Back in 1960, film was very different to what we’re used to now. While the modern landscape of cinema is packed full of sequels, blockbusters and remakes with only the odd original idea finding its way to the big screen. But in 1960, the landscape was completely different. Director Alfred Hitchcock had already directed many of the most widely acclaimed films of all time at this point, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, Rope and Rebecca just to name a few. When word got out that Hitchcock was directing a horror picture, people wondered if Hitchcock had lost the plot. Making something so smutty, so bottom-of-the-barrel, so indecent. How could he ever recover? Well, one remake, three sequels and a television adaption later, Psycho is widely considered one of the most influential and important films ever made.
Arrow Video have put together a compilation of Hitchcock’s seminal masterpiece, alongside the three sequels together for the first time and I’ll be covering each film individually, as well as all of the supplemental content included in this collection. Come with me as we enter the Bates Motel and see what lies inside…
Psycho
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay: Joseph Stefano
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire and Janet Leigh
Country: United States
Running Time: 109 min
Year: 1960
From the very first frame of Psycho, the combination of the Bernard Herrmann score and Saul Bass opening titles set the audience in for a film unlike any before. The high energy strings, the fast transitions between each credit, it’s the perfect jolt to the system that the viewer needs to immediately interest them.
We follow Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who steals $40,000 from her workplace and goes on the run. While looking for a place to hide out, she stumbles upon the Bates Motel, managed by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a mother’s boy. Although the majority of the world knows what happens next, I’m going to spare you from spoilers if you’re one of the lucky few who hasn’t experienced the film for the first time yet.
After a specific event, the second half of the film completely flips the script and we begin following Lila Crane (Vera Miles), Marion’s sister and learn more about Norman and his close relationship to his mother. It’s a film that completely shocked audiences across the entire world with one scene that completely changed the landscape of cinema forever. Notoriously, Hitchcock told theatre staff to refuse entry to anybody who arrived late in an effort to make the audience experience the film as a whole. It was a genius marketing tactic and resulted in Psycho being the second highest grossing film at the box office in 1960, only being beaten by Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus.
As with the majority of his filmography, Psycho is directed meticulously, with every single frame planned out and photographed gorgeously, with tremendous performances from all involved, with Anthony Perkins being the highlight and would reprise his role in all four films in the series. I mentioned Herrmann’s score earlier, but the iconic strings that play throughout Psycho are the definition of influential. Arguably plagiarised for Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, referenced in everything from Finding Nemo to the Busta Rhymes song Gimme Some More, the legacy of something as simple as a piece of music is one of the many, many things that makes Psycho a classic. The shower scene is probably the one thing people always think of when Psycho is mentioned and for good reason. Entire documentaries have been made out of analysing one minute from a 100 minute film (see 78/52 (2017) if you’re interested) and like the score, it’s been referenced and parodied in every piece of media you could imagine.
But Psycho‘s legacy is more than a few mainstays in pop culture. Widely considered to be one of the first slasher films alongside Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, Psycho redefined the horror genre and broke barriers with the content the film contained, even 63 years later, it’s completely understandable why this was such a watershed moment for horror. I’m a huge fan of horror myself and there’s many films in the slasher genre that I consider to be some of my favourites ever, but none of those would likely exist without Psycho.
It’s a film that still thrills to this day, it’s practically perfect in every way imaginable, it’s a landmark piece of filmmaking from a director who’d already brought us countless classics at this point in his career, it’s Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, one of not only the greatest horror features of all time, but features period.
Film: 
Psycho II
Director: Richard Franklin
Screenplay: Tom Holland
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly and Robert Loggia
Country: United States
Running Time: 113 min
Year: 1983
How do you make a sequel to Psycho? The original film is flawless, influential, iconic, groundbreaking and one-of-a-kind. Plus, in 1960, horror sequels weren’t a thing like they are today. There wasn’t a Psycho cinematic universe, with yearly instalments to provide a steady income for Universal. In the late seventies, two of the biggest horror films of all time, The Exorcist and Jaws both received sequels that proved, regardless of critical consensus, sequels could be successful at the box office. In 1983, twenty three years after Hitchcock’s original, Australian director Richard Franklin took on the task of continuing the story of Norman Bates.
