Psycho II (1983) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this month’s episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron are being pushed back over the edge as they discuss Psycho II.

Written by: Tom Holland

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz, Hugh Gillin, and Claudia Bryar

Directed by: Richard Franklin

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

Director Cameo:

1. Richard Franklin is playing an arcade video game, Battlezone, in the diner that Norman Bates works in, with his back to the camera, but turning his head briefly showing part of his face.
2. When Mary Loomis and Norman Bates first go into Norman’s mother’s room, before they turn the lights on, you can see Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s silhouette on the wall to the far right.

Tom Holland, the screenwriter, plays Deputy Norris.

Writer Robert Bloch published the novel “Psycho II” in 1982. The plot of the book is very different from the feature film. It has Norman Bates escaping from the mental institution and traveling to Hollywood, California to stop the production of a film based on his life. Universal Studios was reportedly upset by Bloch’s take on the horror film industry and this led to the development of this 1983 sequel.

The original house set was used and the motel was reconstructed.

Producer Hilton A. Green originally suggested Jamie Lee Curtis to play Mary Loomis because of her being the daughter of Janet Leigh and having success with Halloween (1978). Jamie Lee Curtis had a scheduling conflict though, and did not want to return to the horror genre after getting such a huge role in the year’s top comedy, Trading Places (1983).

Meg Tilly was never allowed to watch any sort of television as a child, and so had never seen the original Psycho (1960) and was unaware of its significance. She didn’t understand why the press was giving all the attention to Anthony Perkins for his comeback role in this sequel, and one day on the set Perkins overheard her say “Why is Tony getting all the attention?” Perkins was upset, didn’t talk to her during filming, and recommended that she be replaced, even though half of her scenes had already been shot. She has expressed that her worst film experience was working with Anthony Perkins and director Richard Franklin and did not attend the premiere of the film.

Reflecting on the shoot, Franklin recalled Perkins as being “very generous” on-set, and praised Miles as a “powerhouse” and “one of the most forceful” actors he had worked with.

Richard Franklin was so keen to have Jerry Goldsmith compose the score, he turned down Universal Studios’ offers of Bernard Herrmann’s cues for the original film, and even his unused work for Torn Curtain (1966). Though well-meaning; Franklin was trying to let the sequel establish its own identity; many criticized the director for rejecting arguably one of film history’s best scores; and instead having Goldsmith conceive his own “poor man’s Psycho” music. Psycho III (1986) did not use the theme music either; though it was not given permission as Richard Franklin was.

The reflection of young Norman Bates in the doorknob when he flashes back to his mother’s poisoning is Anthony Perkins’ son Oz Perkins.

The town of Fairvale (seen when Lila Loomis is tailed by Dr. Raymond) is actually Courthouse Square, which is probably best known for its appearance in Back to the Future (1985), and Gremlins (1984), located on the Universal Studios backlot.

Actor Dennis Franz, who played Warren Toomey in this sequel, had recently appeared in both Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (1980) and Blow Out (1981), which were both also Hitchcockian pastiches, with both featuring direct references to Hitch, such as voyeuristic long shot POV in Dressed to Kill (1980) evoking Hitch’s Rear Window (1954). In Blow Out (1981), there is a slasher film being made within the film featuring a knife wielding serial killer murdering a woman taking a shower which is a direct reference to Psycho (1960).

The book Mary Loomis is reading in bed on her first night in the Bates house is “In the Belly of the Beast”, an account of life in prison that was one of the resources used by Norman Mailer to write “The Executioner’s Song”, and was assisted by Mailer in getting published in 1981. It also shows up in Psycho III (1986), abandoned and battered in the Bates front yard.

The Random Draw for Next Picture:

Next up, we’ll be discussing D.O.A (1988)

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