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AWESOME-tober-fest 2019: Fangoria Scream Greats – Norman Bates

Posted in AWESOME-tober-fest, Blog Series, Fangoria, Halloween, holiday, magazine, movies, Norman Bates, pop culture, Psycho with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2019, Fangoria, Halloween, magazine, movies, pop culture on October 28, 2019 by Paxton

It’s Scream Greats Monday! And, it’s the final week of AWESOME-tober-fest 2019! We did it again, this year guys. The home stretch. I really hope you’ve enjoyed yourself thus far, but the festivities are not over yet! We’ve got four more days to go. And today we are looking at another Fangoria Scream Greats poster!

This week’s Scream Greats entry is a good one of Anthony Perkins on the set of Psycho II. It comes from Fangoria #78 (1988). If you haven’t seen it, Psycho II is a pretty good followup to the first Psycho. Not to be confused with Robert Bloch’s Psycho sequel novel, also confusingly called Psycho II. Bloch’s Psycho II is a pretty great little thriller tale on its own that is surprisingly meta for having been written in 1982. I’d recommend it. But the movie Psycho II is a more traditional sequel and is also a pretty good movie sequel considering it’s the followup to one of the greatest thrillers of all time.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake (1998)

Posted in Alfred Hitchock, movies, Norman Bates, pop culture, Psycho, reviews with tags Alfred Hitchcock, AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Halloween, holiday, movies, Norman Bates, Psycho, reviews on October 5, 2012 by Paxton

In 1998, Gus Van Sant set out to film a remake of Hitchcock’s classsic, Psycho. Van Sant used a shooting script from the original movie which included notes from Hitchcock himself.

Psycho remake

I saw this remake when it hit video for the first time. Being a huge fan of the original, of course, I was set to not like it from the beginning. Honestly, at the time, I didn’t hate it, it just felt superfluous. Like why even bother? So I filed it away and really never thought of it again.

So now that I’ve decided to have this Psycho week, I decided to rewatch this remake (as well as the original). I still feel the same. Even more so after watching this right after the original. Why bother, Van Sant? It’s so close to the original there is literally NO NEED to watch this movie. Sure, Julianne Moore tries to bring a little different to the Crane sister character and Vince Vaughn definitely plays Bates a little different, but not enough to warrant watching this. Anne Heche does NOTHING different with Marion Crane which makes her performance even less. You not only get nothing new out of this you are also watching an almost literal copy of the dialogue and scenes from the 1960 original. SO WHY NOT JUST WATCH THE ORIGINAL?

Like I said, I don’t hate this remake. It just makes me sad. It has to be one of the most useless movies ever made. When Van Sant was asked why he did it, he just said that he did it so no one else would have to. NO ONE ELSE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF DOING IT, DUDE. He must have been high off his big 1997 hit Good Will Hunting and thought he was invincible. Apparently not.

Here’s the trailer:

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Movie Maniac Monster Party

Posted in Alfred Hitchock, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Vorhees, movies, Norman Bates, pop culture, Psycho with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Fangoria, Freddy Krueger, Halloween, holiday, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, magazine, movies, Norman Bates on October 1, 2012 by Paxton

And we are off. Today is day one of AWESOME-tober-fest! Each week of this month will belong to a different movie maniac. This first week my focus will be Norman Bates. Next week will be Jason Vorhees followed by Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and finally Michael Myers. There may be some mix-and-match in these upcoming weeks, but the majority of each week will feature one of the maniacs. So, let’s begin this week, with a mix-and-match.

Here is an awesome full page comic strip starring all of the movie maniacs. It comes from Fangoria magazine #68, 1987. Click the image to see it BIGGER on Flickr.

I also found a print from Deviant Art showcasing a party at the Bates Motel also featuring all of our movie maniacs. It’s called Bates Motel Psycho Party and was done by frankenstylin.

(Via DeviantArt)