Saturday, June 11, 2011

Trailer of the Moment: Psycho Series Addendum

After finishing up my retrospective on the Death Wish series, I followed the last review with a post embedding the trailer for each film. So I thought I would do the same for the Psycho series, with a few extra Easter eggs.

Since I already did a post on the famous Alfred Hitchcock hosted original trailer a few years ago (link) I will instead focus this on the sequels and remake.

Psycho II Teaser Trailer

"It's 22 years later, and Norman Bates is coming home"



Much like the film itself, the trailer for the first Psycho sequel opens with the shower scene from the original film before the Bates Motel segues from black and white to color, and the poster art of Psycho II is recreated with Anthony Perkins walking up the stairs to his childhood home.

And who is that narrating? Why none other than our good pal Percy Rodrigues!

Psycho II Full Length Theatrical Trailer

"...and he's back in business"



This is the longer, more typical "compilation of greatest hits scenes" trailer for Richard Franklin's 1983 film.

Anthony Perkins interview circa 1983



Here's part one of a five part interview (follow the link for the other parts) with Anthony Perkins while he was promoting Psycho II. In this section he reveals he was in New York on a stage during the shooting of the original film's shower scene.

Psycho III Theatrical Trailer

"But mother's off her rocker again"



This trailer for the Anthony Perkins directed second sequel is pretty much half teaser (with extra footage shot for it) and half typical trailer with scenes from the film. The narrator here is a famous voice (whose name I am not aware) but has none of the gravitas of Mr. Rodrigues!

"Scream of Love" Music Video with introduction from Anthony Perkins



Here we have a music video for Carter Burwell's sax heavy pop song featuring the theme from Psycho III. Shot on the same locations as Psycho III and featuring a Diane Scarwid look-a-like and Perkins himself, as well as footage from the original and 1986 sequel, pay attention to the thin narrative which concludes with an Inception like dream within a dream finale.

Introduced from the MTV studio (back when MTV, you know, showed music video) by Anthony Perkins sporting a gold lame tie, fashionably tucked into his shirt. Rock on, Tony!

Psycho IV: The Beginning Trailer

"How did it all start?"



Since Psycho IV premiered on Showtime, it never had a theatrical trailer, but here's the preview that was placed on VHS tapes by Universal.

Psycho 1998 trailer

"Discover the world of Norman Bates"



And we conclude with the trailer for Gus Van Sant's infamous remake which is full of little lame music video type effects like the film burning and bubbling. Was anyone reminded of the drug PSA featuring the cracked egg after the first two tags "This is the Face of Norman Bates" and "This is the Mind of Norman Bates"? Personally, I was waiting for the final tag to be: "any questions?"

Well that's all for the Psycho series, I have plans for my next two series retrospective, one a low budget exploitation series (of which I've never seen any of the three films) and the other a highly successful but much maligned comedy series. Considering it took about a year for me to complete this, please don't hold your breath.

If you want to read my specific review for any of the film in the Psycho series, below are easy links to those:

Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock) (an appreciation)
Psycho II (1983, Richard Franklin)
Psycho III (1986, Anthony Perkins)
Bates Motel (1987, Richard Rothstein)
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990, Mick Garris)
Psycho (remake) (1998, Gus Van Sant)

3 comments:

le0pard13 said...

Very cool, Colonel. My fave of the sequels remains the first (though I missed IV). Good you highlighted the underrated Percy Rodrigues. A very good actor and voice artist -- I can't hear his narration without recalling his unforgettable work for The Exorcist trailer. Thanks for the associated links, too.

Mummbles said...

Thanks for sharing these ones and doing a good write up on the entire Psycho series!

Rittesora said...

Great post, thanks for sharing it.

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