Storyline
After years of treatment at a mental institution for the criminally insane, serial killer Norman Bates is finally released. Deciding to move back into his long-dead mother's infamous old house, he soon finds himself tormented by "her" demands and begins to question his own sanity.
Directors
Writers
Cast
Robert Loggia, Lee Garlington, Dennis Franz, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Hugh Gillin, Robert Alan Browne, Meg Tilly, Claudia Bryar, Ben Hartigan, Tim Maier, Jill Carroll, Tom Holland, Oz Perkins, Chris Hendrie, Sheila K. Adams, Bob Hilgenberg, George Dickerson, Thaddeus Smith, Victoria Brown, Robert Traynor
Trailer
Reviews
80
Psycho II is an impressive, 23-years-after followup to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 suspense classic. Director Richard Franklin deftly keeps the suspense and tension on high while dolling out dozens of shock-of-recognitions shots drawn from the audience’s familiarity with Psycho.
75
Miami Herald
This is a silly movie, yes. But since it works as a humorous homage for students of Hitchcock and his B-movie masterpiece, and since it works as a high-grade slasher film for the rest of the audience, there's no hating it. In fact, this is the most likable gore film in years. [04 June 1983, p.D4]
70
Psycho II doesn’t live up to the original, but doesn’t dishonor it either, even though its allegiances are clearly with Hitchcock’s film rather than Robert Bloch’s words. Psycho II isn’t perfect or brilliant. But it was good enough to successfully bring a beloved cinematic fixture back into action after an extended hibernation, and savvy and soulful enough to realize that what makes Norman Bates such an icon isn’t his monstrousness, but his trembling, eminently relatable humanity.
63
It's too heavy on plot and too willing to cheat about its plot to be really successful, but it does have its moments, and it's better than your average, run-of-the-mill slasher movie.
60
Empire
Surprisingly, even after waiting 20 years, they managed to turn out a smart, darkly-comic thriller with some imaginative twists.