Franklin was a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock and famously received a phone-call from Hitchcock after trying to screen his film Rope at the University of Southern California, which ended with Hitch making an appearance at the university for a lecture and becoming close with Franklin. Perkins wasn’t initially interested in taking the job until he read the script which convinced him. The big question is, how did it turn out? Spoilers for the original film follow.
Twenty two years after the events of the first film, Norman Bates is unleashed upon the public after being released from the mental institution he’s resided at for all of this time. He’s considered sane, despite opposition from hundreds of people who think he should remain locked up and plans to move on with his life. He moves back into the Bates home, gets a job at a local restaurant and even makes a new friend there, Mary.
While there’s some people who think he’s still a ‘psycho’ or ‘loony’ and try to get a rise out of him, Norman sincerely wants to move on from what happened in 1960 and it’s only after receiving notes and phone calls from his dead mother that he realises that “it’s happening again”… or is it?
Psycho II is an impressive, challenging and excellently crafted sequel to the original that clearly has reverence for the original, as previously mentioned, director Franklin and Hitchcock were friends and it’s not the typical cash-grab horror sequel that you’d expect it to be. It has love for the original, but crafts its own path and does something unique for the time, it takes the antagonist from the original film and turns him into a protagonist that you sympathise with. You really feel for Norman when you see him trying to work or make a sandwich but a knife puts him in a state of shock. Perkins is on top form here and it’s easily my favourite performance he’s ever given. There’s so many character details, whether it’s how he talks in a fashion that would be more appropriate to a man who last experienced the 60s instead of the craze of the 80s. The way he’ll occasionally stutter while trying to talk to somebody about his past. It’s a magnificent performance. Meg Tilly stars as Mary who’s great too, offering a layered performance that has more going on than it initially seems.
Like the first film, I don’t want to spoil anything in this review but there’s a certain point in the film where everything changes, similar to the original and I think that reveal is fantastic. It really makes this whole experience all the more tragic and out of all of the films, it’s the one that makes me the most emotional.
In terms of the technical aspects, Franklin’s direction is stellar, recreating shots from the original film in a loving way but also having some incredibly striking new visuals, with John Carpenter’s regular cinematographer Dean Cundey helming this instalment. While Franklin was offered Herrmann’s original score to use by Universal, he selected Jerry Goldsmith, who’s theme for Psycho II is haunting, melancholy and truly beautiful. It’s a completely different feel from that original and I respect that tremendously.
Nowadays, we’re used to having sequels, we’re even used to having films which flip the switch on the audience and swap the antagonist and protagonist. But when Psycho II hit, this was a risky and ambitious move. It’s difficult to ask your audience to emotionally invest in a character who murdered the characters we cared for in the original film, but somehow, the team behind Psycho II pulled it off.
This is one of my most controversial opinions when it comes to horror cinema, but I actually prefer Psycho II to the original. Let me preface this by saying, I think the original is a better film but there’s something about II that works even more for me, and in my opinion, it has the better Perkins performance. While the original is shocking, groundbreaking and perfect in every way, the tragic nature of Psycho II leaves even more of an impact on me every time I watch it. I have issues with the film, absolutely, but when it comes to horror sequels, Psycho II might be the greatest out of them all.
Film: 
Psycho III
Director: Anthony Perkins
Screenplay: Charles Edward Pogue
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and Roberta Maxwell
Country: United States
Running Time: 93 min
Year: 1986
After Psycho II proved to be a financial success, grossing almost $35 million at the box office on a budget of $5 million, Universal were eager to follow it up with another sequel and Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins decided to take the reins as director in his directorial debut. While everybody expected the film to be a disaster, as Perkins had no experience and it’s a tall order to try and follow up not only one, but two excellent films, Psycho III actually turned out to be an interesting case..
