The 60-Year Evolution of Psycho’s Norman Bates – Gizmodo

Wouldnt even hurt a fly.Screenshot: Paramount Pictures

When most people think of Psycho, they think of Alfred Hitchcocks direction, Bernard Herrmans shrieking score, and Anthony Perkins vulnerable yet terrifying performance as Norman Bates. They probably dont immediately think horror franchise, but Psycho did turn into one over the years.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Psycho III, which happens to be the entry directed by Perkins himself. So in honor of the horror classic and the somewhat diminishing rewards of its sequels, were taking a look back at the iconic character whos been making movie lovers afraid to take a shower since 1960and who certainly evolved a quite bit over the years.

Robert Blochs 1959 novel came first, but Norman Bates (Perkins) made his biggest and most lasting impression in Alfred Hitchcocks acclaimed adaptationstill as suspenseful and shocking today as it was over 60 years ago. Norman enters the movie near the end of act one, his aw-shucks demeanor offering a deceptively calming mood shift for the frantic Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who checks into the Bates Motel mid-flight after impulsively stealing $40,000 from her employer. Little does she know the young man who makes her a sandwich and rambles on just a little awkwardly about his controlling mother and his taxidermy hobby will end up sealing her doom.

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Perkins boyish appearancethats candy corn Normans snacking on throughoutfakes out the audience too, although since we know Hitchcock is pulling the strings, we have a good idea early on that the little old lady sitting in the window of the Bates house isnt quite what she seems. That last scene with the buzzing fly, when Norman has completely given himself over to Mother, yields one of the most chilling facial expressions cinema has ever captured.

Directed by Richard Franklin (Cloak & Dagger), Psycho II opens with a replay of Psychos most famous scene, as if anyone watching had forgotten about Marions fatal shower. Then we flash-forward to the present day to see Norman (a returning Perkins) being released from the institution where hes been held the past two decades. His freedom goes against the strenuous objections of Marions sister (again Vera Miles), who identifies herself as Lila Loomis in a little bit of scriptwriting that fills in a big blank: clearly, Lila married the late Marions boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin in Psycho) sometime between the two films.

Youd think sending Norman back to live in the house behind the Bates Motel (now under sleazy new management, courtesy of Dennis Franz) would be seen as an exceptionally bad idea, given all the traumatizing stuff that happened there. Norman and his doctor (Robert Loggia) both have misgivingswith good reason, as it turns out, because the past quickly comes back to haunt Norman when Mother starts reaching out from beyond the grave. Or does she? And if its not herwhat kind of an asshole would try to turn a reformed Norman Bates psycho again?

Written by horror regular Tom Holland (Childs Play, Fright Night), Psycho IIs lively script is sprinkled with references and winks to the first film (anytime Norman gets near a knife, there might as well be a neon sign illuminated on screen making sure we notice). The supporting charactersincluding Meg Tilly as Mary, a down-on-her-luck young waitress at the diner where Norman starts workingare pretty one-note, even as Mary and Lila reveal a hidden agenda that Norman doesnt pick up on until its too late.

Perkins, who brings layers of nervous yet deeply weary energy to his most famous role, is obviously the main attraction here. When he finally does the thing youve been waiting for him to do the entire movie (with a shovel this time, braining his homicidal auntwho claims to be Normans real mother), hes somehow still incredibly sympathetic.

Perkins himself directed this entry in the series, which opens with a woman screaming THERE IS NO GOD and never really pauses to take a breath after that. The story picks up in the aftermath of Psycho II, and we find Normans been coasting on the goodwill of the locals, who believe hes owed a second chance after being targeted by Lila and Marys mindfuckery in the previous film. Little do the good people of dusty Fairvale, California know: the breakdown that Norman started having at the end of Psycho II is about to rise to a crescendo.

The past is never really past...it stays with me all the time, Norman tells Tracy (Roberta Maxwell), a pushy journalist whos taken an interest in his life story, and that observation becomes quite relevant when Maureen (Diana Scarwid), an ex-nun living with her own towering regrets, blows into town and immediately triggers Norman due to her resemblance to Marion Crane. Norman and Maureen spark a romance after he...rescues her from a suicide attempt in her Bates Motel room bathtub (cabin one, natch)...after creeping into her room dressed as Mother intent on stabbing her to death just like he did Marion.

