Directed by: Richard Franklin
Starring: Robert Loggia, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly
Other mistake: When Norman and Mary are at the swamp, the sheriff hands him the ashtray they found and bates explains that it belonged to Mr Toomey. Mary say "Who"? and the sheriff explains who he is. This makes no sense as Mary knew full well who Toomey was and had no reason to play dumb.
Suggested correction: She wasn't playing dumb. She says WHO because she didn't hear the name correctly.
Visible crew/equipment: When Dr. Raymond leaves with Mary in his car after talking to Norman, when he drives off the entire crew and equipment can be seen reflected in the side of his car. (00:41:50)
Norman Bates: Just, don't let them take me back to the institution.
Trivia: For the last murder scene, when Norman brains his mother with a shovel in the kitchen (the only murder Norman actually commits in the entire film), his mother turns into a life-size dummy just before the fatal blow. You notice that she inexplicably leans far forward and bows her head (to hide her face for the dummy transition) just before Norman hammers her. This scene took several days to shoot, to get the transition just perfect, and it is the best practical special effect in the movie.
Question: Spoiler alert: this question gives away much of the first "Psycho" movie. In the original Alfred Hitchcock "Psycho" we witness Norman Bates murdering Janet Leigh/Marion Crane and Martin Balsam/Milton Arbogast, and very narrowly missing killing Vera Miles/Lila Crane. At the end of the movie we discover that Norman Bates had murdered his mother and her lover ten years previously. We are also told that he had killed two female guests at Bates Motel. Norman Bates is therefore guilty of six murders and one attempted murder. In Psycho II we find out that, after his crimes were discovered, Norman Bates was placed in a secure psychiatric institution for the criminally insane. This does seem plausible. But with such a criminal record, would he ever be released from incarceration?
Answer: Norman was found "not guilty" by reason of insanity. Therefore, once he is deemed to be no longer a danger to himself, or to others, and is released from the mental institution, there is no crime he can be sent to jail for (i.e. he has no criminal record for the murders). I haven't done enough research to tell you if a serial killer in recent times has ever been found not guilty by reason of insanity and subsequently been released, but there are numerous accounts of people being released from mental institutions after committing murder that are then considered free.
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