Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" (1998)

I watched. Seeing her DRIVING was hard enough, after the stretcher incident (that I siwh I had never ) , I skipped the shower scene. It was good though, and I wonder why it was eviscerated by the critics, it was a very interesting tribute

An utterly pointless remake. So '90s, so meta.

[quote] Vince Vaughn also plays Norman Bates like a nelly queen.

because Tony was so butch

Van Sant was trying to pull a "clever" Andy Warhol move in doing this, which is absolutely gag-worthy, but I still think it stands on its own as a modernized carbon copy of the original. The variations in the performances are what make or break the material here given that it's mostly a word-for-word, shot-for-shot redo, and the performances are indeed fun. Moore comes across as an unpleasant bulldyke, which was apparently intentional on her part.

That's her high holy saint Celestia to you... not even cocaine could extinguish the flames of our lady of the rising phoenix.

[quote] Moore comes across as an unpleasant bulldyke

Seriously ?

R3 Perkins played the part with a quirky sensitivity that felt true to the character; I never got the impression that he was a gay man trying really hard to "play it straight" as Norman Bates. Vaughn on the other hand seemed to be going for all-out flaming at all costs—a straight man playing it as camp as he possibly could.

[quote] That's her high holy saint Celestia to you

So, if we say that Celestia, not Anne, was driving, do we still have to cover the damages ?

R6 have you seen it? She plays it as a dour, arrogant, butch cunt from start to finish. The bit where she tells Viggo Mortensen "I've gotta get my Walkman" before they leave is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[quote] I never got the impression that he was a gay man trying really hard to "play it straight"

Well sis ..

r8 the mortal body is but a fragile thing, unfortunately the holy spirit cannot be tried since George Burns has long since been buried... but CA did have a law that penalized drug dealers for the crimes of the user at one time. While I doubt it's enforced anymore, I wonder if it's still on the books.

Thanks R11, We'll make sure the judge has Dad's complete details

OP, R1 and R3, I liked it a lot too. I think it works as a art-house movie, and also an illustration that actors and actresses saying the same lines in a faithful shot for shot remake of a movie can still make it an entirely different tone, the best example of it being Anne's performance. Saying the same lines as Leigh yet her Marion is charming, kind of ditzy, and extremely likeable.

All the actors are good, but she's downright wonderful in it (and I'm a gay man, so it's not like I have a crush on her).

What R13 says. I watched the original opening scene simultaneously, and TBH it was poorly directed, and Janet Leigh was not very good. Being so wooden in a steamy sexy love scene with JOHN GAVIN, for crying at loud, JOHN FUCKING GAVIN = a massive WTF ? who do you need to be half naked on a bed with, and kissing, to look alive girl ?

Shot for shot remake of a bona fide classic= coke fuelled idea indulged in the unorthodox '90s.

Agreed R13. It is fascinating how drastically different a role can be interpreted depending upon the actor. This is more obvious in stage plays because lines tend to remain the same across time and performances , which is not the case with most film remakes. In my view, it really is a testament to the human spirit and just how unique every human being is. If nothing else, Van Sant offered a static film example that illustrates that in relationship to the 1960 film.

Anne was an absolute doll in this movie. I love her face & her zany outfits.

Anne was on FIRE

The problem with this “shot-for-shot” remake is that it isn’t; it’s a half-assed attempt at a shot-for-shot remake which makes the whole endeavour pointless. Either go for the formal exercise of an exact copy (which in itself is an interesting experiment, especially for a major studio) or don’t bother. Van Sant’s tweaks and additions kill the purpose of the entire enterprise and makes an art-house curio into a waste of time. Anne was great as Marion Crane though.

[quote]The bit where she tells Viggo Mortensen "I've gotta get my Walkman" before they leave is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

It was one of the few deviations from the script, too, which just made it funnier. Does Lila even say anything in the original at that point, in response to Sam saying they need to see Chambers, the Deputy Sheriff?

