Psycho IV: The Beginning
Blu-ray
Director: Mick Garris
Screenwriter: Joseph Stefano
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey, CCH Pounder
Distributor: Scream Factory
Rated R | 96 Minutes
Release Date: August 23, 2016

Considered one of the first entries in the slasher film genre, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho introduced audiences to Norman Bates, the disturbed proprietor of the Bates Motel. Played by Anthony Perkins, Norman suffers from dissociative identity disorder, assuming his mother’s personality to escape the guilt he feels for murdering her. Whenever Norman feels attracted to another woman, “Mother” flies into a psychotic rage and kills her. The 1960 film has become one of the most recognizable and influential movies ever; the shower scene, in which Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane is stabbed to death, is the most iconic death captured on celluloid.

While Hitchcock’s original is an unforgettable part of cinematic history, the film’s sequels are rarely talked about with the same esteem.

I don’t know about you, but Psycho IV: The Beginning was never on my radar. The 1990 direct-to-cable TV movie served as a prequel and sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror film Psycho (1960) and saw star Anthony Perkins return as Norman Bates.

Perkins, who starred in and directed the previous film, Psycho III, was skipped over as director for Psycho IV and Universal brought on Mick Garris (Critters 2) instead.

Garris recently did a short commentary on Psycho IV for Trailers From Hell, where he talked about directing veteran actor Anthony Perkins and E.T. star Henry Thomas on the sequel and stepping into the shoes of the master Alfred Hitchcock.

Check out the 3-minute commentary video here below.

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Alfred Hitchcock – The Masterpiece Collection DVD box set for only $50.99 (that’s 58% off the list price of $119.98).

Note, this sale is only for today, Tuesday, October 19, 2010 until midnight PST while supplies last.

This DVD box set comes with 14 classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense films, which starred actors like James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery, and Doris Day: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Family Plot, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Rope, Saboteur, Topaz Torn Curtain, The Trouble with Harry.

Let’s do the math: that’s about $3.64 per movie — that’s an insane deal, and even lower than the last time this item was up for sale. These movies are all great and therefore worth more than just a few bucks each.

The Walt Disney Company is preparing to reinvent one of their own titles. They’ve hired Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski and producer Sean Bailey to develop a new version on 1979’s The Black Hole. Travis Beacham will handle the script writing duties. Beacham doesn’t have a ton of experience, but he was one of the writers on Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans.

The original Black Hole featured many big names for the time including Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, and Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens in voice acting roles. It told the story of a space fleet that discovers a lost ship floating near a black hole (think Event Horizon, but with Disney!). On the ship, they find a scientist who has been missing for twenty years commanding a crew of faceless droids that turn out to be the former crew who tried to form a mutiny. They have received a procedure similar to what we know as a lobotomy in order to ensure their faithful service. The crew attempts to bring the missing team home, but the scientist has no plans to leave or let his servants leave as he plans to enter the black hole and explore where none have explored before.