5 Sequels That Came Out 20 Years Later (And Were Actually Worth The Wait)

The Previous Movie: Psycho (1960)

The Belated Sequel: Psycho II (1983)

The Gap: 23 years

Alfred Hitchcock died in 1980. Psycho II was released two years later. That seems pretty opportunistic releasing from the point of view of Universal, although the truth is less disrespectful and whole lot more bizarre.

There had been no real push for a sequel to Psycho in Hitch’s lifetime, and the studio only opted to cash-in on the brand when Robert Bloch wrote a sequel novel that directly targeted the rise of the slasher genre that Psycho was acting as the de facto grandfather of; not wanting his satire (Norman is released, only to discover they’re making a film of his life) to dominate, they got Anthony Perkins back and made a surprisingly effective follow-up.

I’m not going to pretend for a second that Psycho II comes close to the original, and its attempt to top the slasher classic with far too complex killings and a perplexing twist ending seem a bit desperate, but it’s still a pretty solid thriller. The story that’s been cooked up is a cut above the Hollywod Bloch was spearing, with Norman actually rehabilitated and the majority of the killings the work of a copycat trying to get him locked up again.

Two sequels followed, but they had none of Psycho II's effort and the franchise seemed done. That is until modern reboot Bates Motel came along, which rather creepily first aired 23 years after the last film's release.