Similar to Franklin on the prior film, Perkins wanted to create something unique that stands apart from the original film. Mainly taking inspiration from Joel and Ethan Coen’s Blood Simple, which was released two years prior to Psycho III, the film is a strange case when compared to the prior two instalments.
If there was one word I’d use to describe the third film, it’d be sleazy. That’s not an insult, I’m a huge fan of sleazy cinema and I think that’s one of the main elements I admire about the film. It’s so different to what came before and feels like a combination of a crude slasher from that era mixed with the visual sensibilities of a Dario Argento film.
The plot of this film follows Norman Bates a month after the events of Psycho II and his relationship with Maureen Coyle, a woman who has a religious past that forms between the pair. It’s clear that Perkins was trying to offer something different to the prior films in the series and while this is the weakest of the three entries so far, there’s a level of charm to how perverse the film is. It’s full of ridiculous nudity, such as Jeff Fahey’s character holding lamp shades to cover his genitals in a particularly memorable scene, or a woman he just slept with getting comically undressed in a phone booth, it’s very 80s. There’s also kills that feel like they’re trying to emulate the Friday the 13th franchise at times, but then feel like a sleazy giallo picture at others.
The performances are interesting, with Jeff Fahey’s sleazy character Duane Duke being the highlight for me. While he’s a total creep and sleazebag, there’s something very watchable about him going all out in a role that’s this trashy that I found charming. Perkins gives a strange performance as Norman in this film, almost feeling like he’s in need of direction and delivers all of his dialogue in a stilted and confusing manner. It’s not terrible, but it’s a step-down from his outstanding performance in the prior picture.
It’s a mixed bag overall, and there’s nothing as interesting on a narrative level as what Psycho II offered, but there’s some fun to be had with the utterly deranged content on display. While I could recommend Psycho II to almost anybody as a film that’s technically solid, has great performances and excellent direction, the same cannot be said for Psycho III. That doesn’t mean that it’s awful, but there’s a jarring quality drop from the two films that must be acknowledged.
Psycho III sits in a weird position in this franchise. While I don’t want to say that it’s a masterpiece, because it really isn’t, I think there’s some good stuff in here. I have a good time when I watch it and can forgive some of the more egregious elements, but boy, is it rough. If you’re a fan of trashy 80s slashers, Psycho III will fit the bill. If you’re looking for something that offers the same level of intrigue and has a great central performance, you won’t get it here, unfortunately.
Film: 
Psycho IV: The Beginning
Director: Mick Garris
Screenplay: Joseph Stefano
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Olivia Hussey, CCH Pounder, Warren Frost, Donna Mitchell and Henry Thomas
Country: United States
Running Time: 96 min
Year: 1990
Psycho III was a box office disappointment, only grossing $14.4 million on a budget of $8.4 million so when it came time to produce another follow-up, the decision was made to strip the budget down drastically and produce Psycho IV: The Beginning as a television movie. Perkins returns once again, in one of his final roles before his passing and Mick Garris takes the director’s chair this time around. Garris is most known nowadays for his Stephen King adaptations, but prior to The Beginning, he directed Critters 2: The Main Course and wrote The Fly II.
Psycho IV: The Beginning is fine. It’s my least favourite of the four Psycho films but it’s still a commendable effort by the team behind it. Firstly, the performances are pretty good here. Perkins is better than he was in Psycho III, and even though the film deals mostly in flashbacks, I liked Henry Thomas as young Norman too.
The premise of The Beginning is that after hearing his psychologist talk about him live on air, Norman Bates calls in to KTK under the name ‘Ed’ to discuss his life. What proceeds is a series of flashbacks showing us what happened to Norman when he was young and although the budget definitely shows in the limited locations on display, it’s pretty compelling stuff.
