5/5 Great continuation!
  by William G. Ratcliffe (Lawrenceville, New Jersey United States)
Despite the fact that i wasn't born when the original 'Psycho' was released, I did have the pleasure of seeing this sequel in the theaters. Seeing Part 1 on tv a few times gave me an idea of what to expect, but considering the fact that Hitchcock had nothing to do with part 2 (Hitch had died years earlier) I had hoped this one would grab my attention.
It did.
Like the original, this one had a few killing set pieces that were not only horrifying, but appropriate. Like myself, members of the audience did jump out of their seats at the right moments. Laughed at the right moments, and were tranced, thinking whoever made this film kept the pace going all the way to the final climax. A climax with such a twist you kinda didn't know it was coming.
If you enjoyed the original 1960 'Psycho', this is a faithful sequel, a sequel that does not stray much from what you would expect.
Perkins is his natural great self, a wonderful actor who had a hard time with later roles, as his role in the original version stuck with him. Nontheless, he was one of the better, natural actors of our time.
Vera Miles has a small role in the film, but was a treat to see how wonderfull she still looks.
Meg Tilly, again, another great actress. Her performance enhanced the structure of the film, that I think any other actress would have a hard time keeping up with the pace.
5 stars for effort, and at times a few moments of brilliance for a film that will keep you at the edge of your seats until the final frame.

5/5 Oh why not.
  by Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States)
As far as I know there's never been a satisfactory account of the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and Vera Miles, and he is sometimes said to have hardened his heart against her when her pregnancy forced her to drop out of the lead role in VERTIGO. I wonder if any film fans regret that Vera Miles did not play Madeleine and Judy in the San Francisco-set classic--I always have loved Kim Novak in the part. And Vera Miles' work in actual Hitchcock productions like THE THIRD MAN, INCIDENT AT A CORNER and the original PSYCHO, don't convince me that she was a glamorous leading lady type. John Ford too had a weakness for her, casting her in two of his greatest films, but again we never think of Miles as one of John Ford's repertory company. She's just serviceable as far as I'm concerned, and yet she does give a remarkable ballsy performance in Richard Franklin's PSYCHO II, bringing back her original Lila Crane character and showing how the experience of being the sister of a murder victim well, warped her I guess.

We learn that Lila married John Gavin (wow, too bad they couldn't have brought him back too), which if you ask me is pretty sick considering that Sam was actually having an affair with Marion right up until the day they died. Her husband, Lila now snaps, is "dead." (I wonder if there's a story there!) Did they have any children? Well, I won't say because that might spoil part of the movie for you.

Franklin's sequel is a respectable "stab" at PSYCHO greatness and benefits strongly from the contrast in Norman's world from the original black and white to the color of the early 1980s; everything seems different to Norman, who refuses to open up the motal again and instead takes a job as a short order cook in a diner under some sort of "liberal" ex-con rehabilitation program. Immediately he starts getting hassled by curious serial killer haters, including Dennis Franz who has turned the Bates Motel into a swingers paradise while Norman has been in jail.

The "real mother" plot comes out of left field if you ask me, but that is the only weakness in the film--oh, and also the way the screenwriters make the relationship between Meg Tilly and Norman so coyly chaste. What was that all about? Wouldn't it have humanized Norman immeasurably if he could have had a real affair with a real woman? You can tell "Mery" (the waitress played by Meg Tilly) would have . . . Is the idea that being the son of Mrs. Bates turned Norman against women? Meg Tilly, of course, is the 1980s' greatest actress and her leaving films for writing is a tragic loss to the cinema, and this is one of her greatest parts. Vera Miles is still alive too, the two of them should come back in a PSYCHO V, sort of an AUTUMN SONATA in which I would write and direct them in an eternal round of accusations and crumpled dreams.

5/5 4.5 Stars, Surprisingly a Respectable Sequel
  by M. Ryan Fairbanks (Cleveland, Ohio)
Psycho 2 had quite a tough act to follow, and considering that it was 23 years belated and released amidst the slasher craze of the 80's, it probably had disaster written all over it. However this is a surprisingly good sequel and a good movie on it's own. Obviously it's good in a very different way than the original, but this simply means that the series has succeeded in two different eras of horror movies.

