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.
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.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
30 Aug 2004
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:
Scary and fun, it's as worthy a sequel as one might reasonably expect.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
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:
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.