1) Psycho (1998)
A lot of declarations are easy to make in hindsight. But was a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s chilling classic Psycho ever a good idea? Was a shot-by-shot replica ever even worth consideration? Gus Van Sant seemed to think so, and when his remake of the iconic 1960 thriller hit cinemas in 1998, it received a somewhat nonplussed reaction from anyone who bothered to go and see it.
During the remake, it’s painfully obvious that Gus Van Sant is aware of the classic he’s remaking. Van Sant is an excellent director, and whilst his admiration for Hitchcock’s classic is evident, it simply demonstrates how his movie is so inferior. 1998’s Psycho never ventures away from the safe territory of Hitchcockian camerawork, bar for a few tentative, nervous strokes that evoke the kind of caution someone takes when tiptoeing into freezing-cold shower.
Vince Vaughn gives it his all as the modern-day Norman Bates, and does have a few creepy moments – but it’s impossible to imitate the twitching, snivelling performance by Anthony Perkins with any kind of real success. An all-star cast that includes Anne Heche as Marion, along with Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortenson, Phillip Baker Hall and William H. Macy offers an empty promise of success. An entirely different movie with this same plethora of performers might have worked wonders, but instead, they’re left to thrash around in a film that’s punching above its weight from the opening reel.
Nevertheless, the Psycho remake does have one thing going for it. It can be shown in Film 101 at Universities all over the world to aspiring filmmakers, teaching them that shot-for-shot remakes are head-bangingly pointless affairs. Just in case they didn’t know already.
