More than any film on this list, Psycho II is one that people immediately dismiss as not just unworthy, but terrible. Psycho is an absolute masterpiece and is so ingrained in the cultural psyche that even those whove never seen it can tell you what happened up at the Bates motel. The notion of a sequel is hard to get over and even once you get past that, it doesnt sound great. The plot (Norman Bates is released, only for the killings to start again) sounds ropey, the time gap between the two films is massive (a whopping twenty-two years) and it is clearly a cash in on the popularity rise of slashers (a genre the original was the template for). And yet, there is a lot to enjoy. Shot on the same set as the original with a partially returning cast, the film takes some real gambles, namely that, unlike the voiceover at the end of Psycho suggested, when he is released Norman is actually cured and the murders are all part of plot to turn him insane. Ridiculous? Of course, but no more than Hitch at his most crazy (the constant burying of the corpse in The Trouble with Harry). The plot squeezes out a lot of intrigue and the direction leaves you with a real sense of unease. It does feel the weight of the original the iconic shower scene acts as the film's opening and there is a ridiculous twist on Normans parentage at the end, shoehorned in an attempt to match the first's shock factor and the production values are nowhere near as high but it wins points for being an 80s horror that values plot over gore. Psycho II is unfortunately hampered with its predecessor's legacy, but escapes as an interesting exploration of mental illness and a curio worth checking out. It was followed by two more sequels; the imaginatively named Psycho III (directed by Anthony Perkins himself) and the direct-to-TV Psycho: The Beginning. These were not so good.