Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28290 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-31
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Numerous critics had already sharpened their knives even before Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot colour "re-creation" of the 1960 black-and-white Hitchcock classic was released, chiding the Good Will Hunting director for defiling hallowed ground. But this intriguing cinematic curiosity is hardly as sacrilegious as critics would lead you to believe. If anything, Van Sant doesn't take enough liberties with his almost slavish devotion to the material, now updated with modern references. At times, you wish Van Sant would cut loose with a little spontaneity, a little energy, a little something. Unfortunately, when he does venture outside Hitchcock's parameters--with inserted shots of storm clouds during the murder sequences, for example--it's to little effect. Granted, he liberally splashes colour throughout the film (especially in the case of the infamous shower scene), and this is a great-looking movie, but in his obsession with adding a new physical dimension to the film, there's little insight into these characters that Hitchcock hadn't already provided. Vince Vaughn, a robotic and giggly Norman, doesn't crawl under your skin the way boy-next-door Anthony Perkins did, and Anne Heche is admirable if not very sympathetic in the Janet Leigh role. Van Sant does score a minor coup, though, in his casting of the supporting roles: Julianne Moore provides a welcome shot of energy as Heche's irritable and curious sister, William H. Macy is a perfect small-time detective, Viggo Mortensen is studly enough to make you understand why Heche would want to run away with him, and James LeGros walks away with his one brief scene as a used car salesman. Danny Elfman's gorgeous rerecording of Bernard Herrmann's score is a potent supporting character unto itself. Students and fans of the original film will get a kick out of the modern revisions, but don't expect anything of Hitchcockian calibre; watch it for the sum of its intriguing parts, but not the whole. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 9
German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English\Dolby Digital Surround German
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital Surround
Directors Commentary
Documentary
Screen Savers
Animation Menu
Production Notes
Filmographies
Theatrical Trailer
Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\German\Hebrew\Hindi\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Swedish

Synopsis
A remake of director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller about a young woman, who, while on the run after stealing $40,000 from her boss, is brutally murdered in the shower of a motel she is staying in one night. As police investigate her disappearance, we learn more about the motel's psychotic owner, Norman Bates. Director Gus Van Zant's film is a shot-for-shot remake of the original.

Customer Reviews

Terrible!
This pitiful remake of the amazing Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, "Psycho" isn't a patch on the original. Everything about this film is bad, the magic of the 60s classic just isn't there and i'm sure Hitchcock wouldn't approve.
Do yourself a favour, avoid this bad remake and buy the original, far more superior and entertaining in every way!

a stylish remake for the 90s
why remake a classic ? everyone asks,some slate it,some hate it,but you have to hand it to director gus van sant,hes pulled it off. hes updated the script & even the house! that was brave! the actors are for a 90s psycho,vince vaughan as norman bates & anne heche as marion crane are spot on ! i cant fault it,but die hard hitchcock fans will not approve.
the re-recorded score by danny (batman,tales from the crypt)elfman is in
fantastic stereo at last,a fitting tribute to bernard hermann. the ironic thing is that most of the generation of people interviewed for the extras
on this disc have never heard of psycho let alone alfred hitchcock !
personally i think this movie has found another generation of fans since then.the original is a classic but on a hd ready television & surround sound dvd system this is so close to the original id choose the remake !

A SCENE BY SCENE REMAKE
Desperate to get away, secretary Marion Crane, (Anne Heche) goes away for the weekend with several thousand dollars in stolen money and flees into the Arizona desert. When a driving thunderstorm forces her to stop off at a roadside motel run by Norman Bates, (Vince Vaughn) and his abusive, never-seen Mother, she begins to get uncomfortable around him and eventually decides to head in early. When she mysteriously disappears from the motel a day later, her sister Lila Crane, (Julianne Moore) and boyfriend Sam Loomis, (Viggo Mortensen) go looking for her. Hearing that she had stopped off at the motel and disappeared, they arrive hoping to get some answers. When they do some snooping and finally get some answers, they struggle to believe what they find and gt away alive.

The Good News: This is a severely underrated film. The cinematography is so gorgeous and so sparse in that we see so little that the suspense is just dripping off the screen. One of the absolute best examples of this is the death of the detective. As he calmly walks up a set of stairs to investigate strange noises, we see a door open ever so slightly on the balcony, unseen. He reaches the top of the stairs, and then the killer walks out and repeatedly stabs him, which causes him to fall down the stairs. This is so special in that the way that he falls is so creepy because he falls in such a supernatural way that it just sticks out in your mind. This also adds in several more stabs and more blood to the scene, making it just that much more violent than it was remembered and sticks out just fine. The shower scene in here is just as great as before, keeping the same style as before but giving it an extra dose with some much-needed blood and gore in the shot that still packs a punch. Even the motel where they're staying is like that. The dark interiors, the weird stuffed animals along the walls, and the secrecy that surrounds it is remarkable that most of the time we are wondering the secrets behind it. The relationship between Norman and his mother, especially when he is talking with Marion about her, the very first time we know of her, is one of the creepiest scenes ever filmed. You can tell that the way he's saying things and how he's saying them, you know something is off, and yet he keeps an air of respectability that lends itself perfectly to his character. The most radical changes made are to bring out something much more overtly sexual in the material. We get a brief side glimpse when the first victim as she undresses for the shower and a brief rear shot as she keels over dead. There are sounds of panting from neighboring rooms on the soundtrack in the motel room tryst that opens the film and the client with the stolen money is more overtly flirtatious. The visit to Norman's room shows a stash of pornography, yet the most radical change is having Norman clearly heard to be masturbating as he peeps at her undressing in the shower. This is nicely sleazy and sets up the scene even more than before. The ending revelation is a little more creepy and intense and does work just as well as before, especially as the decrepitness of it comes across a little more clearly. All in all, this isn't a useless film as has so often been criticized.

The Bad News: There isn't all that much in here that is actually wrong. The addition of color really works against the film. It bleeds out all of the stark, atmospheric effectiveness the original had. The depiction of ordinary Arizona desert landscape here lacks any of the same alienating effectiveness that the black-and-white photography lent to the original. Similarly so the black-and-white made low angle shots up on Norman Bates framed by his stuffed birds seem to eerily foreshadow something sinister, but the color robs the shots of any atmosphere. Without black-and-white, the house up on the hill loses some of its looming, foreboding Gothic ominousness. Another big stumbling block is it's constant ability to take the viewer out of the film with obscure phrases and sayings. While it's set in the present, much of the dialog sounds out of place considering its antiquated vocabulary and delivery. As it is mostly left intact from the original, to keep many of that era's euphemisms and habits in the modern time period is hugely distracting, especially when it does manage to update the events a little. It bounces back-and-forth on numerous occasions, making it all the more obvious when it's done. The other big problem is that, at times, the pacing is off, which is a problem from the first one. There's no need for there to be untold minutes here worrying about cleaning up the dirty room or the distraction in the shack. They take a while to get going, and this really could've taken several scenes out without doing any harm to the film. Otherwise, this one wasn't as bad as it really could've been.

The Final Verdict: As most of what's been said about it is that it desecrates a classic, look at it objectively and it's still a good update of a great film. Ignore there's been a first one and you just might find yourself enjoying it, and the curious are also advised to take a look, but if you can't forgive what's been done, then there's no use seeing this one anyway.