23 years after the infamous night at the Bates Motel, Norman is declared officially sane once again and returns to his home to live a normal life and work at the local diner. Not everyone in town is happy about Norman's return to civilization, but most want to give him a fair shot at getting his life back together, especially his doctor. However it isn't long before Norman starts hearing from Mother again, and he is having a hard time resisting her commands, and his new female room mate makes things all the more tempting for him.

To avoid spoilers, not much can be said in regards to the storyline. Psycho 2 is a well crafted and clever who-dunnit that builds in suspense throughout the course of the movie, resulting in a fantastic twist ending. Although there is a notable body count and an increase in blood shed, Psycho 2 doesn't succumb to the cookie-cutter 80's slasher format. It surprisingly manages to be somewhat scary while boasting a coherent story line, no small feat. If you liked the original, chances are you'll like Psycho 2 as well.



5/5 A Very Astonishing Sequel
  by Taheen Lopez (United States- San Diego, CA)
PSYCHO 2 is an awesome sequel and I recommend it to anyone who loved the original PSYCHO by Alfred Hitchcock, but the one thing I don't understand is in the commercials & advertisements, why did they put "It's 22 years later & Norman Bates Is Coming Home" when PSYCHO II was actually made 23 years later after the popular PSYCHO hit theatres in 1960, but Universal didn't release PSYCHO 2 until the Summer of 1983 when I saw it for the very first time.

Additionally, PSYCHO II has more action and is even gorier than the original along with superb acting and superb music scoring done by Jerry Goldsmith, which also did music scoring for POLTERGEIST, FIRST BLOOD, etc.

The truth is, even though Lila Loomis(Vera Miles)had every right to be upset and devastated in the original PSYCHO and be be skeptical at the beginning of PSYCHO 2 when Norman Bates(Tony Perkins) gets released from the mental institution, but in PSYCHO II it's almost as if Lila was more guilty than Norman was, since Lila deliberately did everything she could to get Norman recommited back to the nuthouse by framing Norman and trying to make him go crazy again while Norman kept trying to go straight, but Lila and her disorganized daughter Mary Samuels Loomis(Meg Tilly) kept trying to make Norman go off the deep end again on purpose and by killing other people off at the Bates Motel one by one and showing us a side of Norman that we never saw before, which was a very sweet and lovely guy.

They also showed an intriguing nude scene with Meg Tilly(Mary)taking a shower unaware that she's being spied on in the bathroom showing Meg Tilly in full frontal nudity showing her coochie, tatas, and tushy.

It's just too bad that they don't make sequels like PSYCHO 2 and don't make them the way they used to anymore either, since most sequels are usually pretty cheesy nowadays.

This movie also takes me all the way back to memory lane to when I was still living in a small rural boring community with nothing to do called the Imperial Valley since I was living in my hometown(El Centro, CA) at the time when this movie was released in the theatres back in June of 1983.

5/5 Well regarded and more than competent sequel
  by R. Pepper (Los Angeles)
Psycho II has so many great things going for it. First, the cast was excellent! Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles from the original film return along with Meg Tilly and Robert Loggia. It's too bad Meg Tilly retired from acting. I'm not clear on the reasons, but this Oscar-nominated actress had the talent to make more of a career for herself which was too short-lived. I fell in love with the musical score of this film. It's sad, haunting and beautiful to listen to. Another tragedy is that this soundtrack is no longer available. Psycho II rises above most sequels in its sophistication and intelligence. There is a small amount of killing and bloodshed because this film is more psychological (we would hope given the title) and character-driven. The scene where Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly are in the bedroom when she cradles a sobbing Norman in her arms is something to relish. There is suspense and mystery here to behold and the ending is something you would not have assumed. I truly believe Alfred Hitchcock would have admired this as the producers dedicate this film to his memory. All in all, Psycho II is a classy sequel that earns its recognition. Also recommended by director Richard Franklin: Road Games, a suspense/thriller featuring Stacy Keach and Jaime Lee Curtis.