5. Psycho 2 (1982)
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) was one of the defining films of its generation, and was quite a milestone in filmmaking. Hitchcock's sheer affinity for suspense and tension made the film a gripping, and unavoidably unnerving experience. However, 22 years later, a sequel was commissioned long from the context of the Hitchcockian thriller. The story shows Norman Bates released from the mental institution as an apparently mentally healthy man. While it certainly seems to be of the same ilk at first, several differences define it as a completely different film from its predecessor. One of the immediate similarities is the return of Anthony Perkins as the incredibly damaged Norman Bates, but that's pretty much it. The inherent problem in Psycho 2's composition is that there's just no suspense. Bates is crazy as we all know, and at the beginning of the film when he claims to be normal, we can guarantee by the end he'll be just as insane as he was before. In addition, Norman is actually the central protagonist now, which is really weird. We're almost meant to empathise with him, regardless of his killing ways. The big clincher is, without a defining mind behind a film like Psycho 2 who knows the ins and outs of the thriller genre, it just falls flat and isn't noticeably linked to the original. The twists aren't clever, they're just moronic and absurd. Not only is the notion that he'd ever be released as a well person ridiculous, it also completely defiles Psycho's original plot. It turns out 'Mother' wasn't 'Mother' after all, she was actually Norman's auntie who adopted him at birth from her sister. Well, isn't that stupid? Oh, and his real mother's insane too! Dandy! Wow, now I feel really sorry for Norman. The series would continue to spiral out of control and tarnish the nature of original with several other sequels that leave the legacy of Psycho mostly buried (until 2013's Bates Motel of course).