Bates Motel * (1987, Bud Cort, Lori Petty, Moses Gunn, Jason Bateman, Gregg Henry) – Classic Movie Review 5864

After three Psycho films, Norman Bates gives his infamous Bates Motel boarding house over to Alex West (Bud Cort), an equally insane inmate of his asylum, who, once released, wastes no time in following in Norman’s footsteps.

Writer-director Richard Rothstein’s 1987 movie is a faltering made for TV, video-released sequel to Psycho (1960), Psycho II (1983) and Psycho III (1986), which, though Cort acts convincingly deranged, otherwise utterly fails to live up to its esteemed 1960 predecessor.

Alas, there is no sign of Anthony Perkins however. He said he had no involvement in the film and that he watched it when it aired in 1987 and found it ‘just terrible’.

Also in the cast are Moses Gunn, Lori Petty, an 18-year-old Jason Bateman as Tony Scotti, Gregg Henry, Khrystyne Haje, Kerrie Keane, Robert Picardo and Lee de Broux.

Kurt Paul plays Norman Bates and is the only actor to appear in all of the Psycho sequels. He was Perkins’s stunt double on Psycho II and Psycho III. He played Raymond Linette, another mother killer being interviewed on a talk show, in Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990).

It was intended as a pilot for a TV series, but low ratings killed it. However Psycho IV: The Beginning followed in 1990 and Psycho itself was remade in 1998 as Psycho. The Bates Motel TV series (2013–2017) borrows its name from this movie.

When Cort called Perkins for advice how to prepare for the role, he was told to get into shape doing push-ups.

The film uses the original house and motel exteriors but the alterations that took place in the film remained on the Universal Studios Hollywood Tour until 1993.

The opening shot of the Psycho house comes from Psycho II‘s opening credits.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5864

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