My main issue with Psycho IV: The Beginning is how void of an identity it is in comparison to those prior three instalments. I love the first two films and had some fun with III, but Psycho IV feels incredibly plain and bland to a point that I don’t have much to say about it in the same ways as the others. It’s very fine and again, decently directed and in some ways, it’s probably a more faithful continuation of the Bates story than III was, but I missed the personality that all of those previous films had. The original felt completely new for Hitchcock, people saw it as him divulging into trash when they heard about the film but as time progressed, realised Psycho for the work of art that it is. Psycho II offers a faithful continuation of that original story that carves its own path and delivers a fantastic character study with the same level of craftsmanship as that original. Psycho III gleefully indulged in the trashy nature of slashers that dominated the 80s. Psycho IV: The Beginning kind of just exists.
It’s something that I’d still suggest seeking out as I know it’s found a minor cult following over the years, and again, it’s not poorly constructed, performed or written. They even brought back original Psycho writer Joseph Stefano and his screenplay is decent! It’s just unfortunate how bland the end result turned out because there was potential here. Unfortunately, The Beginning is a miss for me.
Film:
The Psycho Collection releases on Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray September 25th from Arrow Video. I viewed the 4K UHD discs and I’ve got to say, I was blown away by the presentation. Arrow didn’t provide me with a copy of the first film, so I’m assuming it’s the same Universal UHD disc that’s been in circulation for years. As I owned that version, I used that for review purposes here. In terms of the visual presentation for the sequels, they all look utterly fantastic on 4K UHD. HDR does wonders for Psycho II and III in particular and they’re reference quality. The audio options included are all faithful to the original releases, with the first film containing a mono track and 5.1 audio options, the following two films having 2.0 and 5.1 tracks and a stereo track for Psycho IV. English subtitles are included for all four films and on an A/V level, this is a practically perfect release. The following extras are included:
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) presentations of all four films
- New 4K restorations of Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV from the original camera negatives
- Original lossless mono and 5.1 audio options for Psycho, stereo and 5.1 options for Psycho II and Psycho III, and stereo audio options for Psycho IV
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
- Double-sided posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
- 9 postcard sized reproduction art cards
- 120-page perfect bound collector’s book featuring new writing by film critics John-Paul Checkett and Johnny Mains plus select archival material
Disc 1 – PSYCHO (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- Audio Commentary with Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
- The Making of Psycho documentary
- In the Master’s Shadow, Hitchcock’s Legacy featurette
- Hitchcock / Truffaut audio interview with scenes from the movie
- Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho featurette
- The Shower Scene: With & Without Music featurette
- The Shower Sequence, storyboards by Saul Bass image gallery
- Psycho Sound featurette
- The Psycho Archives image gallery
- Posters and Psycho Ads image gallery
- Lobby Cards image gallery
- Behind the Scenes Photographs image gallery
- Publicity Shots image gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- Re-Release trailers
Disc 2 – PSYCHO II (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- New audio commentary by film critics Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains
- Archival audio commentary by screenwriter Tom Holland
- Behind the Curtain: The Masters of Horror on Psycho, panel discussion with screenwriter Tom Holland and Psycho IV director Mick Garris moderated by Robert V. Galluzzo
- Giving Bloch His Due, interview with Chet Williams, author of Psycho: Sanitarium on the legacy of Norman Bates’ creator, author Robert Bloch
- Anthony Perkins TV interview
- Anthony Perkins audio interview
- Richard Franklin audio interview
- Richard Franklin On Set featurette
- Richard Franklin scene commentary
- A sequel to a Classic featurette
- The House on the Hill featurette
- Personality Profile: Anthony Perkins featurette
- Personality Profile: Richard Franklin featurette
- Still Crazy After all these Years
- Behind the scenes featurette
- Anthony Perkins interview
- Vera Miles interview
- Janet Leigh interview
- Jerry Goldsmith demo
- Trailers & TV spots
- Image gallery
