Taglines: We all go a little mad sometimes… yes… sometimes once is enough.
Psycho movie storyline. In this remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Anne Heche takes over Janet Leigh’s role of Marion Crane, a young secretary whose boyfriend, Sam Loomis, has troubles paying off a debt and his wife’s alimony. One day, a rich client of her boss buys a house with $400,000 in cash. To fix her problems, Marion steals the money and heads out to California to live her dream life with Sam.
But she gets lost in a bad storm and stops at the Bates Motel, where the proprietor, Norman Bates, lives a very troubled life with his dominating mother, whom he lives with in their house on the hill next to the motel. A week later, Marion has vanished and no one can find her or the stolen money, not even Sam, her sister, Lila, or a private detective who has been hired to find Marion and the money. But a deadly secret is waiting to be discovered inside the Bates house.
Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy and Anne Heche. The film is about an embezzler who arrives at an old motel run by an insane killer named Norman Bates. Both films are adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name, which was in turn inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein.
Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and is set in 1998, it is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, often copying Hitchcock’s camera movements and editing, and Joseph Stefano’s script is mostly carried over. Bernard Herrmann’s musical score is reused as well, though with a new arrangement by Danny Elfman and recorded in stereo. Some changes are introduced to account for advances in technology since the original film and to make the content more explicit.
Murder sequences are also intercut with surreal dream images. The film received negative reviews and was both a commercial and critical failure. It was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards and won two, the film for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel, Van Sant for Worst Director, and Heche was nominated for Worst Actress.
About the Story
Marion Crane steals $400,000 from her employer to get her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, out of debt. She flees Phoenix, Arizona, by car. While en route to Sam’s California home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol officer awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle’s details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel.
Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new interstate highway nearby and mentions he lives with his mother Norma in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house; and, during the meal, she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but he does not want to abandon her. Later that night, while Marion is changing, Norman secretly watches her from a peephole in his office and masturbates before heading back to the house.
Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An unidentified female figure, presumed to be Norman’s mother, enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death. Later, finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion’s body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions—including the money—in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp.
Sam is contacted by both Marion’s sister, Lila, and private detective Milton Arbogast, who has been hired by Marion’s employer to find her and recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who lies unconvincingly that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will contact her again in an hour after he questions Norman’s mother.
Arbogast enters Norman’s house and, at the top of the stairs, is attacked and murdered by the Mother figure. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers is perplexed to hear that Arbogast saw a woman in a window, as Mrs. Bates had been dead for ten years. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but Norman carries her to the cellar against her will.
Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search the room Marion had occupied. They find a scrap of paper in the toilet with “$400,000” written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house to search for his mother. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the mummified body of Norman’s mother. Wearing his mother’s clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila. But Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues him with Lila’s help.
Psycho (1998)
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, Rita Wilson, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy, Robert Forster, Philip Baker Hall, James Remar, Anne Haney
Screenplay by: Joseph Stefano
Production Design by: Tom Foden
Cinematography by: Christopher Doyle
Film Editing by: Amy E. Duddleston
Costume Design by: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Set Decoration by: Rosemary Brandenburg
Art Direction by: Carlos Barbosa
Music by: Bernard Herrmann
MPAA Rating: R for violence and sexuality / nudity.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: December 4, 1998
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