I've always wanted to catch up with this. It belongs in cinema's cabinet of curiosities, does it not?

It's it on Netflix?

R21 not on Netflix, but it appears to be available (only for rental though) on Amazon Prime

Thank you darling.

No comparison to the original. I don't know why it was remade. The worst part of the remake is Vince Vaughn. It's not unwatchable until Vaughn is onscreen.

I have watched the remake a few times on Tubi, don't know if if its up there now. Both the original and the remake frequently are on Tubi.

Vince Vaughn, always awful.

But oh so sexy to me!

Anne was an underrated actress. A good actor can make any line of dialogue believable but the challenge of playing a part made famous by someone else is staggering since we inevitably measure it against the original. Julianne's choice is not so radical since Vera Miles in the original film is so tart and funny.

I don't think she was underrated, she took Hollywod by storm. But she just wasn't leading lady material, she was too quirky. too weird, too waifish. There was the Ellen thing. It seemed contrived and not very sincere. than she wasn't a lesbian after all. And then she went plain crazy. The public was tired and put off at that stage. That she maintained a career at all shows that her talent was appreciated

I like this movie a lot on its own. Vince Vaughn is terrible but everyone else is great. The production design and cinematography are beautiful though. They really took advantage of showing this material in color for the first time.

Maybe because I saw it when I was in middle school, I have a nostalgia for it that others have more of for the original film and I watch this one more to be totally honest.

My boyfriend and I had an Anne Heche-a-thon last week and watched a couple of her movies. She really was a terrific, interesting actor. It’s a shame she was never able to keep going with her original hype. I could’ve seen her as permanent A lister.

What Anne movies did you watch?

[quote] Anne Heche-a-thon last week and watched a couple of her movies.

All 3 of them ?

It's interesting how Julianne Moore played the same role, same lines, same shots as Vera Miles yet managed to create a completely different character (kind of a man hating lesbian) than Miles.

We watched Six Days Seven Nights, Volcano, Return to Paradise, and the Psycho remake. I had never seen the first three movies before. SDSN was awful and Harrison was way too old for her. Volcano was dumb camp fun. Return to Paradise was very good, very well done, but dragged towards the end.

The second day was her television work but my boyfriend had bowed out before then. I ended up watching her short lived NBC show Save Me which was a lot better than I expected.

Vers Miles looked so beautiful while screaming, this is a great talent.Unique.

She made a good film with Jeff Goldblum called Auggie Rose. (2000). It's on YouTube.

I tried to rewatch 6 days 7 nights, but again, when she blows up the lifeboat inside the helicopter and she's stuck inside with her face squashed over the window, calling for help, I had to pass

Vera miles only did classic masterpieces with the likes of Ford and Hitchcock, and NoONE absolutely NoONE, remembers her. She's never on any list or tribute. Talk about bland. She was even the joke in a Jane Fonda movie "I was supposed to be the next Vera Miles, How can you be the next someone nobody remembers"

R37, the creepiest one was the episode of Ellen she guest starred in. It takes place entirely in the lobby of an emergency room. Ellen finds out her estranged girlfriend was in a horrific car wreck and isn’t sure if she is going to make it. Anne shows up in the ER checking on the same woman and it’s revealed that she had a relationship with her before Ellen did.

It’s obviously in reference to Ellen losing her first girlfriend in a car wreck, and Anne helped her to find love again, but it plays very morbidly now after everything that happened.

Heche brought something totally different to the Marian Crane role. Like when she eats sandwiches in the parlor with Norman and is totally creeped out. Janet Leigh was totally wooden and uptight--you couldn't relate to her version of Marian.

That said, this was a crap remake. Funny story though, I saw this in the theatre with some wacky friends who smuggled a bottle of wine into the theatre (after smoking a bong). During one of the more tense scenes (not the shower scene though), my friend accidentally kicked the bottle and it rolled to the front of the theatre and smashed. All you could hear was my friend giggling for about 10 minutes. It made an otherwise lame movie memorable.

