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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: August 23rd, 2016.
Director: Mick Garris
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey, CCH Pounder
Year: 1990
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The Movie:
Directed by Mick Garris and executive produced by Hilton A. Green (the same man who produced Psycho II and III and who served as assistant director on Hitchcock's original Psycho in 1960), Psycho IV: The Beginning was made for Universal Television in 1990 when it debuted on Showtime on November 10th of that year. The film would mark the last time that Anthony Perkins would play the character that he'll always be remembered for: Norman Bates.
When the movie begins, a radio talk show host named Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder) is interviewing Dr. Leo Richmond (Warren Frost) about the controversial topic of matricide. When they open up the phone lines and decide to take some calls, a man identifying himself as 'Ed' calls in to share his own story. Of course, as it turns out, Ed is none other than Norman Bates (Perkins), recently released from a mental hospital.
As Bates tells Fran his story, we see through a series of flashbacks how as a younger man, Norman (played by Henry Thomas) had a rather dysfunctional relationship with his overbearing mother, Norma (Olivia Hussey). As the story plays out, the details as to how and why Norman killed his mother and 'took' her personality come to light - but in is the Norman Bates of the present day really rehabilitated? Old habits die hard, after all… as his new wife, Connie (Donna Mitchell) seems doomed to find out!
Written by Joseph Stefano, who wrote the screenplay for the original Psycho based off of Robert Bloch's novel, Psycho IV: The Beginning has an intriguing premise. Stefano reportedly wanted to bring the series away from the slasher movie conventions that were draped over the second and third films, which was an admirable goal, but the movie suffers from some pacing issues and some questionable plot development. There are, however, moments where this one shines. The back and forth between Norman, the radio host and the psychiatrist are quite interesting and intelligently written but the characters' emotions are, at times, so over the top that they come dangerously close to camp.
Which brings us to the performances. Perkins, who was diagnosed with HIV while this movie was made and who had to undergo treatment during the production, soldiers through and delivers a good turn. As he had three times before, he brings a quirky, eerie sense of menace to the part but so too does he bring genuine pathos. Norman's messed up, there's no doubt about it, but if he is a monster he is at least a very human monster - Perkins makes sure that the audience understands this. Henry Thomas (still recognizable here as Elliott from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial made eight years prior), as the younger Bates, is fairly flat. It's hard in 2016 not to compare him to Freddie Highmore (who does a much better job with the character in A&E's Bates Motel series - not to be confused with the 1987 TV movie of the same name). Maybe that's not fair to Thomas, as you can get way more character development into an ongoing TV series than a quickly made TV movie, but it is what it is. He lacks the energy and the same tragic sensibilities that Perkins infuses into Norman Bates the elder, and the film lacks consistency for this reason. CCH Pounder is pretty great as the radio talk show host and Warren Frost perfectly fine as the shrink on hand. The real star of the show, however, is Olivia Hussey. Known for her work in Zeffirelli's Romeo And Juliette as well as, of course, Black Christmas and Escape 2000, here she spends almost the entirety of her screen time in hysterics. There are a few moments where she and Thomas share some tenderness and then, in turn, some uncomfortable sexual tension, that are in keeping with the characters - these work well - but when it's time for her to get angry, she goes completely over the top. It's effective in its own bizarre way. She's quite beautiful here when she's not dialing it up to eleven, and when she does, her beauty quickly fakes and turns to intimidation. It's an uneven turn on her part, it's occasionally too much, but then there are moments where she completely nails it. It's also amusing to see filmmaker John Landis pop up here in a small role
Garris' direction is decent. There are a few spots where the obvious references to the three films that came before this picture seem unnecessary (a shot where Norman cuts himself and the blood spills down the drain of the shower is painfully obvious) but the cinematography is slick. There are a lot of nicely lit shots that use some impressive bold colors to build atmosphere. The score recycles some of Bernard Herrmann's work but at least it does so well, and the original compositions from Graeme Revell suit the tone of the story quite nicely.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory offers up Psycho IV on Blu-ray for the first time in North America in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen and generally speaking, it looks really nice. There's virtually no print damage to note, just a normal looking amount of film grain, while color reproduction is quite strong here (especially when the film uses those bold primary lighting gels). Skin tones look nice and natural and black levels are solid, if just shy of perfect. Detail is solid from start to finish, there's good texture and depth to the image. There are no noticeable issues with compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction. All in all, this is a very solid picture.
The English language DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo track is nice and clear demonstrating proper balance and good range. The cues borrowed from Herrmann's original score still pierce through like you'd hope they would, while the sound effects and dialogue are properly mixed in so that everything is easy to follow and understand. There are no problems with any hiss or distortion to note. No alternate language options are provided but English closed captioning is included.
The extras for this release begin with an audio commentary courtesy of director Mick Garris and actors Henry Thomas and Olivia Hussey. Garris has more to say than the others, talking about how it was an honor to work with one of Hitchcock's original producers on this project, the influence of Mario Bava and Dario Argento on the lighting and what he tried to bring to this particular film. Hussey talks about meeting Garris for the first time on set while Thomas offers up some thoughts on what it was like playing the young Norman Bates with Perkins around playing the character as an adult. There's lots of talk here about what Perkins brought to the film - both good and bad - and some interesting stories about shooting this on the Universal backlot, the use of music in the film, the supporting players, key plot points and a fair bit more. It's a pretty interesting discussion of the movie and as such, worth checking out.
The Making Of Mother With Tony Gardner is a twenty-seven minute featurette that interviews the film's makeup and effects guru about his work on the picture. Specifically, he covers creating the corpse version of Norma Bates and some of the other corpses used in the film and how he tried to make them as lifelike and detailed as possible. He's got some interesting stories to share from the shoot and plenty of clips from the feature are used throughout.
Shout! Factory has also included some Behind-The-Scenes footage that was provided by Mick Garris that was shot on the set during production. There's just over thirteen minutes of material here and while it was shot on a camcorder and therefore not in the most amazing shape, it does give us a glimpse as to what it was like on set. Including it here was definitely the right thing to do, some of this material is pretty cool to see.
Outside of that we get a still gallery of photos, again provided by Garris, along with menus and chapters selection. The sleeve art isn't reversible in the traditional sense but on the flip side of the cover there are a few color photos printed there.
The Final Word:
Psycho IV: The Beginning is the weakest of the original films in which Perkins played Norman Bates, but it has its moments. Perkins is, as you'd guess, quite good in the role and Olivia Hussey's frenzied performance is unforgettably unhinged. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release presents the film in very nice shape with a great commentary track and a few other supplements. If you're a fan of this fourth and final entry in the series despite its flaws and quirks, this release is a no-brainer.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
