Directed by: Robert V. Galluzzo
Written by: Robert V. Galluzzo
Cast: Jason Allentoff, Sharen Camille, Mike Cucinotta, Juliette Cummins, Paul Ehlers, Jeff Fahey, Richard Franklin, Robert V. Galluzzo, Lee Garlington, Cynthia Garris, Mick Garris, Michael Gingold, Stuart Gordon, Adam Green, Hilton A. Green
It's a shame The Psycho Legacy didn't come out a couple years ago. True, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Hitchcock's classic, so the timing is perfect. But released on the heels of Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, one can't help but compare the two, and the Psycho documentary comes up lacking.
That should not be the case. After all, Psycho has deeper roots, interwoven into generations of moviegoers since the 60's. One can argue that Freddy might not have appeared on the big screen had Norman Bates not paved the way. But the filmmakers stumble at the start, spending less time discussing the original then each of the following sequels. True, the film offers lots of modern directors and critics talking about their reactions to the film, but any exploration as to why the film had such an impact on cinema is very light. It feels a little lazy - even if the original has already been dissected to the marrow by other documentaries - not to explore the film further. If you're starting with a classic the likes of Psycho, better give it its due.
While the cast and crew interviews become more plentiful as the film travels through the sequels (as to be expected, as many of the cast and crew from the original have passed on), the documentary suffers from the lack of a narrative thread. The interview clips are lumped together in a rather haphazard order, bouncing about in the time frame of each film with no sense of flow. The film needed a voice over narrator to guide us through each movie and put the interviews in a chronological order.
While this scattershot approach is tolerable when discussing the original, it becomes more of a problem when the film moves into the sequels. As those films are not as well known as the original, a plot summery for each would have been a big help. Personally, I intermixed characters and events from the first two sequels into Psycho 2, so it wasn't until the documentary reached Psycho 3 that I knew where the nun had gone. As the filmmakers needn't worry about spoilers (it's a documentary, after all), a plot summary would have reminded viewers on some of the plot points and characters they'd forgotten over time.
The documentary also makes the mistake of ignoring the made for television Bates Motel and the Gus Van Sant re-shoot. These films are part of the Psycho legacy and deserve some commentary. On the same note, the filmmakers barely touch upon the original's impact on the horror genre. Only John Carpenter's Halloween and filmmaker William Castle are mentioned directly. The rest of the movies from the early 60's that tried to cash in on the success of Psycho are brushed aside by a humorous comment, while a more detailed discussion is needed.
The film also contains some major omissions. When the cooling relationship between Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly in Psycho 2 is brought up, Tilly herself never appears on screen and no explanation is given for her absence. Also missing is the debate over who filmed the shower scene, brought up by graphic designer Saul Bass.
The film contains very few clips and photos from any of the films. I imagine Universal was asking a bit too much of a fee (a limitation on most documentaries), a difficulty facing most movie documentaries. But the use of cheesy flash animation sequences doesn't help.
On the plus side, the film contains lots of interesting tidbits. In addition to problems between the main actors in the first sequel, actress Katt Shea reveals her secret to looking like a blue corpse in an icemaker in Psycho 3; apparently director Perkins buried her in real ice for the scene, considering faux ice too unrealistic. Psycho 4 director Mick Garris is very polite when interviewed about his rocky relationship with Perkins, who was not allowed to return to the director's chair after the disappointing box office returns for the third installment. The documentary returns to the old shower scene debate, with one commentator providing a frame-by-frame break down that shows the knife penetrating Marion Crane's torso by a fraction of an inch. The filmmakers needed to include more segments like this one.
The second disc in the set contains some lackluster features, including a rather dull tour of the Bates Motel (Hitchcock did it better in the preview) and a bit on a Psycho website that feels like an infomercial. However, the wonderful question and answer session with Perkins at an unnamed convention is a treasure. Perkins seems to be having a great time as he tells stories covering his 
entire film, television, and stage career. It's great stuff, even if the film is a bit shaky and out of focus at times.
Ultimately, the lack of a cohesive narrative dooms this documentary. The film is little more than a mixed up collection of interview clips that never really tell the story of Psycho and its sequels. True, following the release of what will be considered a classic documentary, the film suffers by comparison. But even if the bar had not been set by the Nightmare documentary, The Psycho Legacy would still come up short.
Rating: (3 out of 5):
