Psycho (1998 film)

Psycho is a 1998 film directed by Gus Van Sant and a Shot-for-Shot Remake of the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. It had Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, Anne Heche as Marion Crane, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and Viggo Mortensen.

The film received negative reviews, mostly due to been seen simultaneously as redundant and outdated, as well as the perceived mediocrity of Heche and Vaughn performances compared with the ones of Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins.


 * Adaptational Attractiveness: Inverted. Part of why the original Psycho so effective was because Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates was an attractive, boy next-door-type of man, thus hiding his actual, horrific tendencies and actions. Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, however, looked slimy and sightly disturbed from the beginning, thus spoiling the twist reveal about him as, unlike the original, you can buy him as a psycho at a first sight. Similarly, some critics opined that Anne Heche, while quite attractive, lacked the sexiness of Janet Leigh, making her underwhelming as Marion Crane.
 * Bloodier and Gorier: The film has a little more blood.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: Norman Bates is seen masturbating while peeping on Marion.
 * Setting Update: The film is set in the late 1990s.
 * Shot for Shot Remake: One of the most notable examples.