- Audio press kit/promotional record
- Record gallery
Disc 3 – PSYCHO III (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- New Commentary by film critics Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains
- Archival audio commentary by screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue
- Carnival of the Heart, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas
- Scream of Love, a new interview with composer Carter Burwell
- Watch the Guitar, archival interview with actor Jeff Fahey
- Patsy’s Last Night, archival interview with actor Katt Shea
- Mother’s Maker, archival interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Westmore
- Body Double, archival interview with actress Brinke Stevens
- Original electronic press kit
- Alternate opening
- Theatrical trailer
- TV spot
- Image gallery
Disc 4 – PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD presentation of the film in director’s preferred 1.78:1 aspect ratio
- Archival audio commentary with director Mick Garris, actor Henry Thomas, and actress Olivia Hussey
- Death by Strings, new visual essay by author and critic Guy Adams on music across the franchise
- The Making of Mother, an archival interview with make-up effects artist Tony Gardner
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- A Look at the Scoring of Psycho IV, archival featurette
- Trailer
Disc 5 – PSYCHO IV TV Aspect Ratio (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD presentation of the film in 1.33:1 TV aspect ratio
Psycho extras
Audio Commentary with Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho – An archival audio commentary that’s a fascinating listen, with Rebello giving you all the information you’d expect from an author of Hitchcock novels. He touches on Hitchcock’s interest in birds, how the film followed him throughout his career and more. It’s a good listen.
The Making of Psycho documentary – An 1997 feature-length retrospective on Hitchcock’s classic. Running for 94 minutes, there’s interviews with Janet Leigh, Clive Barker, Peggy Robertson, Joseph Stefano and Patricia Hitchcock. It’s a great watch and it’s full of anecdotes, with Hitchcock’s original reaction to Stefano’s concepts for the shower scene being a highlight. A must watch.
In the Master’s Shadow, Hitchcock’s Legacy featurette – An archival twenty six minute featurette centred around filmmakers, composers, editors and authors praising Hitchcock for his legacy, such as William Friedkin, John Carpenter, Martin Scorsese, Eli Roth and Guillermo del Toro. Hearing people speak about their first memories watching a Hitchcock film is a delight and this is a solid featurette.
Hitchcock / Truffaut audio interview – A 15 minute excerpt from the hours of interviews recorded by François Truffaut for his novel Le Cinéma selon Alfred Hitchcock. It’s an engaging listen and is accompanied by footage of Psycho while the audio plays.
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho featurette – An archival 8 minute featurette with footage of the first cinema showings of Psycho. This includes the iconic quote from Hitchock about people needing to watch the film from the start, with nobody being admitted after the film begins. A fun featurette.
The Shower Scene: With & Without Music featurette – A two and a half minute featurette that showcases the iconic shower scene with and without music.
The Shower Sequence, storyboards by Saul Bass image gallery – A four minute featurette which showcases the shower scene alongside storyboards created by Saul Bass to help Hitchcock to bring the sequence to life.
Psycho Sound featurette – An archival featurette that showcases the stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix… that isn’t present on this release. It’s an oddity to see this included for sure.
Five image galleries are included: The Psycho Archives, Posters and Psycho Ads, Lobby Cards, Behind the Scenes Photographs and Publicity Shots.
Theatrical and re-release trailers are also included.
Psycho II extras
Audio commentary by film critics Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains – This exclusive audio commentary with critics Brooke and Mains analysing Psycho II as well as giving an overall of trivia about the film. It’s an informative listen and compliments the release well. It’s probably one of my favourite new extras created for the collection.
Audio commentary by screenwriter Tom Holland – Robert V. Galluzzo moderates this archival audio commentary with writer Tom Holland and it’s a fun listen. Recorded over 30 years after the film came out, the pair discuss the legacy of the film, the decision to open the film with footage from the original and how Psycho II was initially meant to be a straight to cable film. Holland talks highly of Perkins and there’s some fun anecdotes he shares from on set. Overall, it’s a great commentary track.
