Bates Motel (1987) | Richard Rothstein

The events of 1987’s Bates Motel take place 27 years after schizophrenic serial killer Norman Bates is arrested and found guilty by reason of insanity for his crimes.  While in the institution, Norman is introduced to a troubled young boy named Alex West (Bud Cort), who murdered his abusive stepfather in a giant tumble dryer […]

Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) | Mick Garris

Psycho IV: The Beginning is the fourth and final film in Universal’s Psycho franchise, and the last to portray Anthony Perkins in his most famous of roles.  It’s the first of the series not to be released theatrically, debuting on the premium cable channel Showtime in 1990.  This film is a sequel in theory, as it does take […]

Psycho III (1986) | Anthony Perkins

The events of Psycho III take place not long after Psycho II, as Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), still the sole caretaker of the Bates Motel, ends up hiring a temporary new assistant in the wily rogue musician who goes by the name of Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey). He also has a new patron staying in cabin #1, a […]

Psycho (1960) | Alfred Hitchcock

Janet Leigh starts off the film as Marion Crane, a clerk in a real estate office engaged in a romantic fling with Sam Loomis (John Gavin), the manager of a hardware store in Phoenix, Arizona.  When she’s given the task of depositing $40,000 in cash into the bank, Marion impulsively decides to keep it, and […]

Motel Hell (1980) | Kevin Connor

Motel Hell follows the exploits of Farmer Vincent Smith (Rory Calhoun), who has three basic jobs: farmer, motel owner, and purveyor of the best straight-from-the-farm smoked meat products sold in the country. He and his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) set up road accidents to abduct injured passers-by along the two-lane highway near their motel (it’s called […]