Psycho II (1983)

22 years after the original, I don't think anyone expected PSYCHO II to be as good as it is.

The film opens with Norman Bates at his release hearing. Anthony Perkins is excellent, recreating his classic character down to the smallest tic and every corner of that awkward smile.

Norman seems better, but Lila Loomis (again portrayed by a very game Vera Miles) remembers the murder of her sister in the shower ALL too well and is loudly telling anyone that will listen that they are releasing a murderer.

Jerry Goldsmith's original music builds tension as Norman returns to the infamous hotel and THAT Victorian house on the hill, both looking exactly the same. Goldsmith has created another in an endless series of great scores, building off the horrors of his music for "Poltergeist" for some genuine jolts.

Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue) is at his slimy best as the current Bates hotel manager, Meg Tilly (The Big Chill) is a young woman at the diner where Norman takes a job and Robert Loggia (Big, Scarface) is Norman's doctor, making regular visits to the Bates Motel to check in on him.

Norman is barely home when he starts getting ominous notes and calls from his Mother.

When she begins making appearances at the window of her room, Norman begins questioning his sanity and the we're never quite sure what's really happening.

Writer Tom Holland (Fright Night) does a great job working with the classic characters we all know so well from the original. By positioning Norman in doubt of his own sanity, its a clever spin on what we know about the original film.

Director Richard Franklin (Cloak and Dagger) respects the material and creates an interesting little thriller with plenty of tributes to Hitchcock. There is plenty of suspense. Franklin plunges into some very graphic gore in the final 20 minutes that would have made Hitch faint.

Vera MIles said in interviews that she never really talked to Anthony Perkins during the shooting of the original film. She said that "Hitchcock was so strict and focused, and everyone was bending over backwards to get this stuff right, so no one really had the time or freedom to socialize." But she said when they were shooting the sequel, both she and Anthony Perkins had loosened up, and they had a few conversations together. "He was delightful," she said.

With a clever wrap up that leaves you satisfied and smirking, PSYCHO II was one of the best sequels of the 80's.

After it's box office success, Anthony Perkins would return as both star AND Director two years later with "Psycho III".

This remains the best of the film sequels and earns an appreciative B+.

(Watch closely when Norman and Mary first enter Mother's room and you'll see Hitchcock's famous profile in shadow on the right side of the screen.)

Fans of the terrific director Osgood Perkins (The Monkey, Longlegs) should watch for him as young Norman Bates, a role he was uniquely born to play as Anthony Perkins real-life son!

Quentin Tarantino has said that this is one of his favorite films and that he prefers it over the original! It always surprises me with how lean and effective it is, when a lesser creative team could have just phoned it in.

What a great surprise PSYCHO II is! Perfect Halloween watching awaits.....

Check out the EXCELLENT original trailer with the same narrator as the classic "Jaws" trailer.