Anthony Perkins himself got behind the camera for Psycho III, following in the directorial footsteps of Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Franklin (some very large shoes to fill) but who better to tackle the third film in the series than Norman Bates himself?

Psycho III starts off with a powerful scene where a nun screams against the existence of the God that she's had pledged her life to, while teetering at the top of a bell tower. Her fellow sisters beg her to reconsider her suicide attempt but before she can make good of it, one of the other nuns inadvertently falls through a week part of the bell tower to her death below. The nun, who we learn is named Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), is sent out of the convent with only the clothes on her back and her small suit case. She walks through the desert and is eventually picked up by a man named Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey) who is on his way to California to hit it big in the music business. Duane can't keep his hands off the foxy young nun, however, and soon he's scared her off into the desert one more time, the rain pouring down upon her and Maureen near complete mental and physical exhaustion.

Duane finds himself pulling up the Bates Motel to rest for a bit, noticing the ‘help wanted' sign in the window. After a quick chat with Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) he eventually winds up getting a job as his assistant, helping to man the desk during the day and to clean up around the place when time permits. Later that day, Norman heads to the diner up the road (this diner should look familiar to fans of Psycho II) where he used to work to get some food and bring Duke back some burgers. Here he's quizzed by a reporter, Tracey (Roberta Maxwell), about his life. She wants to write an article on mental illness but Norman understandably isn't too keen on talking to her about his past. Maureen ends up walking into the diner and it's here that Norman realizes what a striking resemblance she bears to Marion Crane (Janet Leigh's character from the original Psycho). Soon enough, she winds up staying in cabin one at the Bates Motel, and it's then that we realize that old habits die hard for Norman Bates… maybe his stay in the psychiatric hospital didn't do him as much good as we thought it did in the last film.

Psycho III is a mixed bag and as such it tends to divide fans of the series, but it gets more right than it does wrong. The good aspects? Well, Perkins' direction is solid (especially considering that this was the first time he'd ever directed) and the cinematography in the film is excellent. The movie makes great use of shadow and great use of the neon signs to give it an almost other worldly feeling at times. There are also a few keen twists in the plot that you probably won't see coming but that do make perfect sense in the context of the film and in the context of Norman's history. The script by Charles Edward Pogue, who also co-wrote the Cronenberg adaptation of The Fly, does make for a logical continuation of the events in the first two films (and as such you'll need to see them first to follow this one) and the storyline moves along at a decent pace. It follows that story logically and does a great job of building off of the events that took place in the two movies that came before it.

The relationship that develops between Norman and Maureen, who is in many ways just as messed up as he is, fits well and provides a good backbone to the story. Scarwid's Maureen makes for a pretty sympathetic character and the movie goes in some interesting directions as she wrestles with her religious beliefs and her admitted lust for the pleasures of the flesh. Throwing Fahey, who is in full on sleazeball mode here, into the mix also adds an interesting dynamic, as does the nosey reporter snooping around who just flat out will not give Norman a break. The score is also very good in this film, it helps to build tension and suspense without completely ripping off the iconic music from the first movie.

The bad news is that at times, Perkins seems to be overacting. He chews through the scenery here and there and it's hard not to see Norman Bates as a bit of a cliché in this third film. While he's perfect at seeming awkward and out of place any time that he's interacting with people, he does overdo it here, more so than in the past. The ending also feels rushed and borrows almost a little too much from the first movie, which makes the end result slightly on the predictable side. In the end though, it's a very entertaining movie, even if it's marginal one. The use of black comedy throughout the movie is quite effective, the perfect example being a scene in which the town sheriff chews on some ice out of an icebox that holds a corpse. Some of the kills are pretty gory, and in a lot of ways we've definitely gone into typical slasher movie territory, but Perkins paces things well, offers up a few solid set pieces and winds up delivering a worthy follow up.

Video:

Psycho III arrives on Blu-ray in a 1.85.1 widescreen presentation with AVC encoding in 1080p high definition. Like the transfer for Psycho II, the transfer for Psycho III also looks very good but once again shows some minor crush in a few of the darker scenes. There are also some moments where shadow detail is a bit muddy. Aside from that, however, things shape up quite nicely here. The scenes that take place outside look great and show excellent color reproduction while skin tones always look nice and natural, never too orange or too pink. Black levels are good and once again anytime we go into the Bates' house we notice a lot of quirky detail and texture in the various rooms, particularly when the camera closes in on some of Norman's taxidermy projects. There are no obvious edge enhancement problems or noise reduction issues here and all in all, Shout! Factory deliver a fine transfer.