I was surprised by how good it was. Very underrated

I was surprised by how good it was. Very underrated

I was not expecting this movie to be as good as it was! Biggest aspect of the movie I love is how the story treats Norman’s rehabilitation into society with grace and plays it very seriously. Norman’s characterization as well as Anthony Perkins’s performance are by far and away the best part of this movie. Even though he was a serial killer, the guy definitely had some serious issues that he needed to work through and you can tell Norman is serious about his rehabilitation. Perkins plays a man haunted by his past and willing to atone perfectly. The community’s rejection of Norman despite his earnest efforts at reform is some so well that I’m willing to look past its negatives, for the most part.
I was interested in how Lila’s role in the story was framed in the beginning of the movie with her being a vocal opponent of Norman being released, but I didn’t care for how she was written to effectively be a spiteful antagonist. I think the idea of the community hatefully rejecting Norman works well conceptually, but having Lila being the driving force behind it does not work well for me. The movie does not try to present her in a sympathetic light and she gets a pretty brutal send off. Honestly, probably would’ve been better off if she was absent from the movie entirely.
Mary Loomis though? I thought she was written quite poorly and lacked any real depth. Her being Lila’s daughter and them working in cahoots with one another just felt like such a harebrained scheme that doesn’t make much sense to me. Specifically, how Mary and Norman just happened to find employment at the same diner after his release. Tilly’s performance fell flat for me too, unfortunately 
I think there are effective twists here, but I still can’t get past how Lila and Mary were written. The connection to the first story feels too forced and the conflict doesn’t feel natural. If Lila was absent and Mary’s character received a major overhaul I think the plot would be much more coherent.
I have lots of thoughts on this movie because I think it’s still great even with all these criticisms. It just could’ve been that much better if the writing was tightened up, but Perkins manages to carry this whole thing on his back which makes for a great character study on Norman. Easily one of the best horror sequels I’ve seen and makes for a solid follow up to the original

I was not expecting this movie to be as good as it was! Biggest aspect of the movie I love is how the story treats Norman’s rehabilitation into society with grace and plays it very seriously. Norman’s characterization as well as Anthony Perkins’s performance are by far and away the best part of this movie. Even though he was a serial killer, the guy definitely had some serious issues that he needed to work through and you can tell Norman is serious about his rehabilitation. Perkins plays a man haunted by his past and willing to atone perfectly. The community’s rejection of Norman despite his earnest efforts at reform is some so well that I’m willing to look past its negatives, for the most part.
I was interested in how Lila’s role in the story was framed in the beginning of the movie with her being a vocal opponent of Norman being released, but I didn’t care for how she was written to effectively be a spiteful antagonist. I think the idea of the community hatefully rejecting Norman works well conceptually, but having Lila being the driving force behind it does not work well for me. The movie does not try to present her in a sympathetic light and she gets a pretty brutal send off. Honestly, probably would’ve been better off if she was absent from the movie entirely.
Mary Loomis though? I thought she was written quite poorly and lacked any real depth. Her being Lila’s daughter and them working in cahoots with one another just felt like such a harebrained scheme that doesn’t make much sense to me. Specifically, how Mary and Norman just happened to find employment at the same diner after his release. Tilly’s performance fell flat for me too, unfortunately 
I think there are effective twists here, but I still can’t get past how Lila and Mary were written. The connection to the first story feels too forced and the conflict doesn’t feel natural. If Lila was absent and Mary’s character received a major overhaul I think the plot would be much more coherent.
I have lots of thoughts on this movie because I think it’s still great even with all these criticisms. It just could’ve been that much better if the writing was tightened up, but Perkins manages to carry this whole thing on his back which makes for a great character study on Norman. Easily one of the best horror sequels I’ve seen and makes for a solid follow up to the original

Anthony Perkins was still perfect in this role. He already added a level of sympathy in the original, and here, he uses that sympathy to create a pretty devastating performance. He's just as good in this movie as in the first film, and he's able to carry so much plot and emotional weight.

The central relationship between Norman and Mary was strong, and the way they handled it, while admittedly a stretch, adds so much emotional depth to this movie. We want to see Norman get better, but everything around him keeps pulling him down. This makes it easily one of the saddest horror movies I've seen.

The composition in this movie added a lot of tension to the movie, with some great angles and lighting to evoke similar feelings to the original film while still doing their own thing.

Ultimately, that's something I appreciated about this movie. While it does the somewhat annoying thing of recalling a previous shot or scene from the original, it uses the base character to tell their own story.

I hope 3 and 4 are just as fun, at least.

Anthony Perkins was still perfect in this role. He already added a level of sympathy in the original, and here, he uses that sympathy to create a pretty devastating performance. He's just as good in this movie as in the first film, and he's able to carry so much plot and emotional weight.

The central relationship between Norman and Mary was strong, and the way they handled it, while admittedly a stretch, adds so much emotional depth to this movie. We want to see Norman get better, but everything around him keeps pulling him down. This makes it easily one of the saddest horror movies I've seen.

The composition in this movie added a lot of tension to the movie, with some great angles and lighting to evoke similar feelings to the original film while still doing their own thing.

Ultimately, that's something I appreciated about this movie. While it does the somewhat annoying thing of recalling a previous shot or scene from the original, it uses the base character to tell their own story.

I hope 3 and 4 are just as fun, at least.

decent

decent

Lila Loomis: Professional Hater

Lila Loomis: Professional Hater