I remember that episode. Anne does what she can with a horribly demeaning part she must have done as a favor to Ellen.

Revisionist history. That remake was lazy from all angles.

Yeah, R41, the whole storyline is that Anne is an unreliable flake who bails when the going gets tough…hmm. She’s very charming in it though and she has a funny bit of physical comedy eating a bag of Doritos.

Wait , what ? Ellen lost her first gf in a car accident ? TAKE THE REMOTE OUT OF THIS BITCH"S HANDS, FFS

[quote] But she just wasn't leading lady material, she was too quirky. too weird, too waifish

All true A list actresses are a bit “off center” in one way or another. It’s the rest of what you said that finished her off (in terms of top tier stardom that is - like you said she’s always always worked)

R44, it’s a very famous story she tells a lot. She was despondent after the death of her girlfriend so she wrote the “phone call to God” routine that put her on the map.

She had a fight with her girlfriend, they left the bar separately, Ellen drove past a horrible car wreck and later found out it was her girlfriend (who I believe was named Laurie) that had died in it.

[quote] All true A list actresses are a bit “off center” in one way or another

True, but the stars who are in for the long run are built like brick houses; Acting is a touff business. I don't know of any waif who's stayed the distance

[quote] She had a fight with her girlfriend, they left the bar separately,

That's every evening in a lesbian couple's life, in my experience

Gus went through a period of trying to be mainstream with Good Will Hunting, Psycho and Finding Forrester. But he went back to indie films like the Death trilogy (Elephant, Last Days, Paranoid Park) which got him critical acclaim again. He's definitely stronger in the quirky art house genre.

David Lynch is the closest to Hitchcock and his movies and Twin Peaks are filled with Hitchcock references.

[quote]David Lynch is the closest to Hitchcock

Excuse me?!

R47 I have no idea whom you might be talking about. Like actresses who have won/been nominated for Oscars? Not a chance.

The only thing I liked was Viggo's ass. The rest was like an interesting film school idea gone wrong.

This remake could've been interesting if he hadn't cast Vaughn. What a complete misfire of a casting choice.

The only improvement I noticed before I gave up was the opening helicopter shot which Hitchcock did not have the technical ability to do at his time. The script sounds too dated to work in 1998 when the remake was set. It is of its time.

Vaughn was neither vulnerable nor threatening. Perkins pulled off both.

Can we all agree that Rita Wilson was TERRIBLE in it. I've like her in other films, but she's painful to watch. Patirica Hitchcock actually worked well and had a playful charm. Rita was playacting it.

Yes when she said He was must have noticed my wedding ring, I yelled out, He noticed your bad acting.

the sleazy client who gets ripped off is hot

R52 I had the DVD of this movie in junior high and used to jerk it to Viggo’s nude scene at the beginning—one of my formative “I am definitely gay” moments.

[quote]Vera miles only did classic masterpieces with the likes of Ford and Hitchcock, and NoONE absolutely NoONE, remembers her.

R38 Which is why it’s so perfect that Jessica Biel was cast as Vera Miles in ‘Hitchcock’

I know when I see that Vera Miles is in a film I might watch, that it’s probably a good film.

But I can’t think of what she looks like or sounds like at the moment.

I was a fan of this remake back when it came out. All of my friends disdained it, but I enjoyed the color. It popped!

Vera

"Psycho" is in my top four favorite horror/thriller films of all-time. So I wasn't interested in seeing a remake. Especially one that was supposed to be a "shot-for-shot" remake. But I did eventually watch it. What I enjoy about this film is the way the costumes & some scenic elements straddle the period of the original, and the then-present time. After seeing that, I bought the DVD.

The costume designer Beatrix Pazstor even found buttons for Heche's "check-in" dress that matched the shower curtain. It starts at 13:11 in the clip below.

R58 -that's Chad Everett. .

