Psycho II

After 22 years, Norman Bates has come home and Alfred Hitchcock, despite passing away, seems to have just walked away for a minute. There are Hitchcock reminders all over the place of “Psycho II,” though this epic giant is nowhere to be seen.

“Psycho II,” released in 1983, has all of the characteristics of a straight sequel to Hitchcock’s 1960 classic but, as you watch it, you may feel like you’re seeing a couple of advanced film students play with artifacts found in the Hitchcock grave.

Richard Franklin, the director, and Tom Holland, the writer, haven’t stolen from his grave. They’ve opened it up to have some enjoyment. Whether or not you share their choice depends on whether you are amused by spinoffs that, although horribly knowing, are creatively second-rate.

To spin off Hitchcock’s “Psycho” isn’t disrespectful. Vincent Canby stated in his review, “After all, it isn't exactly ''Citizen Kane'' or ''Rules of the Game.'' Rather, it is a brilliant piece of manipulative movie-making, set forever apart from all other horror films by the delicacy of Hitchcock's wit and his mastery of vivid cinematic effect, usually attained through comic suggestion.”

All-out violence, of the type featured in “Psycho II,” would probably have bored Hitchcock. This is not to submit that his “Psycho” is especially warm-hearted. That it’s about as frightening a movie as ever pleased the box office is beside the point, in view of its excitedly chilling artistry.

By comparison, “Psycho II” is almost romantic, but then, since it’s as much of a tribute as it is a rip-off, some of this feeling may be in order.

Canby said, “The new film begins with the homecoming of Norman Bates, again played with quirky authority by Anthony Perkins, after more than two decades in a mental hospital that now declares him as sane as you or I.” The setting, obviously, is the dingy old Bates Motel and the great old Victorian house that, in reality, has become one of the favorite tourist attractions on the Universal set in Hollywood.

As soon as Norman gets home, he starts getting messages from his mother who, as we all remember, was long dead even before the first film had begun.

Who is behind these initial phone calls isn’t difficult to figure out if you read the cast list, which includes just one other member from the original film, Vera Miles, who again shows up as the sister of the character Janet Leigh portrayed. That’s not giving away too much of the story, which quickly becomes increasingly solid and eventually works itself into such a corner that it has to play a trick to escape.

The story of “Psycho II” isn’t as important as the way Franklin performs it by recycling memorable sequences from the original. Canby speculated, “At times, ''Psycho II'' seems almost to be an academic thesis.” It’s filled with quotes from the first movie, most of them horribly paraphrased but, in one instants, life whole, being a clip from the original Hitchcock footage. As a pre-credit scene, “Psycho II” uses the famous shower scene from the original movie, a part that is then parodied later in the movie.

The sequel, which, unlike the first, is in color, not only copies entire scenes but also lighting effects and camera angles. Not only does it know, it requires that the audience knows, as well, otherwise a shot of Mrs. Bates’ old rocking chair won’t be the sight restriction that it’s supposed to be.

Having known, however, is not the same thing as being intelligent and original. Another restriction, perhaps the only original one in the movie, is the sight of a pretty young woman, a possible victim of Norman Bates, as she sits in bed late at night reading In the Belly of the Beast.

Canby credited, “Though ''Psycho II'' is essentially camp entertainment, Mr. Perkins plays Norman as legitimately as possible, and sometimes to real comic effect. His new Norman doesn't seem as much rehabilitated as reconstituted, but as what? That's the point of the film.”

The years have been nice to both Perkins and Miles. The supporting cast includes Meg Tilly, the young woman who becomes Norman’s friend early in the film and, when things get bloody, attempts to convince him that he’s imagining it all. Robert Loggia, as Norman’s sympathetic doctor, and Dennis Franz, as the dishonest man who has been managing the Bates Motel when Norman was admitted.

The obvious violence of several of the murders seems like a reflection less of today’s movie manners than of the filmmaker’s numerous failures.

I have to agree with James Rolfe when he says that this movie isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. This was actually a good sequel to the first one, even though you can’t beat the Hitchcock classic, but it’s still one that you should check out. Definitely see it and give it a chance, but don’t hate on it too much like everyone else has.

Check in tomorrow where you will see a downhill slope with these movies as I continue “Psycho-a-thon.”