Prequel to Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ brings murder, mystery to A&E network
“Bates Motel” is a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film “Psycho,” set in the present day. Oscar-nominated actress Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”) plays Norma Bates, the loving but controlling mother of Norman, played by 21-year-old Freddie Highmore (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). Both are perfectly cast and serve as the TV show’s strongest assets.
Farmiga has not been featured in many films or television shows, but she is one of the finest actresses working today. She brilliantly plays the multiple layers of her character: the normal single mother, the wounded woman with deep secrets and mental problems and the seductress with serious issues with the opposite sex. She pulls the audience and her son into believing everything she does is for the good of the family.
Highmore is also magnificent. With his tall, pencil-thin body and large, piercing eyes, he embodies Anthony Perkins, the actor who played Norman in “Psycho,” more than any dialogue could, though his nervous, uncertain mannerisms and shy, sometimes stuttering, voice carry the dialogue, too.
Farmiga and Highmore make each other better. They have real chemistry, and it creates tension whenever they are on screen together.
The television show doesn’t follow the backstory in the film to the letter, but that’s for the best. “Psycho” is an excellent work and it should be trod with great care or not at all. Gus Van Sant trampled all over Hitchcock’s film with a pointless shot-by-shot remake in color.
“Bates Motel” has already been picked up for a second season, and, if it remains popular enough, it will likely get to the point where it goes into the events of the film. It should be viewed as a companion piece to the film, not a remake. Nobody can improve on Hitchcock’s masterpiece.
The series began with Norman’s father dying suddenly, and — cue the “six months later” title card — his mother moving her son to White Pine Bay, Ore. She buys a hotel and the iconic, foreboding mansion behind the building. The equally iconic butcher knife gets some good use in the very first episode.
When the hotel’s former owner breaks into the house and starts to rape Norma, Norman comes in and knocks him out. At this point, and not in self-defense, Norma stabs him in the chest repeatedly. Since the Bates just moved into town, and they don’t want to besmirch their business with a violent scandal, Mother Bates decides to dump the body into the harbor. Obviaously, this leads to trouble.
The show has superior acting and lush cinematography, but it also has some tonal issues. There are numerous moments in the series that produce what seem to be unintentional laughs. Norman is overly close to his parent; viewers could play a drinking game while watching the show by taking a swig every time he calls her “Mother.” If viewers know the ending of the original film, and with the series set in the present day, the frequent use of “Mother” is good for some giggles. There are some howlers, too. When Norman informs Norma of the police finding their murder victim’s hand in the harbor, she replies, “Don’t go there. You’re panicking. It’s just a hand. It could be a million different hands.” Oh, right. It’s normal to go fishing and find an old boot, a license plate and a severed hand.
The show’s camp isn’t necessarily bad, but it does make it funny when, possibly, it isn’t trying to be. Overall, “Bates Motel” is a solid show worth checking out. You might find the show so addictive that, like Janet Leigh, you might not check out.