Re: The Wing Kong Exchange
Norman Bates, under the watchful eye of "mother", continues to run the Bates Motel, but isn't having a lot of success. He soon hires a new manager, a drifter and wannabe musician named Duane. He also gets a new guest at the motel, a troubled ex-nun named Maureen, who bears a striking resemblance to Marion Crane. Norman finds himself slowly falling for this tortured soul, but "mother" isn't about to have any of it, and soon she'll make her presence felt again.
After Psycho II proved to be a surprise hit, plans for another sequel went into motion almost immediately. Although there were some delays on the project, including numerous rewrites, the film finally came to fruition in 1986. To convince the star of the first two, Anthony Perkins, to come back, the executives at Universal promised him both a top notch script to work with as well as the chance to direct. Though he had never directed a film before, Perkins was eager to take on the additional responsibility and approached the project with great zeal. Working from a screenplay by one of the more underrated writers of the 1980's and infusing it with a great deal of black humour, Perkins managed to make an interesting if somewhat flawed film. Much like the characters on display within its confines, it is fractured and damaged, but at the same time that's part of its charm. Once again, comparing this film to the original or even its sequel is a moot point; nobody should expect it to match the calibre of those. However, as is the case with Psycho II, if you go into it with an open mind and lowered expectations, what you will find is a deliciously dark comedy with razor sharp teeth and a penchant for over the top violence. If you're a horror fan, that should be more than enough.
"He has to be feeling better, he's talking to birds instead of just stuffing them."
Anthony Perkins directed from a script by Charles Edward Pogue, who was a very busy man in 1986. Along with writing this film, he also managed to bang out the script for David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly (previously reviewed in FujiFilm), and there is a great deal of similarity between the two. Both feature bizarre yet realistic love stories between two characters who are atypical of the normal Hollywood ones and both can be considered tragedies, to a certain extent. In fact, one reviewer was quick to point out that Psycho III and The Fly were the two great love stories of the summer that year, though they forgot to mention Pogue was the man who connected the two. His work on the screenplay for Psycho III is superb and his use of not so subtle religious imagery and black comedy is refreshing to see in a time when most horror films were straight forward hack and slash fare. Pogue's writing is so good that it would be virtually impossible for Perkins to have messed up in the directing department, and to his credit, he does not for the most part. Sure there's the usual amateur mistakes made by a first time director (most notably improper lighting techniques leading to some scenes being too dark) but they are relatively easy to overlook. Perkins also proved to be an "actor's director", eliciting strong performances from a cast of relative (outside of himself of course) unknowns.
Perkins is once again at the top of his game playing Bates, and here we get an even deeper look into his more emotional side, particularly when he starts up his relationship with the fallen nun. There's just something completely real about Perkins portrayal of the character that he becomes almost comforting to watch, and through his performance we can see and feel everything he does, from remorse to guilt to anguish to hatred and everything else in between. Norman's love interest is played by Diana Scarwid and though she was not a well known actress she certainly does an admirable job with the role. Initially I felt she was cast simply for her resemblance to the Marion Crane character and it wasn't until partway through the film that I realized her true talents. She has a way of seeming both vulnerable and guarded at the same time, while also providing an excellent foil for Perkins to work with. Their chemistry is awkward yet undeniable, much like Leigh and Perkins was in the original, and its their scenes together that anchor the film. Jeff Fahey lends support as the sleazy Duane and gets to shine in the role, easily becoming a total jerk of a character that you just can't wait to see get killed. Roberta Maxwell also has a small but crucial role as a reporter trying to get to the bottom of the entire Bates story, and she shares a great scene with Perkins in the diner near the beginning.
"Those are what you'd call great-granny panties."
As I've mentioned a couple of times already, there is a lot of black humour in this film and almost all of it works very well. I found myself laughing out loud at several moments, particularly in the scene where Maureen attempts to commit suicide. It's not the most pleasant subject matter, but there's something undeniably funny about the whole thing and the way it plays out. The subsequent conversation between Maureen and the priest just adds to the humour, as she feels Norman (who had originally been trying to kill her) was actually her saviour. This leads us into the next portion of the film, the developing romance between Maureen and Norman, because after all, if a guy saves a woman's life he's pretty much guaranteed a shot at getting laid. That's got to be about the easiest way to score...well that and saving a kid's life, but really, what are the odds that you're going to have the chance to do that? All kidding aside, the romance angle works as well as it should, mostly due to the work of Perkins and Scarwid, and though we realize its obviously not meant to be we still hold out the faint hope that Norman will somehow find true love and finally break free of "mother" once and for all. Perkins really was the best guy to give the directorial reins to here, as he knows the character intimately and really creates the perfect scenarios for him to be in.
"This is NOT your guardian angel."
However, its not all rosy, as there are a few things I had trouble getting past in this film, much like the previous one. First of all, I felt there were too many times where it seemed to be too similar to Psycho II rather than attempting to break new ground. There are certainly enough moments to make it an original effort, but it still felt like more of the same from time to time. I was also a little put off by the ending of the film and would have preferred the original one as opposed to what we ended up with. Norman finally being free would have been a great pay off, but instead we were forced to endure a typical Hollywood cliche in the final moments. Finally, I didn't really like the way one character dies on the good old staircase, as I felt that the particular gag had run its course after the second film. Obviously this one attempted to be a little more original than the one before it (though that one was pretty cool too) but it seemed out of place to me. Outside of those issues, I didn't really find anything else that annoyed me about the film and certainly thought there was a lot more good than bad to go around. Plus, as I've mentioned before, its just so damn funny at times that its impossible to judge harshly. Psycho III didn't really break any new ground in the series, but its certainly a serviceable sequel that remembers the roots that it came from.
"Norman's gonna' get some!"
Psycho III was shot on an estimated budget of $8 million and earned just over $14 million at the box office, not exactly stellar numbers when compared to the previous film. It did manage to receive a good deal of critical praise, particularly for Pogue's screenplay and Perkins direction, but it wasn't enough to convince the executives to rush into making another one. In fact, this could be considered the end of the Psycho story (or would have been if they'd stuck with the damn original ending) as it nicely bookends Hitchcock's original film. While it won't be remembered as anything more than just another Psycho film, I feel the humour and the odd yet touching love story is more than enough to recommend it. Psycho III proves that you can be funny while still doing your best to scare the pants off of your audience, and even though its not the best horror film out there its certainly better than a lot of its contemporaries.
6/10.
"Touching...and tomorrow we go back to where it all began."
