Psycho II / Psycho III / Psycho IV - The Beginning (Triple Feature)

Everybody knows that the original Psycho is superior to the sequels, and definitely that awful 1998 remake with Anne Heche (Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates? What the hell is that?), but these sequels are still pretty good. I think my favorite is the second, then the fourth, and then the third. Altogether, for about five dollars, this is an awesome deal! Psycho II (1983)- This film opens with the quintessential shower scene, seguing into the opening credits with the Bates Motel sign turning from black and white into color. The film opens well, and I'm glad to see Vera Miles as the only person from the original still in the film, other than Anthony Perkins, of course. It also has Meg Tilly in it as the daughter of Lila Loomis (Vera Miles), and she falls in love with Norman. The film, of course has some killing sequences, and some good suspense leads unto the pretty brilliant ending. This movie is nothing compared to the original, but it's still a good film. Psycho III (1986)- I think out of the three Psycho sequels and prequels, this is the worst, but it's still not bad. The thing that's interesting about this film is that it's directed by Anthony Perkins himself. It begins with a very Vertigo-like scene, (takes place in a bell tower), which was I guess what they were trying to pull off. After that, it starts to take off. There are different things in this film that were recreated for this film (the staircase killing, that devilish smile to the camera at the end of the film), but one thing I had to say was, when a certain character dies and falls down the staircase, similar to the killing of Martin Balsam in the original "Psycho", I just laughed. It was such a horrible recreation and it looked so stupid, but altogether I'd say the film was intense and pretty good. Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)- The last Psycho film in the series, and this one was made for TV, and I liked it. It has CCH Pounder as a radio host, and this one goes back to the 50s, during Norman's childhood. It's really interesting and has a nice ending altogether, but there's just so many things that don't fit... If you haven't seen these movies and don't want me to spoil it don't look ahead... In the original Psycho movie, of course Norman killed his mother and her boyfriend, and in the 2nd Psycho film, we get introduced to Emma Spool, Norman's real mother, and he kills her, but in the 3rd Psycho, we find out Emma Spool killed Norman's mother because she wanted her husband way back then, and in the 4th Psycho, suddenly it goes back to Norman's childhood and he clearly kills his mother and the boyfriend. How could have Emma Spool kill the mother if Norman did? And also, in the 4th Psycho, it shows that it dates back to 1954, but in the original Psycho, the sheriff said that his mother was "dead and buried in Greenlawn Cemetary for 10 years", but that was only a six-year gap (1954-1960), which is surprising because the writer of the original Psycho (Joseph Stefano) wrote Psycho IV. It's surprising that he doesn't know that. But once you get past all that nit-picking, these sequels are pretty good. They're probably all 4 out of 5 stars. If you want to see the Psycho sequels, I suggest you get this Universal Triple Feature, which comes with all the movies for a cheap price. It doesn't come with any special features (just the theatrical trailers), but it's an amazing deal

