Psycho 4: The Beginning (1990) Review

Psycho 4: The Beginning was directed by Mick Garris (who also directed Valerie on the Stairs , Desperation , Sleepwalkers) and stars Anthony Perkins (from I'm Dangerous Tonight , Psycho III , Psycho II , Psycho), Henry Thomas (from Gerald's Game , Don't Look Up , Dead Birds) and Olivia Hussey (from Ice Cream Man , Distortions , Black Christmas). Its about Norman Bates life as a kid and how his mother drove him tomadness.

You've met Norman. Now meet mother.

The original Psycho from way back in 1960 was a great movie for itstime. Psycho 2 , the sequel that premiered 23 years later, was afantastic movie for its time and aged very well to this day. Psycho 3 was an oddball that seems to have been made just to give people more ofCrazy Norman, while playing into the mid-80s slasher trend. Psycho 4was a return to the fantastic storytelling and atmosphere from Psycho 2.

Psycho 4 is both a prequel and sequel, giving us a deep dive into thebackstory of Norman Bates which is guided along naturally by a talk showradio host lucky enough to get Norman on the line. We get to seeNormans mom back when he was a kid along with the wicked abuse he hadto endure. We also get to see all of his early pre-1960 victims and howhe improved his killin skills over time.

One of the first things that jumps out of this movie is the originalsoundtrack from 1960. It was a creative way to pull back the vibe fromthe original while telling the story of how Norman became Norman all theway through to his current day life and continued fight with insanity. There were some dumb decisions made by a character near the end whichseems to have been written in just to stretch out the suspense and toreintroduce some of Normans old stomping grounds, but it in no way hurtthe entertainment value.

Gotta say, this was one of the strongest franchise finales Ive seen,definitely in the top 3. It also helped move Psycho into one of my top10 favorite franchises in horror.

Worth Watching?

Next: Psycho Series Ranked