Psycho II (1983) review

Over two decades have passed since the events of the first movie and killer Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) has been supposedly "returned to sanity," so he moves back to his childhood home (right next to the infamous motel that bears his name), works as an assistant cook at a diner, invites his coworker Mary (Meg Tilly) to live with him and then starts getting strange phone calls and creepy notes ... from Mother.  Director Franklin was a huge fan of The Master of Suspense and I don't think he was trying to be disrespectful - it even begins with Hitch's "shower scene" - although much of the "creative decision making" is dubious: they turned Norman into the "victim" here (everyone exists to gaslight him and make him batty) and took a character from the 1960 film, Lila (Vera Miles), and made her one of the villains (in Robert Bloch's novel, she's a decent person).  It's preposterous from a psychological point-of-view, but the final scenes with the bloodshed and the "twist ending" provide cheap thrills.  Look at it this way: at least they didn't do a shot-for-shot remake of the original....