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In bringing together thoughts for this column, I was quite shocked to discover that there was a book sequel to Psycho, also titled Psycho II and written by Bloch, released in 1982, the year before Anthony Perkins reprised his most famous role for the first time. Bloch’s book was completely thrown over by Universal Pictures, who apparently hated an early draft to such a degree, they hoped to convince him not to publish it. Based only on the description, I can understand the outrage, but it also strikes me as intriguing and simply too self-referential for the times. To wit: Bates escapes from his asylum while dressed as a nun, and then somehow makes his way to Hollywood where they are... shooting a movie based on his killing exploits. This was Bloch’s attempt to make commentary on the cycle of “slasher films” and “dead teenager movies” that were en vogue at the time.

Richard Franklin, an Australian director, was chosen to helm Tom Holland’s original script and the pair went on to collaborate again the following year, also for Universal, on the kids-and-espionage thriller Cloak & Dagger. Franklin’s post-Psycho II output consisted mostly of television episodes with an occasional feature film (including another Chapter Two — FX2: The Deadly Art of Illusion), while Holland achieved more success and a certain amount of cult fame writing and directing a pair of horror films with a sense of humor — Fright Night and Child’s Play. Opening in the summer of 1983 to divided, but not overly hostile reviews, and respectable box office ($8 million opening and $35 million final gross against a $5 million budget, the door was opened for Psycho III (which in July of 1986 pulled in less than half of its predecessor at $15 million) and Psycho IV: The Beginning, which debuted instead on Showtime.

As an act of cheekiness, or simply to put the inevitable comparisons to the first film front and center, Psycho II opens with Marion Crane’s last shower, excised (almost in whole) from Psycho, and thankfully kept in the original black and white. From there, Holland’s screenplay unleashes a heavily plotted whodunit that plays at times like the slasher cousin of a 1970s paranoid conspiracy thriller.

Twenty-two years after being locked away in an asylum, Bates finds himself released back into society, the result of state budget cuts and the belief that two decades have helped him achieve a good rapport with reality. With no halfway house services available to help him ease back into society, Bates finds himself living at the only place he knows: that house on the hill. His tenuous grip on reality quickly goes out the window as it becomes apparent that someone is attempting to drive him crazy. Or is that really the case?

Holland’s storyline may actually be a little too clever and pseudo-byzantine for its own good. I am not suggesting Psycho II is wrapped in a Chandler-esque plot fog by any means, but out of the six murders in the film, the identity/ies of who commits the first three is not something I could entirely vouch for. Considering the plot twists in the second half and the very real possibility that Norman isn’t the only one gone nutty, I maintain that this ambiguity, deliberate or otherwise, serves the film well. It also seems appropriate for a film where numerous characters are attempting to mindfuck one another and audience sympathies are apt to shift among the lead characters at various junctures.

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