Psycho I-IV

[Dr. Briggs]

I just got done seeing it on the big screen. I love this film. Bates is such a sad person. I haven't seen any of it's sequels and I'm not sure I really want to but I've heard there are some good ones.

The second one makes Bates even more sympathetic, but doesn't go into "poor me" territory. It deals with Norm actually getting some therapy that works, and the law letting him return to society, only for him to start to backslide. Psycho II tones down the original's sort of horror but replaces it with a deepened sense of sympathy for the main characters. The scares are more psychologically creepy. Highly recommended.

The original is great too; tame as it may be compared to new horror, it still delivers one of the most awesomely pulled-off twist endings in horror... not to mention bunches of masterful suspense before that twist, including said shower scene.

Now since Freddy hasn't seen any of the sequels, I'll keep my opinions of III and IV in spoiler tags to be safe.

Spoiler

Part 3 I found to be... OK. There was a wealth of good imagery/direction, but it suffered from a script that wasn't as well-crafted as the others in my opinion. Good character development for Norman, but a little heavy on cheese and slasher elements. I have very mixed feelings on the ending. I thought Norman should have probably ended up with the former-nun, but I admit that her (accidental) death made for he near perfect catalyst for him to strike that final rebellion against "mother"... the end shot was just a dumbassed attempt at being shocking if you ask me.

Part IV is probably the dullest of the bunch, lots of flashbacks, disregard for worthy sequels... a little bit better of a script than III. Glad Norm (and his wife!) finally got a happy ending here after 3 sequels of hell, and the ending was nicely suspenseful... but all in all it wasn't that worth so many substandard flashbacks and phone-conversation in my opinion

Psycho: 8.5-9/10
Psycho II: 8-8.5/10
Psycho III: 6/10
Psycho IV: 5/10