The exact same quote from the original film
What possessed Hollywood into thinking that remaking a classic like Psycho was a good idea? There have been remakes of other Hitchcock films, but normally they were smaller movies like the remake of Rear Window which was a TV-movie or they change the title entirely as was the case with the remake of Dial M for Murder which was remade as A Perfect Murder in 1998. But, nothing could save the travesty that is the Psycho remake.
Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates
Psycho was released on December 4, 1998, directed by Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant, fresh off of directing the Academy Award winning film Good Will Hunting. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore and William H. Macy, we'll touch on the casting in a moment, but before we do that, let's talk about their approach to remaking the film. Gus Van Sant decided that he wanted to make the movie a shot-for-shot remake of the original film. Basically, he was remaking the family exactly just with different actors. I believe he was quoted, when asked why he was remaking the film, something along the lines of "If I didn't make the film, someone else would". After seeing the finished film, I think it would have been better with a different director.
Vince Vaughn & Anne Heche
Now, let's talk about the casting. The casting is, without hesitation, the worst thing about this movie. In the original we got the brilliance of Anthony Perkins playing Norman Bates. So, what amazing actor did they cast.... Vince Vaughn. Like, what? Vince Vaughn was just starting to gain a name for himself in Hollywood. He had yet jumped out as the comedic actor we all know now. Is Vince Vaughn a bad actor? No, not at all. Was he the worst possible choice to play Norman Bates? Yes, yes he was. Vaughn's performance is stale, cardboard and stiff. It's almost like he was just reading the script instead of acting. During the scene in parlor in the back of the office in the motel (which I said is my favorite scene ever, from the original) is absolutely trashed in the remake. Vaughn and Anne Heche's performances are awful. It should be said that Anne Heche isn't a very good actress on her own, so her performance didn't help the film either. Vaughn can't play nervous to save his life. Every time he says one of the classic lines from that scene he either rushes through it, giving it no emotion, or he does this stupid laugh after what he says. Anthony Perkins played nervous so incredibly well, that in comparison no one really can or should play the part of Norman Bates. It was already done perfectly. Leave it alone.
Oh, and I misspoke earlier, it's not a shot for shot remake, because they added in a masturbation moment! Now, when Norman looks through the hole in the wall to watch Marion, now he jerks off too. Thank god someone updated this film for 90s audiences! It was the one missing thing from the entire movie! I understand that having that moment does make Norman a very deplorable person, but it really serves no purpose. I guess it was Gus Van Sant's way of saying, "hey it's not the same movie". Also, they changed the look of the Bates house. Not only that, but they built a facade in front of the original house! They literally had the original house, and they chose to put up a wall so the house now doesn't look too iconic, because now it looks like some random house. And it was done for no reason other than a lame attempt to try and this film their own.
Julianne Moore as Lila Crane
Later Julianne Moore appears playing Lila, Marion's sister and William H. Macy playing Arbogast. Oh, and I totally forgot another unique addition to this film. When Lila and Sam are going up to the Bates Motel in the original film Lila says, "let me get my coat" in the sparkling, shiny new 1998 version of the film Lila says "let me get my Discman" (I think, it might have been Walkman). These tiny additions are so stupid and unnecessary, like the entire movie. The ending is, obviously, no surprise. Oh, but one more tiny addition to the film. Now, when we see Mrs. Bates' corpse, A SPIDER CRAWLS ACROSS HER FACE!! Oh, my god! It's helps make the movie so much better!
The Psycho remake is one of the very few movies that angers me when I think of it. This movie never should have been remade. When a film is remade, it's supposed to be adding something or seeing that they can improve on something. The original Psycho was and still is a masterpiece. There was nothing that needed to be improved, there is no reason for this film to exist. Needless to say the film bombed in the theaters, making just a little over $37 million worldwide on a $60 million budget. Why in the hell did this movie cost $60 million to make?? This is a very basic story that should have been able to be made for far less. My guess is that most of the budget went to getting Gus Van Sant and building an necessary, giant fucking wall to place in front of the original Bates house.
I hate, hate, hate, hate this movie (to quote the late Roger Ebert). When I watch this movie I get madder and madder the longer the movie goes on. Why? Just.... why? I can't think of any other movie, ever, that was just unnecessary as much as the Psycho remake. The acting is awful, the direction belongs to Hitchock and not Van Sant, the casting is nowhere near on point and it's just a bad movie. If you like this that's fine, but I will never understand how anyone can like this movie over the 1960 classic. I guarantee that if Hitchock or Anthony Perkins had been alive when this came out, they would have been very vocal about how unnecessary this film really is.