Psycho III gets melodramatic (and somehow makes the riddle of just who, exactly, Normans birth mother really was even more confusing), but Norman almost gets a girlfriend out of it, and the weirder the story gets, Perkins performance gets exponentially more unhinged but also full of surprises. The scene where the sheriff almost discovers a body stashed in the Bates Motel ice cooler while Norman looks on with giddy horror is pitch-black comedy gold.

This made-for-TV sequel, directed by horror veteran Mick Garris and written by Joseph Stefano (who also penned the original adaptation), is really more of a prequel as the title suggests, though we do get Perkins as part of the frame story. Psycho IV follows along as an increasingly jittery Norman calls into a talk radio show (hosted by a chain-smoking CCH Pounder) to weigh in on the subject of matricide. Through his storytelling we see his formative years play out in flashback, with Henry Thomas (eight years post-E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) playing teen Norman and Olivia Hussey as his cruel and abusive (yet also inappropriately seductive at times) motherand we get a glimpse of Normans increasingly dangerous present mindset.

Hes actually been living a relatively normal life with his wifea doctor he met during his hospital staybut is edging closer to the old Norman on the occasion of his birthday and his mounting fear that his pregnant wife will give birth to a Bates who carries on the stab-happy family tradition. Its an interesting enough approach to the story, but it suffers from the fact that the flashback structure (and the fact that we know Normans life story pretty well already) robs the film of any tension whatsoever. Perkins is fine but most of his performance is literally phoned in, which is hardly the most thrilling way to spend time with him.

Psycho IV: The Beginning wasnt actually the first time Norman Bates was played by an actor other than Perkins. That honor goes to Bates Motelnot the TV series, which well talk about in a moment, but a surprisingly sentimental 1987 made-for-TV movie apparently intended to kick off a series that never materialized. It steps outside of the continuity of the two Psycho sequels that preceded it (and retcons a thing or two from the 1960 original), imagining that while institutionalized after the events of the first film, Norman (played by Kurt Paul in flashbacks and still photographs) befriended a fellow patient named Alex, a scared little kid whod killed his own abusive father.

As were told in a sappy voice-over by one of the facilitys doctors, Norman became a father figure to Alexforming an extraordinary relationship that lasted over 27 years, until Normans death. After we sit through Normans funeral, we find out he left the motel to Alex (played by Bud Cort as an adult), whos about to be released into a world (clutching an urn holding Normans ashes!) hes not really prepared to face. While Normans troubled legacy inevitably filters into Alexs story once he starts running the Bates Moteltheres a Scooby Doo plot, plus some actual ghosts for good measurePsychos redeemed killer looms over everything with a benevolent spirit unseen in any other portrayal of the character so far.

Hey, remember when Gus Van Sant did a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho? On paper, an interesting experiment. Once committed to film...it felt like a novelty until the whole Ok, this is entirely excessive and unnecessary vibe started taking over. Vince Vaughn plays Norman; hes more physically imposing than Perkins but the rest of the performance (like the movie itself) is basically an elaborate homage sprinkled with a few awkward little additions.

Bates Motel ran for five seasons on A&E, styled as a prequel to the original movie but set in a Twin Peaks-y coastal Oregon town, circa the present day. The series cleverly put its own spin on the source material, boasting an outstanding castespecially Freddy Highmore as the quietly spiraling young Norman and The Conjurings Vera Farmiga as his fierce mother, Norma. Altogether, it helped the show come into its own (including fashioning an entirely new ending to the Psycho storyline, which arrived in season five) while always staying respectful to the original material. Psycho II has its charms, but if you hunger for a fresh, nuanced take on Norman after watching the original film, its hard to beat Bates Motels creative approach to the never-boring Bates family.

Where will we meet Norman next? Though no new Psycho projects appear to be in the works currently, it seems like only a matter of time before some intrepid creator comes up with a new way to fire up that neon sign above the Bates Motel. And presumably, if the events of Psycho IV are to be believed, theres a new generation of Bates offspring running around out there...

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The 60-Year Evolution of Psycho's Norman Bates - Gizmodo