Psycho (1998)

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Directed by Gus Van Sant.

Starring Anne Heche, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Vince Vaughn.

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Independent film director Gus Van Sant attempts a first in American film history: a shot-by-shot remake of the classic 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. With a few minor, modern-day changes (including filming it in color), his version is essentially the same film with a different cast and the same Bernard Hermann music. Psycho was and still is the story of Marion Crane (previously played by Janet Leigh and now by Anne Heche), an adulterous woman who steals a stack of money from her boss and hits the road hoping for financial freedom. Pulling over in an old motel for the night, she meets the creepy owner of the Bates Motel, Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn doing his best Anthony Perkins), who lives with his jealous nagging mother. Most people know the film Psycho for what happens next -- the shower scene, where Marion is brutally stabbed in the most over-analyzed scene in movie history. The money, the car, and Marion's remains are quickly sunk in a nearby swamp. As a detective (William H. Macy) and Marion's sister Lila (Julianne Moore) come looking for her, they begin to uncover the dark mysterious secret lurking in Norman Bates' life. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

One Trick French Pony
by Tenenbaums in Tenenbaums Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Note: If you're really interested in seeing the film, don't read any reviews. Just watch it and then read the reviews. The game is Russian Roulette spliced with Telephone. In a circle, hold a gun to the player's head in front of you after spinning your barrel a good ten seconds. Wait for the single dangling light bulb in the circle's center to light up, and fire. Losers die, winners play on. Everyone starts with one bullet and increases the ammunition to match each subsequent round to three. The final round is a duel where two players with four slugs each point a spun barreled pistol at each other's forehead and squeeze the trigger. Survive, and you walk away with a load of cash. Oh yeah, and your life.Sound intriguing? For Sébastien, a poor Mr. Fix-It struggling to support his family, the money is enough to lure him without any knowledge of the game. The winnings are also plenty for the crowd of high stakes gamblers, many of whom travel the c ... " [More]

Top 5 Bad Movies by Great Direc ...
by schulen in Top 5

lost interest.

"Planet of the Apes - Tim Burton.The Brothers Grimm - Terry Gilliam Bad News Bears - Richard LinklaterPsycho - Gus Van SantMost Woody Allen Movies Strange how great directors fuck up so many remakes. What do you think? " [More]

Directors and remakes
by ShaunHuston in Directors

hasn't rated it.

"Over on the Top 5 group, tmoney mentioned the forthcoming remake of 3:10 to Yuma in one of his contributions to the Westerns thread. This got me thinking about other directors who have, seemingly at least, chosen to cash in their chips from a particularly good year or stretch of years on a remake. In this case it looks as if James Mangold is turning Walk the Line around into 3:10 to Yuma. I also thought of Peter Jackson and King Kong, Gus Van Sant and Psycho, and Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's 11. This got me wondering if there are other examples of filmmakers choosing this path, and, if so, who and what was the film, and also why a director might choose to do this. Remakes are, more often than not, greeted with growns and skepticism, even though the record is actually mixed (Soderbergh's Ocean's 11, for example, is a much better film than the original, which is almost painfully bad and boring). But, given the widespread perception that remakes are jokes or wrong somehow ... " [More]

A remarkable remake
by emseetwo in emseetwo Blog

liked it.

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"There was some really great camera work in this movie, making it a remarkable remake. There are so many remakes that seem like they were made so they could have better special effects or so they could be in color... This one actually brought something new to the table. I enjoyed it. " [More]

Re: Classics thrown into the pr ...
by Risselada in PulpFiction1975

hasn't rated it.

"A remake of a remake? Go figure. But what would be more interesting, Will Smith as The-Man-With-No-Name or Yojimbo. Will Smith and the latter both seem more excitable. Now I wouldn't call Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as you seem to be implying. If the the "Charlie" movie had been obviously derived from screenplay of the "Willy" movie, I may agree with you. But they both seem to be totally separate adaptations from the original novel. However, I'm not saying that just because it isn't technically a remake means that they should have filmed another movie based on a book that already had such a memorable film already made of it. Mary Poppins was also originally a book too. Or maybe a series of them. Whatever that means. Although Psycho was also originally a book, from what I hear the newer version was obviously a remake of the original screenplay. I also hear one of the most strictly shot for shot remakes as well. Planet ... " [More]

Tags: motel , mother , psychology , psychopath , victim
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