towards the house).

When Norman fixes a sandwich for them, Mary asks him for a knife. Stuttering fabulously through the sentence Norman exclaims that he forgot to bring any c-c-cutlery. (Love that!)

But Mary finds a knife in the drawer and hands it to him. When his nerves are blatantly showing, Mary becomes wary and questions him if he is okay. He states that he is, but Mary's appetite is squashed like a bug, and she says she's going to take a shower and go to bed.
A shower!? Really? You've simply GOT to be joking here.
But she's not. Off to the shower she goes, and we're privy to someone watching her through the peephole. Nice. Wonder who?

Next day and we're back at the diner. Mary tells Norman she's going to stay with a friend in town, even though she appreciates the offer to stay with him.
Suddenly Norman seems to be getting messages on the order wheel from his dead mother. Thinking it's Toomey (who's come in to make a ridiculous scene and pinch a few asses), Norman loses his cool and gets sent home.

That evening, Mary shows back up, saying she's taking him up on the offer to board there because her roomie in town has a boyfriend who she can't stop having loud sex with. Yeah, that would be a bit distracting.
Norman then gets a phone call from who he thinks is his mother. Naturally Mary tells him it's just old ghosts. But fear has begun to creep back into Norman's psyche and that night he and Mary spend the night (no hanky panky) in his old bedroom for fear of "Mother".

Not that things get any better. Norman begins to get notes from Mother at home, and after one of the infamous phone calls, Mary dashes from the house. We then witness her down at the motel, talking to Lila Loomis. Seems Mary and Lila know each other.

And then Toomey ends up on the wrong side of a knife as well when an old woman in a black dress is seen taking him out.
Meanwhile, Norman gets himself locked in the attic as a teenage couple sneaks into the basement (and into that wonderful fruit cellar) for some afternoon nookie. Hmm....why would you do that? Seriously. Especially when you know the history of the house and in particular the FRUIT CELLAR! Well, the woman in black finds those two as well.
Will people never learn?

When Mary comes back and finds Norman in the attic (though now the door isn't locked), she covers for him when the police come calling. But Norman starts to doubt his innocence, and starts babbling about the notes and calls coming from his "real" mother. Stating that the woman he poisoned and buried was not his true mother, he seems to have clearly went off the deep end.

What we don't know as viewers, is if Norman is truly going psycho again or if he is being framed under suspicious circumstances. By the end of the film that is all cleared up and we are given a really swell yet somewhat surprising ending which I don't want to give away here.

Perkins had always commented that he was stereotyped after playing Bates, but he seemed to embrace it rather than begrudge it. I don't believe anyone else could possibly portray the character in the same perfect way he does (I'm talking to you, Vince Vaughn). The stuttering, nervousness he gave to Norman sets him apart, he's just so believable. And the worst part about the legacy of Norman Bates is most certainly that he looks just like the boy next door.
Yeah, the mama's boy.

Check out more about Psycho II in the upcoming new retrospective, THE PSYCHO LEGACY, which is out on October 19th!!

Female Villains in Horror: "Mother"

"A boy's best friend is his mother..."

Now before you go all psycho on me (sorry, couldn't resist!) - I'm not just talking about Norman Bates dressed up as Mother. I'm talking about Mother herself.
The condescending, confidence-shattering, ball-busting, poorest excuse for a mother this side of Andrea Yates.
So this is a two-fer, truth be told.

Poor Norman didn't stand a chance of being normal.

In 1960's Psycho, highly regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time, it really isn't touched upon too much why Norman offed his mom. Basically we are to assume it was from her constant berating and hovering. Yelling at him to 'go open the motel' and to 'stay away from filthy whores!' (Good advice for any man, really...)

So what did he do? Why kill her of course.
And then dress up in her clothes and start killing people. In his mind, he becomes Mother. Can you say split personality disorder?

When Marion Crane is at the motel and Norman goes to get something for her to eat up at the manse, she hears him arguing with Mother about having a woman in their house. (Obviously he is chatting with himself.)

And we all remember discovering Mother in the fruit cellar. Lovely.

In Psycho II, they gave us Mrs. Spool.
At first we thought she was just the kindly old lady who was a co-worker of Norman's at the restaurant, trying to be "Christian-like" by getting Norman hired.

At the end of the film it is revealed that she was Norman's true mother - and that because she was young, had her own "troubles", and was sent to the looney bin - Norman was given to Mrs. Spool's sister to raise as her own. And as we all know, she did a bang-up job, right?

When Norman poisons Mrs. Spool and then bashes her head with a shovel--

--things really come full circle. He apparently preserves her as he did her sister, because...

In Psycho III we have someone stealing Mrs. Spool's mummified body. Gah!
Norman is up to his old tricks again, too. Guess he never moves into the present, either. His poor choice of "mother" clothes remains reprehensibly heinous.

