Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) (TV)

Director:

Mick Garris

Writers (WGA):

Robert Bloch (character)
Joseph Stefano (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

You've met Norman... now meet mother.

Plot:

Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates) returns for this "prequel", once more having mommy trouble. This time...

Plot Keywords:

Prequel | Villain Played By Lead Actor | Fourth Part | Mother | Schizophrenia

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Anthony Perkins	...	Norman Bates
Henry Thomas	...	Young Norman Bates
Olivia Hussey	...	Norma Bates
CCH Pounder	...	Fran Ambrose
Warren Frost	...	Dr. Leo Richmond
Donna Mitchell	...	Connie Bates
Thomas Schuster	...	Chet Rudolph
Sharen Camille	...	Holly
Bobbi Evors	...	Gloria
John Landis	...	Mike Calveccio
Kurt Paul	...	Raymond Linette
Louis Crume	...	George Emeric
Cynthia Garris	...	Ellen Stevens
Doreen Chalmers	...	Mrs. Lane
Alice Hirson	...	Mother (voice)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sensuality.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Spain:18 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2006) | Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Orlando, Florida, USA

Company:

Smart Money Productions

Trivia:

Several different endings were shot to keep the ending secret. Janet Leigh explains this when she introduced the film when it was first broadcast in 1990.

Goofs:

Continuity: In all previous Psycho movies, there is no closet on the left side of the room. In this film, the closet is there and Norma locks Norman in it.

Quotes:

Young Norman Bates: You take my father's robe off!
Chet Rudolph: Oh a... no underwear. You see Norman, it's not polite to be naked around a lady unless you're having sex with her. Otherwise, it's just not respectable.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Psycho Legacy (2009)

Good-bye To The Bates Motel

In this the last movie of the Psycho series, Norman has flashbacks to his youth and the circumstances that made him the man he became. There is a sort of bittersweet nostalgia to the memories and the circumstances as well as some loopholes in the continuity. A bathroom appears in mother's room where one never was and the fight scene takes away from the fact that Mrs. Bates and her lover were believed to have poisoned themselves in bed. I guess Norman could have dragged them back up there, but then you'd think that the police at the time would have found evidence of tampering with the murder scene. Well, this is a small town; they wouldn't have expected such a grandiose plot from such a then expected "nice young man." Olivia Hussey does a good job portraying the shrewish and demented Norma Bates and Henry Thomas of E.T. fame forgets that role to emote Perkins as Bates from the first movie. Putting an end to the Bates legacy sends Norman tripping through memories of his infamous past as the ghosts of his victims come to haunt him, but the ghost of Marion Crane herself is conspicuously absent as it was her who started the series by stealing his boss's money. Otherwise, this is a great end to one of Hollywood's most memorable move series.