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Initial Thought: Great another sequel that was thrown on television. That always disappoints me because the flow always feels so much different. Anyways it is said to be better than the previous film. We shall see.
Characters/Acting: Anthony Perkins returns for the final time as the legendary Norman Bates. This is the first film not to have Virginia Gregg as the voice of Norma. We have a few pretty well known new additions with Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey, and CCH Pounder. It is an interesting idea to see how Norma Bates was when she was alive. She kind of reminds me of Carrie White's mother although not quite as insane. It was great to finally see the villain become a hero. I thought that the wife was quite an honorable character.
Story: So this happens to be a prequel/sequel. We get new events where Norman is talking to a radio show host with flashbacks of his younger life with a living Norma Bates. He believes he will kill again because his love is pregnant and doesn't want his baby to be born as another psychopath. I liked that we got the musical score from the original to finally make a return. The whole thing about Norman's childhood was really interesting. I like how he goes about answering questions the audience is wondering too. The ending was quite fitting and yet different.
Directing/Writing: Of course the characters are still based on Robert Bloch. That never changes. Mick Garris once again takes the helm as director of a sequel to a popular movie. He has his ups and downs, but his work is fairly enjoyable. Joseph Stefano returns after writing only the first entry. He completely disregards the other sequels with his own idea. They really made this fourth installment actually quite worthy on it's own. Good on them for including the music and for bringing back Joseph Stefano.
Final Thought: That was a fitting end to the series that shouldn't have even been one. This should have only been one film. They ended up making a pretty solid series to be honest. I thought this was about evenly as good as the third one if not slightly better. There really aren't twists in this one. It does go into the depths of who Norman Bates is and how he became the psycho we all adore (in our own strange ways). I was glad this didn't feel like a made for television movie. I recommend if you start this series don't let this one pass you by.
