Quentin Tarantino has controversially said that Psycho II is better than the original. He’s right this sequel is so much better than you’d expect and keeps the series quality surprisingly high but the main reason this sequel works so well is because of the first. Audiences bring in all the context and baggage from the first film, and because of that, Psycho II crackles with tension. I should also mention that the film is shot with lighting and costume/set designs that have made it age very gracefully, still looking modern and “classic” even today.
The story of Anthony Perkins career and sad death is filled with disappointment. A brilliant actor, so good, so believable, that his most popular character Norman Bates become synonymous with him to the point of him being typecast and even shunned because of his association with the psychopathic character. It’s a real shame because I believe Perkins had a lot of other great roles in him that he was unfortunately passed up for. But we can take some solace in the fact that we got several performances of Perkins as Norman Bates through the sequels, just showing how great of an actor he was.
Psycho II is much better than it had any right to be, a clever spin on the well-known story of the first, and with a timeless performance from Anthony Perkins.