We also learn that Mrs. Spool was institutionalized for murder. Wow, great role model. She was in love with Norman's dad but he chose her sister instead. So she kidnaps Norman and pretends she's his mother.
Are you still with me?

So, Mrs. Bates really was Norman's nasty mom.

In Psycho IV they turned the tables a bit. Turns out Mrs. Bates was herself a bit of the skanky whore she always warned her son about.

Not only that, but when Norman was younger Norma Bates had violent mood swings. Evidently, she also teased Norman a little too much and a little too sexily, causing him to rise to the occasion. Creepy.

'

She then made fun of him and dressed him in women's clothes and called him Norma.
That explains a lot.
Norman grows up pretty much having a love-hate relationship with Mother, always trying to please her and yet insanely jealous when she takes a lover. Norman eventually kills her and her boyfriend (who was also known to abuse Norman).

So there you go.

When you lay out all the facts, it's really no wonder Norman killed his mom and was so messed up. He almost gets a free pass on this one. And you know, the poor guy never really did get out from under her omnipotent influence. How sad.

Brutality, insanity, jealousy, deceit, incestuous overtones, torment and eventual murder.
More than enough reason for Norman and Mother to be an interchangeable villain.

Buy it here and here.

On a rainy weekend...

I've just seen a whole slew of horror movies over the last several days (it's what happens when it rains here...) so I thought I'd put up some reviews/suggestions. Most of these I have seen before but perhaps not everyone has, so here goes:

First up: Fingerprints (2006)

Now with a DVD cover like this one, you'd think this would be killer scary, right?
Well..... it didn't suck. But it wasn't especially scary. Rather like a mystery - or maybe slightly better than a saturday night Sci-Fi Channel premiere.
There were a few spooky elements though, and perhaps I am desensitized and not much creeps me out anymore.
Anyway.

"Fingerprints" is actually based on an supposed urban legend out of Texas about a school bus accident in which a train hits a stalled bus on the tracks and all the children inside die. Nice premise, eh?
Story goes that if you stop your car at the tracks and put it in neutral, the ghosts of the children will push your car across the tracks and out of harm's way. If you are a savvy ghost hunter, you will sprinkle baby powder on your bumper and soon after, discover the fingerprints of the kids. Cool!

I liked the main character, Melanie, played by Leah Pipes (whom I had never heard of until now but apparently she has done some Disney tv or the likes). She was completely believable and a good actress. Mel has just gotten out of rehab (which was some kind of 'outward bound' thing for troubled teens - we should all be so lucky) and has come home to live with her small-town, recently relocated parents. (They never say - did she cause such a drug-induced ruckus that the folks had to leave town?)
Actually, her boyfriend and her were doing drugs and he overdosed and died and she died and came back. So she has some kind of "special feelings" or kinship with the ghostly realm.

Also in the family is Mel's big sister, who in my book looked the same age and nothing like Melanie at all. Crystal (Kristin Cavallari of 'The Hills' fame) plays sis, and she is as wooden an actress as I have seen in quite some time. She just looks pretty... that's about all she can manage.
The mom is a royal unforgiving, untrusting bitch (and fairly bad actress as well) and Dad is a secret sympathizer. There's the family in a nutshell.

Melanie attends the same school as her sister, quickly makes a new boyfriend (Josh Henderson of Desperate Housewives), gets on a first-name basis with the guidance counselor (genre favorite Lou Diamond Phillips) and begins doing her own research about the legend after her sister shows her the famous 'fingerprints on the bumper' trick and Mel sees a ghostly girl.

To say more would give the whole thing away, so I'll just end it there by saying this was a pretty good mystery, and there were a few choice gore moments for us true grue fans.

Moving on to one of my all time new favorites: the fantastic, unrivaled 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.

I could watch this movie again and again. I love it. There is only one other remake even remotely on-par with this movie and that would be the 1982 remake of the 50's horror standard "The Thing". It rocks and if you haven't seen it, don't be afraid to, as it has held up quite well after all these years.
Anyway, Dawn of the Dead is a remake of the 1978 George Romero classic. It was the second of Romero's zombie movies and while good in its own right, I truly believe the updated version is the way to go.

Ana (the always brilliant Sarah Polley) finishes an overtime shift at her job as a hospital nurse and joins her hubby for a quiet evening at home.

