In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Thursday 3 October 2013

PSYCHO [1998]


Director Gus Van Sant collects together an impressive cast for the near shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classic Psycho.
Being a huge fan of the original film I wanted to hate this film more than I did (and I did for many years) but rewatching it, I found there's a few elements I admire but can't really back up the idea of the whole project.  Van Sant updates a few minor bits to make the story feel a little more modern but the shots, pacing and dialogue all still feel completely outdated feeling like an awkward dream you've had before.  It really is as pointless as you might think but interesting in the sort of way like listening to a faithful yet lesser cover version of your favorite song for nearly 2 hours.

2 newly renovated motels out of 5

3 comments:

Dr Faustus said...

I've enjoyed some of Gus’ films but I've never watched this, and probably never will.

If it was Vertigo they'd remade I'd have twitched to explosive levels.

I was in the book store yesterday and there was a book about the woman that played Janet’s stunt double in the shower scene. Apparently she came to a bad end years later at the hands of some freak obsessed with the film. That was what the blurb on the back cover implied anyhow.

cuckoo said...

I've enjoyed most of Gus' films as well but starting with this film I found his work to be a bunch of pointless, artsy bullshit for about 10 years.

It wasn't until Milk that I thought he found his way again.

She wasn't Leigh's stunt-double (who is alive & well), just her stand-in for checking the lighting during that particular scene (who isn't as alive & well). It's the BBC's fault for people making that mistake over and over.

Dr Faustus said...

Hating on the BBC is like music to my ears. :)