Cheap Psycho (DVD) (Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche) (Gus Van Sant) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Psycho

A gnashing of teeth
It's compelling to think about why Van Sant would remake a film like Psycho--one with a devoted and vociferous fan base, acclaimed as a masterpiece of its genre. What could he do right--or better? As his reward: the increasingly out-of-touch Leonard Maltin describes the film as a pointless, tainted insult, a view shared by most critics and fans. The film sputters at the box office and encourages only meagre discussion of its fantastic premise--why would anyone do this?

I tried to look at this movie with new eyes but found that impossible--inevitably I compared it not to the original Hitchcock "Psycho" (which I admit to not remembering well), but to the ideal (albeit completely fabricated) masterpiece of moviemaking suspense "Psycho!" I had constructed in my mind out of 5-star reviews, "10 Best" lists, and hyperbolic exclamatory pullquotes. Nothing can compare to the cinematic perfection I'd conjured up against Gus Van Sant, Anne Heche, and particularly Vince Vaughn. This remake was a disaster. Heche, maddeningly unavailable, wears psychedelic cutey-pie dresses; Vaughn masturbates (complete with "slapping" sounds) to the hole in his parlor wall; we see a boobie(!); modern devices aplenty! Some of the holdovers from the original seem anachronistic and quaint (the voiceovers in the car as Heche drives away, the broad "holy cow" face her boss makes when he notices her on the street), suggesting that the actors and the filmmakers struggled under the greatness of the original structure.

But how very modern. How very acute we are to find an insult in a tribute. How subtle we are to scoff at hucksters and showmen. As one movie fan said of the original, "You have to give it a chance, and if your not easily scared don't think it will scare the pance off you. AND SEE THIS BEFOR THE REMAKE." Credit Saul Bass for a well designed movie, but this is the only version of Psycho I own. It's my Psycho, and it's an appropriate Psycho. Van Sant should remake it every 15-20 years for the rest of my life.

For those who care, the DVD looks and sounds great.

---

Psycho (1998)
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho made an impact on all audiences around the world. Director Gus Van Sant is here to give you this word-for-word remake to make you forever take showers with the curtains open.

Starting off in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, December 11th, 1998. The beautiful MARION CRANE (played by Anne Heche) has rented a posh hotel room with her boyfriend, SAM LOOMIS (played by Viggo Mortensen), during her lunchbreak. Marion has to get back to work, while Sam has to get back to Fairvelle. Marion gets back to work a little late, but lucks out in knowing that her boss, GEORGE LOWERY (played by Rance Howard) is late himself, for he is in a meeting. In comes George Lowery, following a businessman named, Tom Cassidy (played by Chad Everett). He walks over to Marion and begins telling her about his 18-year old daughter tying the knot. He hands Marion $400,000, the money Mr. Cassidy will be using to buy his daughter a house as a wedding present. George invites Tom into his office and tells Marion to bank the $400,000 until the following Monday. Marion asks George for permission to take the rest of the day off because of her supposed headache and goes on her way.

While in her bedroom, Marion packs a suitcase and changes clothes. She so temptingly stares at the $400,000 and tries to restrain herself, but not for long, for, in one quick movement, she steals the $400,000 and heads out to her car. Seems as though that Marion is on her way to Fairvelle to see Sam. While at a red light, she notices George crossing in front of her. Unfortunately, he notices Marion, but Marion, as worried as she is about having being noticed, continues on her way. She drives into dusk until pulling over to sleep. The next morning, Marion is awakened by a suspicious cop. She nervously talks to the cop and goes on her way, as the cop follows her. She pulls into a dealership and requests to trade in her car for another. She makes her decision rather quickly and pays for it with her car, plus $4000.

She drives on her through the morning, afternoon, and into dusk. Suddenly, it's starts to storm. She gets off a main road and finds The Bates Motel sitting quietly off the highway as if it were hidden from it. She gets out and sees nobody in the office. She looks up and finds a sinister looking house and notices, through a window, an elderly woman walking about. She beeps her car horn until someone comes running out. He finally comes to Marion's aide and takes her inside. The man who took Marion inside the office is NORMAN BATES (played Vince Vaughn), a seemingly-sweet young man, who owns both the house and motel. He checks Marion in to cabin No. 1 because 'it's closer in case you want anything'. Marion says she wants sleep more than anything, except maybe some food. Norman invites her to the house for some sandwiches. As he goes off to make the sandwiches, Marion hears a woman, viciously yelling at Norman. The woman is the elderly woman Marion saw and it turns out that the woman is Norman's mother. Norman yells back and comes back into Marion's room. The two have supper in Norman's polar, which is located in the back of the office. The polar is decorated with stuffed birds. Turns out that Norman's hobby is taxidermy. They have a brief conversation, leading to Marion wanting to get some sleep. She goes off into her cabin and gets ready to take a shower. She steps in and begins washing herself. While in the middle of her shower, the curtain opens to reveal a dark figure of an elderly woman. Marion turns around and screams in fright as she is murdered in cold blood. The woman disappears and Norman comes in to erase the crime.

A week later, a young woman runs into Sam Loomis' store and demands to talk to Sam. Sam comes out and walks over to the young woman. The young woman is LILA CRANE (played by Julianne Moore), Marion's curious sister. She tells Sam what Marion had done the Friday before. As Sam and Lila are talking about it, a private investigator by the name of MILTON ARBOGAST (played by William H. Macy) comes in and begins talking to Sam and Lila about Marion. He goes off to investigate and comes across Norman and The Bates Motel. He questions Norman, but claims that Marion stayed overnight and left early the next morning. Arbogast then sees Norman's mother and asks to question her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam, gives them the news and goes into the house to question Norman's mother, only to be killed by her.

Lila and Sam have been waiting for Arbogast to return for three hours. Sam drives up there, but finds no Arbogast, but only Norman's mother. He drives back to Lila and they visit SHERIFF AL CHAMBERS. Al and his wife, ELIZA CHAMBERS listen to Lila and Sam's story of Marion's disappearance and of Arbogast's disappearance. Sam says that when he went up there, he too noticed Norman's mother. Both Al and Eliza make them aware of the death of Norman's mother that happened ten years earlier. Sam is certain of seeing Norman's mother in the house. The next morning, Lila and Sam drive up to the motel and decide to check in as man and wife, in order to search the motel. They are checked in by Norman. They settle in and begin searching Cabin No.1 and find that it was occupied by Marion. Sam tells Lila to take the job of questioning Mrs. Bates, while he distracts Norman. Lila enters Norman's fruitcellar, only to see that Mrs. Bates is dead, as the real killer is finally revealed. Watch this remake and be terrified of showers all over again.

---

Why?
Why? Why? WHY? Why remake a classic horror film? That means remaking it with exactly the same screenshots, lines, right down to the same camara angles used in the original. The only difference is that this one's in color. So if they're basicly the same then this will be just as good, right? Wrong! I don't know exactly what it is, but the remake just doesn't have any of the style and flair of the first.
I was bored while I watched this movie (because I watched it before the original.) The remake of Psycho actually made it into the top 100 celebrity opps! I dunno, I guess I'm not really one for remakes (but I do like the Fly (1986)) esp if it's a remake of a really good movie. Most remake are, because no one wants to remake a bad movie, even though bad movies are the ones they actually SHOULD be remaking.
Don't buy this movie. Well, I don't know, if you love it then you can get it. But the 1960 version is way better. The acting was also better. Nothing beats Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, or Janet Leigh (mother of Jamie Lee Curtis) as Marion Crane. Also I think the film just 'works' better in black and white.
I'm giving the remake two stars because it's still a great story. But the question still remains-why?