Behind the Curtain: The Masters of Horror on Psycho – An archival panel discussion with screenwriter Tom Holland and Psycho IV director Mick Garris, moderated by Robert V. Galluzzo. Galluzzo directed The Psycho Legacy and discusses the franchise with Holland and Garris. Hearing them talk about the influence of Psycho is delightful, as well as their respective instalments in the franchise. This extra was included on Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release.
Giving Bloch His Due: A 9 minute interview with Chet Williams that discusses Robert Bloch, the original creator of Norman Bates. Williams talks about the inspiration for Bates as a character, as well as the differences with the version that was brought to the screen. This extra was included on Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release.
Anthony Perkins TV interview – An archival 8 minute TV interview with Anthony Perkins. It’s brief, but Perkins makes some interesting comments, such as when he’s asked if there was pressure to make a sequel to Psycho and working with an Australian filmmaker on this film.
Anthony Perkins audio interview – A two minute audio interview with Perkins talking about his excitement to work on Psycho II.
Richard Franklin audio interview – An archival 20 minute interview with Franklin discussing why he took on the job for Psycho II. It’s an interesting listen, although there’s a lot of overlap with some of the comments he makes here and the other extras included on the disc. Also, the audio here can be fairly inconsistent but it’s mostly audible.
Richard Franklin On Set – A two minute archival featurette with Richard Franklin walking around the Bates home, with a narrator hyping up the (then) upcoming feature.
Richard Franklin scene commentary – A 5 minute commentary over a scene with Norman and Mary in the film. Franklin mentions how he wanted to pay respect to Hitchcock’s original film and the difficulties of making the living room fit into the original iconography. It’s a great addition.
A Sequel to a Classic – An archival featurette discussing Hitchcock and his legacy. It also touches on sequels, like Jaws 2 and Smokey and the Bandit II and how Psycho II differed due to the big gap between instalments.
The House on the Hill – Another archival featurette talking about Hitchcock’s legacy and the iconic Bates house.
Personality Profile: Anthony Perkins featurette – A brief two minute ‘personality profile’ on Perkins that goes over his filmography and the types of roles he went for. The original Psycho is mainly focused on here. There’s a segment where Perkins talks about working with Hitchcock.
Personality Profile: Richard Franklin featurette – Another two minute ‘personality profile’ on director Richard Franklin, with comments from him explaining his experience watching Psycho at an early age and why he wanted to make a sequel to it.
Still Crazy After All These Years – An archival featurette involving Leigh, Miles, Perkins and Franklin who discuss why the team returned to make a sequel.
Behind the scenes featurette – A two minute look of Richard Franklin directing on set of Psycho II.
Anthony Perkins interview – A minute long interview with Perkins. It touches on the change from black and white in the first film to colour in Psycho II. Perkins refers to Psycho II as a “black and colour” film, which I found interesting.
Vera Miles interview – Another minute long interview with Miles that touches on her collaborating with Perkins once again for this film.
Janet Leigh interview – A minute and a half long interview with Leigh who speaks on her experience working with Hitchcock.
Jerry Goldsmith demo – A two minute demo of what would become Goldsmith’s theme for Psycho II.
Archival trailers and TV spots are included.
Image and record galleries are also included, as well as an audio press kit and promotional record.
Psycho III extras
New audio commentary by film critics Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains – Following on from their commentary on Psycho II, Brooke and Mains immediately talk about the opening shot being a reference to Hitchcock’s Vertigo, and about how the kill count in Psycho III is actually lower than the second film. It’s another solid audio commentary from the pair, and one would only hope that Arrow got them for a commentary track on Psycho IV.
