Bates Motel

I don't know what a lot of these posters are bitchin' about. What the H E double hockey sticks did they expect from a pilot for a TV series? Did they really to see Norman Bates on social security still running around in drag knocking off people in the shower or something of the like? Wouldn't that get boring after an episode or two? With that being said, I thought the creative way they blended the Bates story with some new mystery and a ghost story set a pretty good stage for some decent TV. Guess it was all that closed mindedness and lack of vision from the pubic that stopped that from happening. It's bad too, we could have had another 80s cult show.

As other reviewers have mentioned: This made for TV film is a pilot for a TV series that never materialized nor is this film in any way a part of the "Psycho" franchise. This has become a stand alone "fanboy" type of film - so I've heard.

I DO NOT recommend this film to fans of the "Psycho" film series nor would I recommend this film to fans of comedy films. Watch this film ONLY out of curiosity and do not expect anything near the "Psycho" film series because this is far, far away from them. There are only very loose connections to the "Psycho" franchise.

Several things wrong with this film: It's not funny (I only got a couple of laughs out of it in the beginning), irritating characters, and the story does not make any since at all - the whole "1950s" thing with the ghost saving the woman's life should have been left out of this film - would have been much better with out it.

I got this film via Amazon in the "4-Movie Midnight Marathon Pack: Psychos" - a worthwhile collection even though I am not fond of "Bates Motel"... it's still worth having in a Psycho collection for the sheer novelty of it.

3/10

Many years before the more recent 'Bates Motel' TV series, this television movie was made to cash in on the "Psycho" brand name and try to kick start a series. It's the kind of sequel that both ignores previous entries and fudges with the original mythology a bit. Bud Cort stars as Alex West, who'd been incarcerated at the same mental asylum as Norman. When Norman dies, he leaves the infamous motel & house to Alex. Alex, despite having been in this institution for most of his life, vows to make a go of things, helped by people like Henry Watson (Moses Gunn) and a tough talking young woman named Willie (Lori Petty). While the motel is given a flamboyant makeover, strange & supernatural occurrences take place.

For a while, this is a fairly appealing story (concocted by director / executive producer Richard Rothstein), anchored by Corts' engaging performance, although it wouldn't be for "Psycho" and Hitchcock purists. It threatens to derail upon Petty's introduction into the picture, although after a while it's clear what her purpose is, and the character becomes more tolerable. The part where it REALLY begins to derail is in the final third, where Rothstein and company waste time with a subplot about a depressed "older" woman named Barbara Peters (Kerrie Keane) and her interactions with various youngsters, including one played by a young Jason Bateman. It truly goes to pieces with the hysterical, 'Scooby Doo' type ending. (Followed by Cort breaking the fourth wall just before the end credits roll.)

When you see the makeover that the Bates Motel gets, you'll likely cringe, and realize that progress (a big theme of this tale) isn't always a good thing.

The acting is sincere enough to keep the thing watchable, along with solid performances by such familiar faces as Gunn, Gregg Henry, Robert Picardo, and Lee de Broux. Kurt Paul, who plays Norman here, was a stuntman on the second and third "Psycho" features.

Certainly worth a look for curiosity's sake, but it in no way compares to other entries in this series.

Five out of 10.

I saw this just once on TV years ago. I wish I could find it somewhere on DVD, even if it didn't have extras, just so I could see it again. I can't even find it on tape to transfer to DVD on a borrowed machine.

I liked that it tied up the end of the story of Norman Bates, who died and left it in his will to fellow inmate Alex in the asylum. Would be very nice to have this to add to the entire Psycho movie collection I have.

The performances of the actors was good, especially Bud Cort and Moses Gunn. The hotel itself was recreated beautifully for this, complete with cobwebs, rundown, house, and all sorts of damage you'd expect for an abandoned building that hasn't been occupied in years. You just have to suspend the knowledge that the original house was burned down at the end of the fourth Psycho movie (they never did explain why the house was still standing in this one--did they put the fire out?).

This used to play every Fourth of July on t.v... EVERY Fourth of July! NBC's tagline: This 4th of July...Make it a scream! ( or something like that )

Saw this when it was first produced for NBC back in 1987. After a few reruns on that network it was picked up by Lifetime Cable and is now in Encore Mystery Channel's listings. NOWHERE near a classic but passable "stalker" fare if you have really, really low expectations for homogenized tele-terror.

Ironically, when I went to see Scream 3, I couldn't help but think about The Bates Motel ( And it's been years since I've seen this film! ). The similarities are shocking: Big, creepy manse as catalyst in final third of both films, extended chase scenes on staircases, Mrs. Bates' fright mask of skull and black mack ( nearly a decade before the first Scream ) and the eventual unmasking of the "killer" in both films.

It's probably crazy but I couldn't shake the comparisons. Strange. Also, though the movie was lensed way before Psycho IV: The Beginning, storywise, it easily could've been a fourth sequel.

Tame terror, with bizarre casting, but odd enough to give it a look