Oh, Mother!: Ranking the ‘PSYCHO’ Movies from the Worst to the Best

In 1960 the great Alfred Hitchcock introduced the world to Norman Bates in the movie Psycho (based on the Robert Bloch novel of the same name) and forever changed the way people looked at showers. The movie is an iconic horror film that spawned several sequels, a remake, and a TV series over the years, and it is just as popular now as it was when it was released. Some of the movies in the franchise are great, while some of them leave a lot to be desired for various reasons.

With that in mind, I give you my ranking of the Psycho films from the worst to the best in the franchise.

6. Psycho (1998)

Did the world really need a shot-for-shot remake of the original film (our retro review)? Despite what director Gus Van Sant thought, the short answer is “No.” The 1960 classic still holds up nicely after all these years and is superior in every possible way when compared to this film. The biggest problem is that it is horribly miscast. Did anyone want to see Anne Heche as Marion Crane? Who thought it was a good idea to cast Vince Vaughn as Norman?

Neither one of these actors work in these roles, and the only cast member that is decent is William H. Macy as Arbogast. Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen aren’t horrible in their roles as Lila Crane and Sam Loomis, but at the same time they both seem to be bored and just come off like they’d rather be anywhere else. The other huge issue with the film is that it just wasn’t needed, and nobody really wanted it since the original is perfect and didn’t need to be remade in general.

Without a doubt Van Sant totally and completely laid an egg here and this movie just shouldn’t have happened.

5. Bates Motel (1987)

Oddly enough I enjoyed this made for TV movie when I first saw it back in the summer of 1987 (then again, I was only 12 and didn’t know any better). I rewatched it again recently and within minutes realized how bad it truly was. It’s classified as a horror/comedy, but it isn’t scary or funny and comes off as just plain cheesy more than anything else. Norman Bates isn’t even in it as the filmmakers decided to kill him off offscreen, and instead the main character is a mental patient named Alex who was his roommate in the mental hospital. Alex has inherited the motel from Norman and decides to reopen it and “wackiness” ensues.

Bud Cort (Harold and Maude, Electric Dreams) is dreadful as Alex as he comes off as an annoying dork and Lori Petty (Tank Girl, In the Army Now) is even worse as Willie, Alex’s potential love interest as she is essentially insufferable in every scene that she is in. The comedy bits are forced and unfunny, and there is just nothing about this movie that works in general. It was originally planned to be the pilot of an ongoing TV series, but it was so poorly received that thankfully that didn’t happen. It’s quite bad, but it is just a tiny bit better than the 1998 remake in my opinion.

4. Psycho II (1983)

I’ll probably take a lot of heat for placing this movie so far down on the list as I know a lot of people love it and consider it the best of the series after the first movie, but I could just never really get into it. I saw it at the drive-in with my parents and sister when I was a kid and actually watched it before I saw the first movie, so I didn’t really get it or know who some of the characters were supposed to be. Having grown up on a steady diet of slasher flicks like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and the like I was expecting it to be a full-blown blood fest when I first saw it and was disappointed that it was more character-driven than anything.

I watched it again years later as an adult and while I liked it a little better then I still just didn’t think that it was as good as it could have been. The main reason I never cared for it is because I don’t like the whole convoluted sub-plot that revolves around the possibility that Norma isn’t really Norman’s mother as it just comes off as forced and is unnecessary. I don’t hate the movie and think that it has one of the coolest death scenes in the entire series (the one involving Lila Loomis in the basement), but it is probably my least favorite of all the sequels.

3. Psycho III (1986)

I know that many people consider this film the weakest of the series, but I have always enjoyed it. Norman is a little more brutal this time around, and it has more of a slasher flick feel to it as it has a decent body count and some fun death scenes. Anthony Perkins is great in it as usual as Norman, and I think that Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man, Body Parts) is awesome as the sleaze ball Duane who ends up working at the hotel under Norman.

It pretty much bombed at the box office when it was released, but I have always thought that it was a fun little movie that does a good job of showing us just how messed up Norman really is (plus, it straightens out the whole goofy “Norma may not be his mother” stuff that was started in the previous movie once and for all). I always watch this movie when it is on, and despite what a lot of other people say about it I think that it is a strong installment in the series for a lot of reasons.

2. Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)

I have always dug this made for cable movie and am a little surprised that it didn’t get a theatrical run because it is pretty damn good in my opinion. It is a prequel of sorts as it shows how Norman became the way he became thanks to his mother back in the day, and I have always thought that it was a little underrated and deserved a lot more love than it gets. Henry Thomas (E.T., Gerald’s Game) does an awesome job as young Norman in the flashback scenes, and Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet, Black Christmas) is nothing short of fantastic in these scenes as Norma, and I think that she is the best thing about the movie in my opinion.

I think that it is neat seeing Norman and his mother’s interactions when they were younger as it shows just how demented Norma was and why Norman became the way he did years later as a result. I know a lot of people don’t care for this movie and I’ll admit that the ending seems rushed and is less than satisfying, but it has always held a special place in my heart and is my favorite sequel from the franchise.

And the best movie in the Psycho film series in my opinion is…

Psycho (1960)

I’m sure a lot of people aren’t surprised that the original movie is my favorite. If you ask me, it is a masterpiece and it still holds up very well. It’s ahead of its time in a lot of ways and has one of the most iconic death scenes in the history of cinema that is just absolutely amazing. Hitchcock really outdid himself when he did this movie, and the cast is fantastic. In addition, it has one of the greatest movie reveals of all time, and it is just a flawless movie that set the standard for a lot of other horror films that came along after it. This movie is a classic in every sense of the word, and I love it as much now as I did the first time, I saw it.

There you have it, folks, my ranking of all the movies from the Psycho series. Agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments.