On B List of Movie Reviews
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Bates Motel (1987)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
7/19
7/19:
The Psycho franchise has entered into made-for-TV territory with a radical title change: Bates Motel.
Originally proposed to be the pilot episode for a future TV sitcom, it never took off. That's understandable because there was
nothing to go on with. Who really wants to watch a sleazebag-looking guy running a motel that's turned into an adobe somewhere
in the middle of New Mexico? Nay that, the whole thing begins and ends with Anthony Perkins.
Bud Cort isn't bad and almost makes the whole thing work; he has good acting chops. But as soon as Lori Petty shows up,
down goes Bates Motel. She's too much. Had she been cut out, Bud Cort would be able to finish strong on
the basis of having a well-developed character.
Moses Gunn, I believe, is the first and only black actor to appear in any of
Psycho pictures but doesn't have enough
screen time. Gregg Henry has experience of having done something similar in
Body Double. That being said, I should've
seen the Scooby-Doo twist coming.
What's nice about Bates Motel, which is more of a drama than a horror film, is that it has two successive jump-scare moments
near the end. They remind me of what happened in The Exorcist III. Yet the direction veers off when a long
subplot is shown about why suicide is a bad idea, having nothing to do with Alex or his motel.
All in all, because the main highway was built during the 50's which routed the traffic away, Bates Motel, along with the
Victorian house, should've been demolished once Norman Bates was locked up in the insane asylum.