After years of treatment at a mental institution for the criminally insane, serial killer Norman Bates is finally released. Deciding to move back into his long-dead mother's infamous old house, he soon finds himself tormented by 'her' demands and begins to question his own sanity.
Director Richard Franklin deftly keeps the suspense and tension on high while dolling out dozens of shock-of-recognitions shots drawn from the audience's familiarity with Psycho.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
20 Oct 2008
rotten:
Though far from a worthy successor to the original (but why make impossible demands?) the film clearly could have been much worse.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
20 Oct 2008
fresh:
Scary and fun, it's as worthy a sequel as one might reasonably expect.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
It is a craftsman-like piece of filmmaking with a suitably flaky performance by Perkins, but it isn't really a sequel to Psycho. It continues the story, but not the spell.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
That it's about as chilly a movie as ever delighted the mass market is beside the point, in view of its exuberantly macabre craftsmanship.