Psycho III (1986)

Plot Outline: Norman Bates is still running the Bates Motel all by himself when he meets three new people: a nurse on the run from her convent, a devious drifter despite for some cash who gets a job at the motel and a nosey reporter who is writing a report about serial killers being released from prison. It isn't long before Norman is back up to his old tricks.

The Review: Obviously the sequels to Hitchcock's masterpiece were released to cash in on the then-booming slasher market. I mean what better way to capitalise on the success of Freddy, Jason and Michael than to bring back one of cinema's first notorious serial killers - barkin' mad Norman Bates. The move away from Hitchcock's classic towards 80s teenage slasher is easy to see as Perkins himself steps into the director's chair to wield plenty of bodies, some gore and requisite nudity, all of which cheapen the original. Unfortunately whereas we were unaware of Bates' secret past in the original and he was purposely framed by a copycat in the sequel, here we know all too well where the film is heading. Any attempts at hiding it are weak to say the least so of course when the finale occurs, we know who to expect with knife in hand. "Mother" is still a great addition to the franchise and certainly what makes the Psycho films stand out a little more than it's brethren. Anthony Perkins performance is great: always twitching and acting nervously even though most of the time it doesn't warrant it. I certainly wouldn't to stay at any motel he was running just by the look of the guy. Jeff Fahey is also suitably slimy as the drifter Duane. There's also a classic moment where the sheriff opens the ice machine and pulls out a cube to suck on in the blistering heat, whilst Norman Bates watches on in horror as the ice cubes are covered in blood from a body hidden in there! Sadly this is one of only few moments of note in this otherwise routine slash fest. Most of the victims are only on screen for a few moments before they get killed off and of course there's plenty of blood to spice things up. It's not what the original was based on but unfortunately it's what the audience now demands.

Final Verdict: Psycho III is a decent slasher which, along with Parts 2 and 4, make for reasonable viewing when disassociated with the original. But it doesn't offer us anything we haven't seen done better before.

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