Psycho II is a 1983 American psychological slasher film directed by Richard Franklin, written by Tom Holland, and starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Robert Loggia, and Meg Tilly.

Dr. Raymond grabs her, thinking he has caught her in the act of trying to drive Norman insane, and Mary accidentally kills him with a knife.

Assuming Norman is responsible, Mary raises her knife to kill him but is shot dead by the incoming police.

In 1982, author Robert Bloch published his novel Psycho II, which satirized Hollywood slasher films.

[6] Australian director Richard Franklin, who was Hitchcock's student[7][8] and even visited him on the set of Topaz,[9] was hired to direct Psycho II on the basis of his earlier Hitchcock-inspired thrillers Patrick and Roadgames.

[12] Anthony Perkins initially turned down the offer to reprise the role of Norman Bates, but after he read the script, he agreed to do the film.

[7] Vera Miles also returned as Marion's sister Lila, but John Gavin was unavailable to reprise his role as Sam Loomis after being appointed U.S.

[16] Several props and set pieces from the original film were found by set designers John W. Corso and Julie Fletcher, including two Tiffany lamps, the stuffed owl and raven, the brass hands seen in Mrs. Bates's bedroom, the bedroom fireplace, the Victorian bed and armoire, and the 40-foot-long threadbare runner for the staircase.

[10] The exterior of the house featured in the original film was relocated to a different section of the Universal Studios lot for the production.

[10] The town of Fairvale (seen when Lila Loomis is tailed by Dr. Raymond) is actually Courthouse Square, which is probably best known for its appearance in Back to the Future (1985), located on the Universal Studios backlot.

[citation needed] The final shot of Norman standing in front of the house was used as a Christmas card for various crew members.

[citation needed] When Universal presented concept art for the one sheet film poster, director Franklin was not pleased with it.

[citation needed] It was editor Andrew London who came up with the idea of using the Christmas card photo as the film poster and also came up with the tagline: It's 22 years later and Norman Bates is coming home.

[citation needed] Reflecting on the shoot, Franklin recalled Perkins as being "very generous" on-set, and praised Miles as a "powerhouse" and "one of the most forceful" actors he had worked with.

[19] Goldsmith had written a theme for Norman Bates that was rejected but used for the second segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie.

In an interview with Josh Korngut at Dread Central, screenwriter Tom Holland confirmed that Universal initially intended to release the film directly to cable, but decided upon a full theatrical release after the production secured the return of actor Anthony Perkins.

[23] Gary Arnold, writing for The Washington Post, was less laudatory, referring to the film as "a travesty masquerading as a sequel...if Franklin had any respect for the source material, he might feel a little protective and avoid outrages as conceptually, as well as literally, nasty as the treatment of Vera Miles' character.

Psycho II transforms her once sympathetic, heroic supporting role into a hateful bit part and then kills her off with a revoltingly obscene flourish.

The wittiest dark joke is that the entire world wants Norman to be mad, and 'normality' can only be restored if he's got a mummified mother in the window and is ready to kill again".

The site's critics consensus states: "Although it can't hold a cleaver to the classic original, Psycho II succeeds well enough on its own merits to satisfy horror fans.

[31] When asked his thoughts in 2015, writer Tom Holland replied: "We should have called it something other than Psycho, because it had no more than a passing resemblance to the original.

The initial release came in 1999 when Universal Pictures leased the film out to GoodTimes Home Video in a 1.33:1 open matte transfer.