In Psycho (1960), Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted his opening shot to be a long, complete pan and zoom over the city into Marion's hotel room. Sadly, the technology was not yet perfected, and he achieved his effect through a series of pans and dissolves. The remake does a complete travelling shot, as Hitchcock had intended.
During filming, Gus Van Sant brought along a DVD player and played the original Psycho (1960), and they used this for reference. When he spotted a mistake (a door opening without a key), Van Sant decided to put the same mistake into his film.
Scriptwriter Joseph Stefano felt that even though Anne Heche is saying the same lines that Janet Leigh said, she played Marion Crane completely differently.
When asked why he did a shot-for-shot, full color remake of Psycho (1960), Gus Van Sant replied "So no one else would have to."
Aside from a few modern additions (Lila Crane's headphones and some of the music on the soundtrack), the remake follows the original's story and camera set-ups almost identically.
Gus Van Sant: Speaking to someone looking just like Sir Alfred Hitchcock, in the movie's beginning when Marion Crane enters the office after her lunch break. In Psycho (1960), Hitchcock had a cameo in the same scene.