Psycho III (1986) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this month’s episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron might not check out this time as they discuss Psycho III.

Written by: Charles Edward Pogue 

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, Roberta Maxwell, Hugh Gillin 

Directed by: Anthony Perkins

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

This is Anthony Perkins’ directorial debut. Steve Miner was offered to direct, but he turned it down.

Anthony Perkins’ main inspiration for the style of this film came from the movie Blood Simple (1984), directed by the Coen brothers. Before production began he even took the entire cast and crew to a screening of the film. Composer Carter Burwell worked on both films.

In an interview, Anthony Perkins admitted he was not up to the task of directing this film, feeling his technical knowledge to be too limited. Director of Photography Bruce Surtees said he was surprised that Perkins knew a lot about blocking shots, and didn’t question his judgment after that. It was also Anthony Perkins’s idea to use the unique scene transitions.

Screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue revealed the plot of his original script. In this version, it was Duane who was the killer and had intentionally come to the Bates Motel because he was obsessed with Norman. Maureen was a neurotic psychologist who had come to the motel to replace Dr. Raymond from the previous film — Pogue had intended to cast original victim Janet Leigh in the role. Universal rejected these ideas, arguing that Bates had to be the killer and Leigh was wrong for the film. However, Maureen’s actions remained virtually unchanged, her character was merely changed to a young nun.

The Random Draw for Next Picture:

Next up, we’ll be discussing Fly-By-Night

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