R54 - I would argue that Hitchcock's opening makes more sense by the fact that it's edited that way.

He shows random shots of the city, and eventually (IIRC) there's mention of Phoenix, then the day, then time, and then focuses on a building, and then a room.

Thar implies this is any city, and day, any time, and place, any people - essentially giving an example of how (to use a line in the movie) "we're ALL in our private traps."

The remake's opening is an uncut shot that eventually heads right to the characters in the motel room.

That implies there are other stories in this city, but this one is unique.

The effect is the opposite of what Hitchcock was going for.

One other thing: I might be wrong, but I think Hitchcock's early 1950s film I Confess began with a helicopter type shot.

In the making of Psycho (1960) documentary it says that Hitchcock wanted to open with a continuous helicopter shot that led to the hotel window but the attempts were too bumpy for the time so he did edited shots instead.

Yes the I Confess opening looks helicopter-ish.

Here's the documentary.

Go to 22.40 re the opening shot.

that is my favorite bit of the remake

R40, your story made me giggle. I could hear it all. And it reminded me of that episode of The Office where Andy plays in, shit, now I can’t remember the name of the musical… the Demon Barber of Fleet Street…and everyone goes to see him. Michael brings a bottle of wine, same thing happens. The awkwardness of it always cracks me up.

True. Chad memorably played Mrs. Bates in the remake.

R71, any time I see Chad Everett I think of Medical Center, and the episode with Robert Reed where he wants to transition. Pretty daring for network TV in the early 70s.

Poor Robert Reed. He wanted to do Shakespeare and he ended up playing Mike Brady, a sad homo who wants to be a gal, and a bitchy queen in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Vince Vaughn is the Antichrist.

Mark my words. Someday we’ll hear about a movie rider in his past, a la Robert Blake.

Chad knew how to be a jerk.

This Psycho remake was unnecessary but it wasn't bad.

Fucking spell check. movie rider = murder — R75

My favorite Anne movie is "The Vanished" (2020). She really elevates the familiar "somebody took my daughter" theme, with a terrible twist at the end.

Now she joins that tragic club of blondes who died in cars: Jayne Mansfield; Grace Kelly; Jean Seberg; Jessica Savitch...

Won Worst Director Razzie and Heche was nominated for Worst Actress losing to The Spice Girls in Spice World.

That’s always been my problem with the Razzies. Too much of it is taking swings at big hitters. Gus Van Sant for Worst Director is a political move but I get it. It is a carbon copy.

Anne Heche did a great job navigating the expectations of an iconic role while also turning in a compelling performance. So many of her scenes are silent, or of her being deceptive in some way, which requires a lot of information to be conveyed with behavior and non-verbal communication.

Was Vince Vaughn nominated? He is the only one in the movie who gives a bad performance. This feels more a shot against the publicity around her and Ellen with more than a hint of late 90’s homophobia.

R60 Jessica who ?

R82 gesundheit!

Vince was not nominated for a Razzie. Those that were that year were : Bruce Willis in Armageddon, Mercury Rising, and The Siege (Winner), Ralph Fiennes in The Avengers, Ryan O'Neal in An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, DL darling Ryan Phillippe in 54, and Adam Sandler in The Waterboy.

That's disgusting R84, Ryan was very good in 54. the way they cut the movie ruined his performance. in the restored version , you can see he gave his everything to the part. He didn't deserve to be on that list of truly ATROCIOUS performances. I had forgotten Fiennes in Avengers; I left after 10 min.

The only things I remember about the remake are the opening shots of Phoenix, Heche's performance, Moore's outfit, and Vincent Vaughn beating off behind the peephole. I didn't remember that last thing being in the original, so I got confused by the shot-by-shot aspect. Or maybe I just imagined Vaughn beating off because I thought he was hot.

Yes he beats off and we get sound effects. Another thing i noticed is that Anne plays Marion as being more excited happy having the money when she is packing than Janet Leigh.

