Psycho (1998 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Psycho is a 1998 film remake of the Alfred Hitchcock 1960 version produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures. Both films are based on the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch, which were in turn inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.
Although this version is in color and features a different cast, it is nearly a shot for shot remake that copies Hitchcock's camera movements and editing. A few changes are introduced to account for advancements in technology since the original film and to make the content more explicit. Murder sequences are also intercut with surreal dream images.
Anne Heche plays Marion Crane, with Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, William H. Macy as Milton Arbogast, Viggo Mortensen as Sam Loomis, and Julianne Moore as Lila Crane. Small roles go to Robert Forster as Dr. Fred Simon, Philip Baker Hall as Sheriff Al Chambers, Anne Haney as Mrs. Eliza Chambers, Rita Wilson as Caroline, and Micheal Balzary (aka Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) as Bob Summerfield. While in the original, Alfred Hitchcock had a cameo as a man in a cowboy hat outside the bank, director Gus Van Sant has a cameo talking to the man in the new version's parallel shot.
The film's soundtrack, Psycho: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, included Danny Elfman's re-recordings of some of Bernard Herrmann's score for the original film, along with a collection of songs in genres from country to drum and bass, connected mainly by titles containing "psycho" or other death or insanity-related words. Many of the songs were recorded specifically for the soundtrack, to the extent that a number of them sample Herrmann's score as well.