Audio commentary by screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue – Moderated by Michael Felscher, this archival commentary follows Pogue as he talks about how the job came to him, the unused concepts that he had in mind and how he wanted to approach it more as a sequel to the first film, instead of following on from Psycho II. It’s an engaging commentary track that has tons of interesting trivia that will please fans of the film.
Carnival of the Heart – a brand new 11 minute visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas discussing the carnivalesque nature of Psycho III. As with all of her essays, Heller-Nicholas dives deep into her readings of the film in an interesting and well-written manner. A must-watch extra.
Scream of Love – a brand new 15 minute interview with composer Carter Burwell who discusses how Perkins approached him after his work on Blood Simple. He touches on the choirs used during his score, as well as his experiences on set with Perkins. It’s an entertaining interview.
Watch the Guitar – A 17 minute archival interview with actor Jeff Fahey who plays the sleazy Duane in Psycho III. Fahey has great things to say about Perkins and calls him cool, hearing him talk about the iconic motel room scene is really entertaining to listen to. A fun interview.
Patsy’s Last Night – An 8 minute archival interview with actor Katt Shea, who plays one of the victims in the film. She’s a delight to listen to, and details the process of the prosthetic effects and how her kill was brought to life on screen. Her story about being covered in real ice during one scene is pretty humorous. An entertaining interview.
Mother’s Maker – An 11 minute archival interview with special make-up effects artist Michael Westmore, where he discusses how Perkins specifically asked for him and other effects artists who used to work at Universal back in the 60s and 70s. From Westmore’s perspective, Perkins was an excellent director which is great to hear. He also discusses how he brought ‘Mother’ to life. A really great interview.
Body Double – A 5 minute archival interview with actress Brinke Stevens who played a body double for Diana Scarwid in a scene involving nudity. She speaks highly of Anthony Perkins and shares some fun anecdotes about his directing style. It’s a fun, if brief interview.
Alternate TV material – 7 minutes of alternate footage used for the TV cut of Psycho III, including new opening credits.
A theatrical trailer is included, as well as a TV spot, an original electronic press kit and an image gallery.
Psycho IV: The Beginning extras
Audio commentary with director Mick Garris, actor Henry Thomas, and actress Olivia Hussey – An archival commentary that immediately opens with Garris talking about the visual style, how he wanted to pay respect to the original while bringing their own style to it, as well as the influence that Italian cinema had on Psycho IV. The discussion between Garris, Hussey and Thomas is a fun, engaging and well-paced one that I’d highly suggest giving a listen to!
Death by Strings – A brand new 18 minute visual essay by Guy Adams focusing on how music is used throughout the Psycho sequels. Adams discusses Jerry Goldsmith’s career and his score for Psycho II, Carter Burwell’s score for Psycho III and Graeme Revell’s Psycho IV score. It’s a great piece and Adams’ essay is one of the highlights of this release.
The Making of Mother – an archival 27 minute interview with make-up effects artist Tony Gardner, who details the elements of Psycho that terrified him on his first viewing, as well as how the job for Psycho IV came to him. He has great things to say about director Mick Garris and how he never watched the second or third films and considers the original and Psycho IV to be a great pairing. It’s a great interview.
Behind-the-scenes footage – 13 minutes of behind the scenes footage featuring Mick Garris and crew throughout production. The footage is fairly low-quality, but it’s all watchable and gives a fascinating look into how the shoot went.
A Look at the Scoring of Psycho IV – An archival 6 minute featurette consisting of similar behind-the-scenes footage to the prior featurette, showcasing the process of scoring the film. It’s an interesting piece to include, there’s no interviews or dialogue outside of what the composer is telling the orchestra to do.
An archival trailer is included.
I wasn’t provided with the posters, art cards or the collector’s book, unfortunately.
Arrow Video’s collection of the Psycho franchise is another winner for the boutique label. A perfect audio/visual presentation and hours of new and archival special features that are insightful, entertaining and worth checking out. It’s another marvellous set that I’d recommend to fans of the franchise or incredible boutique releases.
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