Sorry she's dead, but the no-talent drowned rat Anne Heche was nowhere near as beautiful or full figured as Janet Leigh, and Julianne Moore was too beautiful to play Vera. This remake was a piece of shit.

R87 Janet Leigh ever has ONE expression : STARTLED ("how the fuck am I in the movies ? ")

Janet Leigh was gorgeous and compelling to look at but Anne gave the stronger performance. I’d almost prefer her to Janet if it weren’t for the stupid dated haircut.

I always thought Janet had one of the worst nosejobs in classic Hollywood. She always looked like she was smelling farts.

The original really puts you on edge and filled with anxiety. The scenes with the cop, who never removes his mirrored aviator shades, are as nervous as the scenes with Norman Bates. The remake forces you to look for details that were wrongly done.

The remake's one glaringly wrongly detail is Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates.

Vince Vaughn was just everywhere for a few years. How? Ugly and uninteresting.

Has anyone seen Psycho II? It’s critical fortunes seem to have improved retrospectively.

"Swingers", he and Favereux coasted on that for years. A great film, memorable.

I too watched this film again after Anne's death (but I stopped after her death in the shower scene).

I don't enjoy black & white films as much as I do color ones (b & w just doesn't seem as real or scary to me as I don't live in such a world).

For example when someone is stabbed in a shower, the blood needs to be red & not a greyish "magical land of make believe" color.

There was plenty of bias when this film came out. I think they all gave great performances & seeing the colors of Anne's dress, makeup, purse & car helped make her a "cute little murder victim" which I think the original lacked.

Roger Ebert("It was 1 of the worst films of the year!" LOL) & the other hypocritical critics slammed it for remaking a classic (but so many of them approved of other remade classics).

One beloved classic below was remade 19 more times. I can't think of any critic who got steamed over that fact. Can you guess which one?

To be fair, Roger Ebert was long dead when the Gaga Star is Born came out.

^ I wasn't talking about Gaga in anything R96.

Did you even see the #1 remade Hollywood film of all time in the above post?

Ebert was fairly objective and didn’t get wrapped up in the pretensions of a lot of his fellow critics of the time, which is why his reviews are generally in line with the reputation a movie builds over time. He was the people’s critic for a reason.

He did however dogpile on a movie if he thinks it represented a larger trend. His infamous review of Friday the 13th wasn’t so much about that Friday the 13th as it was the twenty other sleazier, more violent, more hateful that came out at the time every weekend. Friday the 13th was released by Paramount Pictures and he could sense a troubling trend of these movies becoming more legitimized and popular so he dogpiled on that.

The Psycho remake has details that Ebert would otherwise appreciate in another movie but the idea of more classics being unimaginatively reshot were this movie to be popular was probably troubling to him as well, not to mention how it could affect the availability of the originals as well as the authorship of its initial creators. So he dogpiled on this.

Of course Psycho was a huge flop and they never did this again, so it was all for naught. It would’ve been interesting to have seen him revisit the movie and the experiment again before he passed.

I also would’ve loved to have known his opinion on the superhero tent poles.

Marilyn would have been a delicious choice for Marion. It would explain why Norman was so aroused.

The original Psycho was considered to be a shocking and unnecessarily graphic violent film. It is. But it is a masterpiece of story making from an artist who excelled in this medium. The remake was an exercise to film the story in color?

R93 Psycho II is FAR better than it has any right to be.

III sucked IMO

[quote] Marilyn would have been a delicious choice for Marion

(breathy betty-boop-on-helium-voice) "do you...mmm...have any vacancy...?" staring at Norman with saucer eyes . " Oh That's just swell " giggle " .sashaying into the bedroom, shaking the enormous ass " a SANDWICH ???" (ecstatic smile) " That's JUST elegant, thanks" (little girl's laughter)

No thanks.

"I walked into a private trap. But you know I was always end up with the fuzzy end of the lollipop."

Van Sant, Heche and Vaughn sound like morons on the DVD audio commentary.