Morning comes and so does the little neighbor girl at their bedroom door. When hubby gets up to check on her, she pounces on him like a cheetah to an antelope and proceeds to rip out his throat. Ana cannot get the bleeding stops and Louis expires. But as any zombie fan worth their merit knows, he's not gone for long...
He reanimates and chases her from the house where she escapes in her car, barrelling down the neighborhood while noticing things are exploding in chaos all over. To make a long story short, she wrecks her car, finds a friend in a police officer (Ving Rhames), finds three more 'normal' folks: Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer), and his russian girlfriend Luda (Inna Korobkina)..
They make their way to a local mall ( in the original the mall they shot the film at is nearby where I live) and eventually increase their party of 5 to a party of 15 or so.

From here on out it is basically a battling zombies kind of film. But the effects are great, the acting top-notch and the plot just works. There is comedic intervention as well as some truly awesome gore. I can't say enough good things about it.

In most films, zombies generally poke along at a ridiculously slow pace, obviously due to their brain matter being a tad nonexistent I suppose, but this film continued a trend of perilously fast, practically running zombies. That's pretty much scarier than a zombie strolling along at a turtle's pace.
For other awesome quick-paced zombie movies, check out '28 Days Later' and its really good sequel, '28 Weeks Later' - though I think they are supposed to be people infected with a rage of some sort, not actual zombies. Plays out the same though.

Watch for special effects guru Tom Savini, who did much of Romero's movies special effects and make-up, in a funny cameo.

All in all, a fine zombie movie that comes highly recommended.

Lastly for today, a two-fer. Psycho and Psycho 2.

There is not much one can say about the original 1960 thriller, Psycho, except that it is one of the finest films ever put to celluloid.
Could there be a more iconic horror movie scene than the image of "Mother" pulling open that shower curtain and weilding that knife while Bernard Herrmann's all too familiar strains of screeching string instruments? I think not.

Alfred Hitchcock always knew how to give a person a fright, but I believe that this was his true masterpiece. Others will say Vertigo, or Rear Window (both good) but this is a movie that everyone knows. Everyone has seen it. Everyone is afraid of showering now.

What Jaws was to the ocean, 'Mother' is to taking a shower.

Poor Norman (Anthony Perkins) cannot get a date to save his life with his mother always yelling at him and chiding him. When the beautiful Marion Crane (who has just embezzled a shitload of money from her boss and is on the lam) stops for the night at the Bates Motel, events are set in motion that are unstoppable. She meets Norman while checking in and he hesitates, then gives her Room #1.
Quick synopsis: They chat. She leaves. She showers. He watches. She dies. He cleans up. He blames Mother. Her family arrives. Detective as well. They investigate. More murder.
Shocking revelation. The End.

Psycho was well received by critics and audiences alike, who could not believe Hitchcock would kill off a big Hollywood star like Janet Leigh in the first 20 minutes of the film! And poor Anthony Perkins, himself an Oscar nominated actor, found himself pigeon-holed into the role of Norman Bates forever.

Though I have heard they colorized the film for a dvd release at some point, I definately do not recommend seeing it in anything but its native black and white. The effect is so much greater.

PSYCHO 2 (1983) is a personal favorite of mine, not only because I love the Norman Bates character (who was based on the lovely serial killer Ed Gein), but because I love the score by the prolific late Jerry Goldsmith.

In it, we find Norman, finally being released from jail after serving 22 years for... whoops! Did I forget to previously mention he was the killer in the first movie? Ha. You knew that.
Looking pretty sane and fairly confident, he decides (against the better judgement of his psychiatrist, played by Robert Loggia) to move back to the old house on the hill and run that infamous motel again. After all, what else could he do? Much to the chagrin of his biggest protester, Marion Crane's sister, Lila - who protests at the courthouse and swears he'll kill again.

His shrink has arranged for him to work at a local diner (you know, with knives and stuff!) and so once there he meets his tempermental boss, and his co-workers - one bitchy waitress, one clumsy but nice-enough waitress - Mary, and Mrs. Spool, who convinced the state to give Norman the job because it is the Christian thing to do.

He also has a run-in with the current manager of the Bates Motel, the low-life Mr Toomey, who has turned it into a one stop shop for quick sex and drugs. He fires Toomey straight out and has a confrontation at the restaurant because he thinks Toomey slipped a note from his dead mother onto the order rack.
After that grueling first day, he invites a weary and recently broken-hearted Mary to stay at his motel since her boyfriend kicked her out. She agrees, but ends up staying in the house because Toomey has basically trashed the motel rooms.

Soon Norman begins to receive mysterious phone calls from his 'mother' and hears voices. His mother's room turns out to have not aged a day and looks exactly as it did 22 years ago. He gets stuck in the attic, finds bloody towels in the toilet, and once a murder occurs in the house when he is supposed to be at work, he feels he is starting to lose control again. Is he descending into madness again?

Check out the movie to find out. It's a great return to a horror franchise. They made a few sequels after this one, with Perkins continuing the role, but this one is far superior to either of those.

Ok, that's all for now, folks.
Much more to come. Wait for it.