TheLittleSongbird The 1960 'Psycho' is one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films and while it is high up in my list of "scariest films of all time" it doesn't stop it from being a personal favourite. Mainly for the cinematography, Hitchcock's direction, the music score and Anthony Perkins.Before seeing either of the sequels, there was the feeling of "what was the point? The 1960 film was perfect as it was and didn't need a sequel let alone three as well as a television film and a remake". Actually found myself very pleasantly surprised by 'Psycho II', and despite reviews being very, very mixed (leaning towards the negative) 'Psycho III' was also better than anticipated. 'Psycho: The Beginning' both intrigued me and filled me with dread, after giving it a chance with an open mind and no prejudice my thoughts were that it's not bad and better than was anticipated but it could have been much better.It's certainly nowhere near as bad or as pointless as the 1998 remake (few films are), at least it was actually interesting to see Norman's childhood and some development for his mother. It just could have been executed better. It has moments of slickness, a haunting score and there are some good performances.Can't say anything bad about Anthony Perkins, other than that he's underused. Other than that he is both creepy and sympathetic which shows that thirty years on he still had it. Olivia Hussey is marvellously chilling, and then there's an entertaining CCH Pounder and a touching Henry Thomas. One actually feels sorry for Norman here.However, the rest of the acting is really not that great or notable. The only other standout in a bad way is the embarrassingly bad John Landis. That 'Psycho IV: The Beginning' was made for TV mostly does show, especially in the disjointed editing and drab production design.Dialogue was not a strong suit in the previous two sequels, but it is especially laughable here and reeks to high heaven of badly gone off cheese. The story picks up a little bit in the final third, but the over-reliance on flashbacks drags things down and the present day elements confuse the story and sees some glaring gaffes in continuity. Furthermore the scares are too few and when there are any they are pretty tame and lack suspense, while the chemistry between Norman and his mother is so overboard on the overt creepiness and sleaze that it feels uncomfortably gratuitous. Mick Garris's directing lacks the eerie style and nail-biting suspense and instead feels pedestrian.Finally the ending, some may like the feeling of closure, it didn't feel that way to me however and tonally it was too tacked on and tonally jarring and implausible.Overall, has some mild intrigue but some good things are not quite enough to save a disappointing effort. 4/10 Bethany Cox

adonis98-743-186503 Psycho IV: The Beginning Norman Bates returns for this prequel, once more having mommy trouble. This time around he is invited to share memories of mom with a radio talk show host, but the PSYCHO fears that he may kill again for his beloved is impregnated with his child and Norman cannot let another PSYCHO loose in the civilized world. The reason why i loved this mostly than the previous 3 films is because it concludes the series in a great way he is victorious over this long battle with his mum and you also see why he did what he did his mother was hard at him and you get it why he poisoned her Henry Thomas gives a nice performance as a young Norman but also Olivia Hussey as a young miss Norma Bates gives a nice performance unlike the horrible Friday the 13th series this feels like an actual final chapter he faces his demons and he chooses his wife and child over madness but also his mother gets trapped in the basement once and for all. Psycho 4 is not just a great movie but it also has a great pacing, nice acting and easily one of the best horror movie endings ever. Plus: The Original Theme is Back!!!

gavin6942 Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) returns for this prequel, once more having mommy trouble. This time around he is invited to share memories of mom (Olivia Hussey) with a radio talk show host (CCH Pounder).Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter of the original film, was brought back to write the fourth film. He had disliked the two films between I and IV, feeling that they were too commercial and catered to the conventions of slasher movies. In an interview, Stefano stated, "Gearing up for Psycho IV, I decided to ignore the two sequels – like the business in II about Norman's mother." I think Stefano had the right idea. Arguably, this is the best sequel to the original film, which is pretty rare for this far into a franchise. There is a solid cast, a fresh new story, and more than adequate direction from Mick Garris. (I don't typically have high praise for Garris, but between this and "Sleepwalkers" he has at least two hits under his belt.)

Rainey Dawn Psycho IV is the perfect finale to the film series. We are able to get the entire back-story on Norman Bates. For the first three movies, insight was given (revealed) about Norman but the insight given still left the viewers with more questions about him. "What was up with Norman's mother?" "Who was Norman's mother?" "What was Norman's mother really like?" "What was it that drove Norman so crazy, so psycho?" - all these questions that fans have wondered will be finally answered in the fourth film: Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990).For those that have never seen one of the psycho films, you should watch them in order to build suspense towards the fourth movie "Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)".The rating on this movie is entirely to low and has unfair bad criticism in my opinion. It's a good finale.9/10