Psycho III (1986)

Where Psycho remains a monumental classic, and Psycho II remains an absolutely brilliant sequel, Psycho III is, perhaps inevitably, a bit of simple slasher movie fare. Norman Bates is back, he's still portrayed by Anthony Perkins, and circumstances are once again about to start testing his sanity.

Cleared of any wrongdoing after the events of the previous movie, Norman is trying to live a fairly normal life, running the motel while keeping himself to himself. Unfortunately, some other people won’t let that happen. There’s an opportunistic drifter, Duane (Jeff Fahey), a troubled fallen nun named Maureen (Diana Scarwid), and a reporter, Tracy (Roberta Maxwell), who is curious about whether or not Norman should be viewed as fully rehabilitated and ready to participate in society after his violent past.

As well as returning to his most famous movie role, Perkins also takes on the directing duties for this instalment. He doesn’t do a bad job, helped by his knowledge of the character and the setting, but there’s a feeling throughout that viewers are in the hands of someone not entirely confident in their own abilities.

That might also stem from the script, written by Charles Edward Pogue. Most fun when it leans fully into the sleazier moments and the slasher movie set-pieces, it keeps stumbling when weighed down by the legacy of the movies it is following. The moments most obviously reworking scenes from the first film are the weakest, it’s always a bold move to play around with such iconic imagery, but kudos to both Pogue and Perkins for taking on the assignment.

As for the cast, Perkins is once again wonderful in the main role. Norman has always been a mesmerising mix of vulnerability and danger, and the biggest strength of this film is the way it manages to maintain that mix for most of the runtime. Scarwid and Maxwell both do fine, although the former is much more passive than the latter, but the other highlight is Fahey, portrayed as a con-man who uses his gorgeous good looks to make up for his clumsy attempts at charm. Fahey steals the movie once or twice (one particular moment, featuring his naked form and a pair of lamps, shows both actor and director at their very best), but the script manages to avoid letting him become the focus for too long.

While not as good as the previous two movies in this franchise, Psycho III is worth watching, especially if you like the character of Norman and want to see him in another pickle (to put it mildly). Perkins tries hard to mix more modern sensibilities with the classic suspense that Hitchcock would have supplied, and the macabre humour running throughout is another big plus, but he falls a bit short of delivering something completely satisfying.

6/10

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Silkwood (1983)

Based on a true story, Silkwood is all about a woman who works at a plutonium processing plant. Her name is Karen Silkwood and she starts to make some trouble for the management of the plant when she becomes directly involved with the union and starts doing her damnedest to blow the whistle on the numerous dangerous practices that happen around her and her colleagues every day.

It may not be the most exciting story in the world, and the lead character isn't put across as the most likeable person in the world, but Silkwood certainly has a fine pedigree. The script was written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen and Mike Nichols has the directorial duties. Then there's that wonderful cast. Meryl Streep plays the titular character, though it's not her best performance by a long shot, while Kurt Russell plays her on-off lover and Cher does well as her good friend. If you don't like any of those folks then how about Fred Ward, David Strathairn, Bruce McGill, Ron Silver or Craig T. Nelson? All, in my view, mighty fine actors. Even the people with names you probably won't know, such as Diana Scarwid and Sudie Bond, give very good performances and Bond is involved in one of the most harrowing scenes in the entire movie.

It's the real horror of the material here that raises it up for me, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to score the film above average. The dangers of radiation are very well known nowadays but it wasn't all that long ago when people were being misinformed and basically used up, as is the case here. Management and business owners needed results and that meant exposing employees to some serious potential health risks. Best case scenario = they really weren't aware of just how damaging it could be. Worst case scenario = they knew, they knew all too well and would go to any lengths to keep their dirty little secrets hidden away. Silkwood tends toward the latter scenario but there is some ambiguity in the first half, at least, to avoid making the company villains absolute monsters.

The film, as a whole, just didn't work well enough for me but I know that I won't forget certain moments. The character played by Sudie Bond being hauled off and cleaned down after exposure to radiation is as upsetting a scene as any that I can recall from any genre, made all the more effective by Bond's heartbreaking performance in her supporting role. Surprising as it may seem, I have to suggest that Streep is actually the weakest link here. Perhaps there was only so much she could do with her character as it was written or perhaps, as I suspect, it just so happens that someone else would have been much better for the role. I don't know who that actress would be but I do know that when I think of the likes of Margot Kidder or JoBeth Williams in the lead role I feel more intrigued about what could have been. And those are just two choices off the top of my head.

Do watch the movie to see something powerful and distressing and to see some actors doing great work but don't watch the movie just to see Streep in the main role because you may find yourself disappointed.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silkwood-DVD/dp/B001EJW0SG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354035513&sr=8-1