10 Horror Movie Victims Who Were Actually The Villain
5. Norma Bates - Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
The little seen Psycho IV: The Beginning was a project made for Showtime to celebrate the series' 30th anniversary.
The film sees Norman Bates recounting his troubled youth and slide into murder to a radio talk show host.
One of the lingering questions we are left with after viewing Hitchcock's seminal 1960 film is just who was Norma Bates? Who was this woman that had such a hold on her son she became part of him?
Psycho IV answers that question in style with a gloriously unhinged performance by legendary actress Olivia Hussey. Her characterization of Mrs. Bates is fantastic. Hussey nails loving and attentive immediately followed by violent and abusive with chilling ease.
We learn that the mother Norman so adored is actually a very selfish creature using others for her own needs. When she finds a man and freely let's him abuse Norman, as an audience we are in disbelief.
When the time comes for her to meet her slow, poisonous death, it feels justified. Due to the strong writing and Hussey's portrayal it is more than obvious that young Norman was simply pushed too far.
Psycho IV dares to touch on taboo subjects like incest, abusive parenting and sexual confusion. Norma Bates is seen as somewhat of a femme fatale and unquestionably the villain of the piece as well as her son's first murder victim.