Stars: Anthony Perkins, Meg Tilly, Vera Miles
Director: Richard Franklin
1983 is another year of great films, including several classics of the horror genre. I would argue that this film deserves a spot on that list.
This sequel may have seemed like a bad idea at the time but it turns out that Norman Bates story was not over quite yet.
Brief synopsis:
It has been 22 years since Norman Bates was committed to a psychiatric facility for the murders he committed as “Mother”. Having been under the care of a psychiatrist during this entire time, he is now deemed no longer a danger to society and released. One person not happy about Norman’s release is Lila Loomis, Marion Crane’s sister, who insists Norman will kill again.
Against his psychiatrist’s advice, Norman returns to the Bates Motel. While get the hotel up and running, he also begins working at diner with waitress Mary and the elderly Ms. Spool. When she gets thrown out by her boyfriend, Norman offers Mary a place to stay. It all starts out fine but soon Norman begins getting messages from “Mother”…
Spoilers below (you have been warned):
People who upset Norman begin disappearing. Norman slowly starts to lose his grip on sanity as he sees and hears Mother everywhere. Mary is by his side the whole time, seemingly helping him deal with his hallucinations. A couple of teenagers sneak into the basement of the house and the boy is murdered by Mother. Norman is apparently locked into the attic at the time however Mary later claims that the door was open. The girl escapes and goes to the police. However, when they come to investigate the house and basement, there is no sign of a murder and Mary even defends Norman and provides him with an alibi.
There is a good reason for her doing that – Mary was the one who locked Norman in the attic and knows he could not have killed anyone during that time. Not only that, she is actually the daughter of Sam and Lila Loomis and is working with Lila to drive Norman crazy and back to the sanitarium. Mary decides that Norman has paid his debt and doesn’t deserve the gaslighting they were doing and quits the plan. By this time, it is too late and Norman truly believes Mother is back. Meanwhile, Norman’s psychiatrist, Dr. Raymond, discovers the link between Lila and Mary and tells Norman. While he is telling Norman, the local sheriff, also wise to their connection, tells Mary to get Lila and leave town. Lila and Mary fight in the lobby of Lila’s hotel and Mary chooses Norman over her mom.
Based on Lila’s suggestion, the police find the bodies of the missing in the swamp. Lila sneaks into the house to scare him one last time and is killed. Mother calls Norman again, telling him to kill Mary. Mary dresses up as Mother to try and prove to Norman that his mother isn’t on the phone. When that doesn’t work, she goes to another phone and tries to convince him. Caught in the Mother outfit by Dr. Raymond, Mary panics and accidentally kills him. Now broken, Norman sees Mary as Mother and attempts to help her escape. She stabs him multiple times until they end up in the basement. Mary finds Lila’s dead body as Norman falls to the floor. Loosing control, Mary is caught attempting to kill him. The police shoot her dead. Mary and Lila are blamed for the murders and the case is closed.
Norman is released to go back to the house and live his life. As he is making tea, Ms. Spool from the diner shows up and claims to be his birth mother. She was sent away due to mental issues and her sister, Norma, raised Spool’s son. She was the one who killed the people who were messing with Norman, including Lila. She wanted to finally protect him. A mentally destroyed Norman kills her with a shovel and then carries her upstairs to take Norma’s place as Mother.
My thoughts (with spoilers):
A sequel twenty-two years after the classic Psycho should not have worked. It could have gone off the rails in so many ways and yet this film is great. Instead of going the traditional slasher route of killer attacks teenagers, this film creates a mystery and has us trying to figure out if Norman really is cured of his demons or if returning home, honestly not the smartest move, has him slip back into his old ways.
The script from Tom Holland is smart and never speaks down to the audience. Holland would go on to write and direct one of the premiere vampire films of the 1980’s, Fright Night, as well as direct the first Child’s Play film. While his filmography is not vast, it does contain at least two classics which is more than a lot of writers or directors can say. Richard Franklin’s direction compliments the script, using dutch angles and other tricks of the camera to assist in keeping the audience off guard.
But all this would be for nothing if the acting was not on point. Anthony Perkins has a way of creating a truly sympathetic character. As much as you understand about the horror he created over twenty years ago, you also can understand that he was a victim of a manipulative woman. Twenty-two years, he is back in the same place and being the victim of another set of manipulative women. Feeling sympathy for a murderer is not an easy thing but Perkins does it with ease. Every time I watch this film, I just want him to get lucky and find happiness. But Norman was born under a cursed star and that peace will always elude him.
Vera Miles gives her all to Lila, a woman truly consumed by hate and anger. A part of this may be that the life she has is borrowed from her sister. Had Marion not died, maybe Sam would have married someone else and she would not have had Mary. Whatever the reason, it pushes her into the villain role, a person who needed therapy as much as Norma and probably never got it.
Meg Tilly is also great as Mary Samuels and it only gets better once you know the twist. First off, the name is an homage to the first film – Mary for Marion and Samuels for Sam Loomis. But then you notice little things that Tilly throws into her performance, little looks and ways of phrasing things, that tell us that she knows exactly what she is doing. An example of this would be when she tries to hand Norman a butcher knife and asks him to cut her sandwich for him. When Norman refuses, she drops the knife and then claims she is no longer hungry. She was baiting him and dropped it when he didn’t take the bait. It is a small scene but very telling upon rewatch.
All in all, this is probably one of the best sequels to a horror film out there. Misunderstood at the time, it has become something of a cult classic with many considering it better than the original. While I would not go that far, it is definitely a great horror film and worthy of standing up next to Hitchcock’s Psycho.
More films from 1983 to check out:
Return of the Jedi – I love the Ewoks and have no problem admitting it. There were vicious and cute little cannibals which, for me, are a perfect match. The first Star Wars film I remember seeing in the theater and still a great film.
Mr. Mom – A dream team of Michael Keaton and Teri Garr star as a married couple who has to get used to a new dynamic after he is laid off and she goes back to work. Funny and a film I watch at least once a year.
WarGames – A film that may be more relevant today than it was in the 1980’s with the rise of AI, Matthew Broderick is a computer nerd who accidentally hacks into a government computer named WOPR. The final scene with the computer simulating multiple nuclear war scenarios still gives me chills.