Psycho IIIis a 1986slasher filmand the second sequel to the original genre-altering classic,Psycho. The film is directed by Norman Bates actor,Anthony Perkins, and takes place 22 years after the first film in the series.Psycho IIIfollows Bates as he navigates a blossoming romance with failed nun Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwig),as well as rising suspicions as to his role in the disappearances of several women in the sparsely populated desert town of Fairvale, California.On his tail is reporter Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell), as well as sleazy wannabe rocker Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey). While the film made just under twice its budget at the box office,Psycho IIImaintains mixed reviews and a largely forgotten legacy. But is there more toPsycho IIIthan just a 20-year-late cash-grab sequel?
Well, yes. Unnecessary horror sequels were nothing new in the ’80s. This was the same decade as eight (yes,eightFriday the 13thmovies, fiveA Nightmare On Elm Streetfilms, and fourHalloweensequels. And though each horror franchise (and its subsequent eleven billion entries) has its own tropes and quirks to play with, one of the defining features of these sequels is a subsequent drop in quality and care regarding its characters. Audiences return to these films for the killers, and thus their victims become one-dimensional scream generators to be thoughtlessly slaughtered, all the while leaving viewers knowing just as little about the killers they came to see as before.The hidden genius ofPsycho IIIlies in its dual characterization of the well-mannered, yet homicidal, protagonistandkiller, Norman Bates.
Psycho III
A chilling sequel that follows Norman Bates as he returns to manage the Bates Motel after being released from a psychiatric facility. Struggling to suppress his murderous urges, Norman’s life is further complicated by the arrival of Maureen Coyle, a troubled young woman, and a persistent reporter looking into the motel’s dark past. As Norman’s sanity unravels, the motel once again becomes a site of terror, with a new wave of gruesome murders shaking the eerie establishment.
Norman Bates Gets a Do-Over in ‘Psycho III’
Psycho IIIpurposely retreads a lot of ground from the original 1960 classic not as somemeaningless nostalgia bait, but almost as a sick, twistedtime loop of trauma. Norman is out of the psych ward and attempting to lead a normal life again, but he is still endlessly haunted by the horrors of his past. When journalist Tracy Venable questions Norman about his murder of Marion Crane,he is genuinely apologetic and understanding of the hate his victims' families feel for him. And when Maureen Coyle stumbles upon them with her short blonde hair and suitcase with the initials M.C., Norman all but sprints away to avoid her. Perkins understands Norman as a man deeply haunted by his past and characterizes him as such.
In many ways, Perkins' portrayal of Norman Bates is both as a killer and afinal girl. Norman is the lone survivor of his own actions. While his homicidal “Mother” persona might be a Freudian manifestation of his own subconscious desires, the disconnect he feels between his own sense of self and Mother leaves Norman in a precarious situation wherein his actions do not feel his own. Even if it is factually accurate that Norman killed Marion Crane, it isn’t emotionally true for him. In the originalPsycho, Norman is defined by his isolation and this is intensified by the two-sided nature of his psyche. Perkins frames Norman’s homicidal Mother alter ego as almost amalevolent specter violently possessing his bodyagainst his will.While Norman as himself is capable of great violence, he is hyper-vigilant of Mother’s return and takes active steps to avoid provoking her.
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“Mother! Oh God, mother! Blood! Blood!”
Norman ultimately spirals when Maureen comes to stay at the motel out of fear that her resemblance to Marion Crane will somehow awaken Mother inside him. In retreading ground from the original,Psycho IIIbuilds tension while allowing for its protagonist to have a do-over of the past. Small, blonde, and clearly running from something, Maureen seems doomed to meet the same fate as Marion Crane. But when Norman’s Mother persona pulls back the shower curtain to find her bleeding out in the tub from a suicide attempt,Norman is shocked out of his alter ego and given the chance at redemption through his choice to save her. From this kindness, a fairytale kind of romance blossoms. Unfortunately for them, the fairytale in question isless Disney and more Bluebeard, but Norman and Maureen’s oddly wholesome relationship gives the film an undercurrent of hope. It seems if Norman could just do this one thing right, he could live a normal, happy life.
Anthony Perkins Understands the Tragedy of Norman Bates
Anthony Perkins as a director is also a breath of fresh air in the ’80s horror sequel scene. His command of color is stunning at times. A detour fromPsycho’sstriking black and white,Psycho IIItoes the line between this grimy kind of realism and hypnotic neon lighting.Psycho IIIis seen through the lens of Bates' voyeuristic, yet almost childish, worldview. Norman is in his 50s and a convicted murderer by the timePsycho IIItakes place, and yet every inch of its world is exciting, titillating, and shocking in a way that is strikingly adolescent. Like ateen boy in some ’80s comedy, Norman spies on the neighbor girl as she changes through a window.
While voyeurism and sex are common themes of many horror films, especially in the ’80s, there’s something sickly horrific in the way that Norman’s particular brand of sexual repression manifesting through voyeurism and violence is so explicitly adolescent. As though, no matter how hard he tries, Norman is incapable of growing beyond the traumatized teenager he was when he killed his mother. Perkins, as always, portrays this masterfully through his shy demeanor and creepily boyish charm.But his command of the camera as director is explicitly informed by his understanding of Norman’s perspective as an actor,presenting us withthe best direction the series has seen since Hitchcock.
‘Psycho III’ Has a Lot in Common With Tragic Greek Mythology
Perkins' use ofGreek mythologyandChristian allusionsthroughoutPsycho IIIalso serves to flesh out a story that already has a lot going on for it. When Norman, as Mother, finds Maureen bleeding out in the bathtub, she hallucinates the figure before her as the Virgin Mary reaching out to save her and this imagery lingers throughout the film whenever Maureen comes across Mother. Additionally,the Norman/Maureen romance parallels the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche — a myth in which Cupid’s jealous mother, Aphrodite, commands him to punish Psyche by making her fall in love with a beast. But Cupid himself instead falls for the girl and must court her in secret lest he summon the wrath of his mother.
Like Psyche, Maureen falls for a man she knows little about, and when she learns the truth about him, their romance falls apart. Additionally, Mother’s consistent insults towards Maureen and insistence that Norman kills her serve as clear allusions to the original myth. But while the similarities between the two are clear, what is more striking is what these two mythological allusions have to say about the role of Mother in the world ofPsycho III. While Mother might be more akin to Aphrodite — jealous and vengeful of anyone who would steal her attention and praise — Maureen as a failed nun sees the role of Mother through the lens of the kind, virtuous Virgin Mary.Maureen is, long before any romance can bloom, capable of seeing the potential good in even Norman’s most violent persona.
Unfortunately, this does not save her. Maureen’s death, unlike the deaths of the two women Mother kills in lieu of her, is accidental. But she quite literally dies upon Cupid’s arrow after falling on a statue of the figure while trying to reconnect with Norman. With the death of the last person capable of seeing any real good in Mother,Norman finally summons the strength to kill the persona himself. The act is largely symbolic, but one which he has been incapable of following through on since he was a teenager. It is only through the loss of something greater than his mind or freedom that he is motivated to make this choice. And though the film does end with a cheesy sequel-tease that hearkens back toPsycho’soriginal ending, for the first time in the series,the audience is given a glimpse at who Norman is when not being tormented by the ghosts of his past.
Psycho IIIis available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.
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