Psicose IV: O Começo

After an onslaught of mass murder in PSYCHO III, Norman Bates is back....in a nice suburban home, with a lovely wife, and a new problem. He has to kill again.

Norman Bates, once again played excellently by the late, great and highly-talented Anthony Perkins, calls in to a radio talk-back show, where the topic of the night is matricide. Norman relives his past, and through these flashbacks we finally meet "Mother" -- played wonderfully by Olivia Hussey (man, she is SCARY!).

This film is a delightful surprise....there's not much bad to say about it. Henry Thomas captures "young Norman Bates" nicely, though I remember Norman Bates as being a bit more polite and friendly than portrayed here....but he still pulls off a good job as a mentally-abused and opressed psychopath in the makings.

Be aware, that this is not appropriate for anyone under the age of 15. No, it isn't "shocking," but there are strong incestual undertones. They are necassary, however, because they give more valid reasons for Norman's descent into sick obsession, rather than "He had a domineering mother," which we've all known for years.

PSYCHO IV has alot of character as a film, and is hard to forget. Perhaps the best sequel of the three.

Highly Recommended.

Inspired by a local call-in radio show topic, the psychotic killer calls in and begins recalling his time as a youth, and as he goes through his life story and all of the mental torture inflicted on him he's able to uncover the horrible secrets that puts everyone around him in danger.

As the concluding chapter to one of the greater series around, it really could've been great. The main aspect that works here is the fact that the film gives away its plotline through flashbacks, but it does it while not being utterly confusing. That is a major feat in itself, since this is able to clearly keep the flashbacks and the modern time in a rather easy manner, a technique which rarely works since that mostly leaves the film a big, huge mess. The backstage antics both at the radio-station once they figure out the their caller and trying to keep him under control and the different stories that are told over the course of the interview, ranging from the first set of killings in the motel to the way the actual incidents he always described which give this some really fun moments that have always been apart of the franchises' legacy from the start, helped along nicely by the glorious psychological ranting that's included along the way. The other rather enjoyable aspect here is the final part of the film is a very creepy and suspenseful part, and it really hits the right mark on just about every angle being filled with chases, the strategic hiding places, and the Gothic-style thunder and lightning striking all throughout to make it a very creepy scene and end it on a high note. These are it's best moments as it's a rather flawed film, and it shows at times. The one biggest flaw is that it doesn't gel with the rest of the series all that much. These are big spoilers but the film mostly just makes up several events and ideas and places them together with new ideas and elements, which not always gel at all with most of what's been said about the series and the past. It might be a problem for the most hardcore fans as it's such a rapid departure, but there is a pretty noticeable shift that does occur. The other is that the first half of the film is really slow, as it concentrates on the life of Norman and his mother. It doesn't invoke any scares at all and mainly just seems to be there only for the building up of the story and not on making scares, which is rather crucial here. None of these issues make for all that creepy a series of scenes and it just causes the film to drag on with its simple one-note setup. Other than these two problems, it's not that bad a film.

Rated R: Violence, Language and Nudity.

This movie is excellent as far as content goes. Many things that were unexplained in the original are dealt with, and not in a way that seems ridiculous. All that happens in part IV could conceivably have happened, so that's good.

Anthony Perkins does a wonderful job of recapturing the essence of the disturbed Norman Bates, and Henry Thomas is very believable as young Norman. His performance completely illustrates the up-bringing of Norman by his unstable mother.

Good supplement to the original, I thought.

Psycho IV: The Beginning was an enjoyable movie in my opinion. I really loved the character Fran Ambrose and CCH Pounder's performance. This film is quite disturbing at times, but I think it's a nice touch. I just don't understand why this film was made only for cable. It was decent, and far above average for a made for TV/straight to video film. As with all sequels, this film does seem to have some plot holes and continuity errors, but it is, in general a decent sequel to Hitchcock's masterpiece. I think that Psycho II was the best sequel in the series, but I like Psycho III and IV the same. They are all great films. Also this film is nowhere near as violent or bloody as Psycho III.

A great TV movie. With a few minor changes, you wouldn't know that this was made for TV!!

Highly recommended!

Psycho IV is a continuation of the Bates Family history. For the most part it's a prequel to the original 1960 film. I was always kind of turned off to this one because I feel they added way too much story to the original film as each sequel came out. Psycho II introduces us to Mrs. Spool who was really Norman's mother. But then Psycho III tells us, no, Spool was just a crazy aunt of Norman's. Now Part 4 adds so much to Norman's childhood that really makes it puzzling to follow any sort of true time line or plot line. We discover in this one that Norman's mother was truly sick, more sick then we could've imagined. It's alluded to in the other sequels that Norman had a "twisted" relationship with mother, but part IV goes into explicit detail as to how twisted it really was. The story is well done in part 4, but for the most part it's kind of pointless. Did we really need to see Norman have that sort of relationship with his parent? Probably not.

We get to see Norman functioning like a normal person. He has a new house and a wife. It's him calling into a radio show to tell his life story that causes him to become unhinged. Anthony Perkins and Olivia Hussey save this movie from being a total letdown. Their performances are top notch. Psycho IV doesn't go overboard with blood, we only see Norman kill I think one or two people in his flashback to growing up. I did like that the makers of this one added to the fact that Norman did kill people before Marion Crane was attacked in the famous shower scene. I liked those scenes with the teenage "Norman". It adds to the scene at the end of the first Psycho where the psychiatrist asks if there were any missing reports on girls in the area. It alluded to the idea Norman killed before, and I like that Psycho IV explores that.

Psycho IV is a prequel to the 1960 film, and adds a lot to the already twisted back story of the Bates clan. It's a good watch, but the ending is pretty weak. Only true "Psycho" fans interested in the back story of Norman will like this one. There aren't many murders committed in IV like in the second and third sequels.

6/10