Beady-eyed, twitching Norman Bates--the late great Anthony Perkins--returns to menace audiences with three surprisingly effective sequels."Psycho II" (1983) is probably the most ponderous film of the three (as far as pacing goes). After twenty-odd years in an institution, Bates is eligible for parole...much to the protests of Vera Miles, reprising her role as the sister who's been forever haunted by Janet Leigh's death (from the original). Bates returns to the motel--and his old home--and is almost immediately besieged by memories of "mother". The main question being: Is this all in his mind, or is the horrible past repeating itself? There are some nice wink-wink moments, such as Bates cutting a sandwich (you can hear a hair-raising scrape sound effect) and contemplating the blade. Does he lapse back into his old ways? Sorry, you have to watch. The Perkins-directed "Psycho III" actually delves into issues of religion & romance (yes, believe it or not, Bates almost has a girlfriend!)amidst the bloody mayhem. A young woman (Diana Scarwid) fleeing her deeply troubled past as a nun wanders onto the Bates motel property. Coinciding with a rowdy football party on the premises--which, of course, Bates gleefully slashes his way through--Bates inadvertently rescues the girl from a suicide attempt, and to his surprise, begins a courtship. There's a wonderfully bizarre showdown in a motel room between Bates & drifter Jeff Fahey--himself driven as looney-toons & applying blackmail--as these two caged-up crazies go at it to a brutally disturbing conclusion. My fave was a darkly-amusing moment in which the local sheriff--investigating the disappearance of a young woman Bates just off-ed--absent-mindedly crunches from an ice binge tainted with the victim's blood as Bates' face twitches in acknowledgment. But will "mother" once again interfere with Bates' chances for happiness? You can pretty much guess...The most fascinating offering is the final chapter, "Psycho IV: The Beginning", a prequel which cleverly fills in the blanks to Bates' past, courtesy of him chatting about matricide on a local nighttime radio talk show. Now released from the hospital, married, and starting over at a new home, Bates peels away the psychological layers of his deeply troubled past via flashbacks to his relationship to mother (played terrifically by Olivia Hussey as a pretty but seriously schizophrenic person)as moments of twisted manipulation, obsessions, and near-incest surface. As the talk show host connects the dots & conclude that their anonymous caller is none other than the notorious Bates, they become frantic with keeping him on the air & talking. Sure enough, Bates plans a "birthday surprise"--returning to the long-abandoned, creepy Bates property to commit one more murder. But the twist ending will finally bring closure for the Bates character.Good transfer to DVD for all three movies (although there's no "making of" featurettes). For fans of "Psycho", this is well worth the price!

Es un muy buen producto, recomendable para la colección, contiene:Las tres películas divididas en dos DVDs, Psicosis 2 y 3 contienen subtitulado al Español, psicosis 4 no contiene subtitulado en español nada más en inglés, para que lo tomen en cuenta.Región 1Tráilers cinematográficosel envío como siempre excelente gracias.

I bought this mainly for Psycho II, which is clever and character driven. This is a real gem, and should be savoured in the same manner that the original was. It's very faithful, with some of the same actors reprising their roles from the Hitchcock classic in this clever sequel. Psych III is dire, but has some stand-out moments among the schlock 80's feel which was mercifully missing from Psycho II. Psycho III is cluttered, messy, sleazy and overwrought. Psycho IV always fascinated me because it was made for TV and wasn't bad at all. It was written by the original writer of Hitchcock's classic and it ignores Psycho II & III altogether. I can understand ignoring III, but not II. Anyhow, you can (and I did) watch all three in succession without really noticing this. IV is interesting and rather well played, with Norman calling into a Talk Radio show about matricide. They delved into his early years (hence we get flashback with a young Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.) playing Norman) and the apparently cured modern day Norman is becoming unhinged as they speak to him. It's interesting and unpredictable, which I rather liked.Psycho II has its own disc, but Psych III & IV share a disc. They are all presented in their true widescreen formats of 1.85: for II & III, and 1.78:1 for IV. This version is a Region 1 for both discs, so please make sure you can play Region 1 (USA & Canada) discs. The case is robust with a 2 disc capacity and that funny Region 1 clip-locking of the case as well as the usual click closing. I wish there had been extras, but unfortunately not. But at this price you can forgive them. There is an in depth documentary available to buy on DVD also called Psycho Legacy. But if you already have Psycho and just want to complete the collection without a repeat purchase, this is perfect (providing you can play Region 1.

There is of course the endless debate about why would you do a sequel to Hitchcock's Psycho. However I personally believe that the original Psycho without Perkins or without the music of Bernard Herrmann would be absolutely worthless. Hitchcock had a gift for picking the worst actresses available, actually none of them made a decent career.The jewel of Psycho IS Perkins and the sequels prove this without a doubt. Perkins is a fantastic actor and in the sequels has a chance to broaden the Bates character in a very satisfying way.Yes, the films are not without faults. But they are really good films and Perkins is amazing in them.They make plenty of nods to the original one and also play with the original story with sarcastic humour.

delighted with this dvd; never seen any but number 1 and here are the other three. Very happy with quick service too. Cheers!

Great for a collection