10 Movie Sequels That Got A Raw Deal

Looking at the back cover of a VHS release of Psycho II, the text reads as though Universal had no confidence in the likelihood you'd want to watch a sequel 23 years after the original film and three years after the death of its director.

The text insists that the script was written by Tom Holland (who would go on to write and direct Fright Night) and directed by "Hitchcock scholar" Richard Franklin, lest we thought the material would fall into lesser hands.

It's enough to make one want to comfort the box with some warm milk and ensure it that Psycho II isn't all bad. It's certainly a marked improvement on Robert Bloch's cheeky novel meant to satirize Hollywood slasher films, which was thrown away in favour of an original script.

Psycho Ii works best when it moves away from Hitchcock's film, placing almost all the responsibility in a cagey, eccentric performance from Anthony Perkins. Perkins would go on to direct the third film and largely claim ownership over the screen character, and its earned here.

While some of the gorier aspects of Psycho II may be unwelcome (though given Hitchcock's late career, it's d to tell where he'd fall on the issue of gore), there is a genuinely curious mystery at the core of Psycho II. While the ultimate resolution is less than satisfying, audiences will certainly enjoy watching different parties try to manipulate Norman Bate's fragile mind.