Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece "Psycho" became a horror film template for all time and scores of imitations, good and bad, have done nothing to diminish it's impact. There was some consternation when director Gus Van Sant announced he would remake the Hitchcock classic shot-for-shot, and it was little surprise when it was released in December 1998 to scathing reviews and little fanfare, earning $37.1 million on a budget of $60 million. Gus Van Sant seemed to forget that a shot-by-shot remake will offer little surprises, and this remake does not disappoint. For those who don't know the story, secretary Marion Crane (Anne Heche) is given $400,000 in cash by her employer Mr. Lowery (Rance Howard) to drop off at the bank for a wealthy client (Chad Everett). Instead she brings the money home, packs her bags, and leaves town intending to start a new life with her boyfriend Sam (Viggo Mortensen) who can't marry her at the moment as he's head over heels in debt. After exchanging cars at a dealership with a suspicious car dealer (James LeGros) she stops off at the Bates Motel to spend the night. The lonely, attentive proprietor Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn) seems to take a liking to her, bringing her dinner from his old house overlooking the motel. They talk in the motel parlor after Norman has an angry exchange with his mother, and Marion realizes that she'd rather not be trapped in her scenario like Norman is trapped in his dreary existence at the motel. She decides to return home in the morning and return the money, but first decides to take a shower before turning in for the night. She is murdered in the shower by what appears to be a demented old woman, and Norman is horrified upon discovering the body. He dutifully disposes of Marion's body and her car in the swamp behind the motel, thinking that will be the end of it. But private investigator Milton Arbogast (William H. Macy) traces Marion to the Bates Motel after being sent after the money by Mr. Lowery. He calls Sam and Marion's sister Lila (Julianne Moore) informing them that Marion was at the motel and that he's going back there to talk to Norman again, as he thinks Norman's story is a bit shifty. When he doesn't return, they go to the motel intending to question Norman and his mother about Marion and Arbogast's whereabouts...
I'll preserve the final secret for the few who don't know it, but there is no comparison between this and the original film. It is nearly shot-for-shot with some minor tweaking in terms of technology that have evolved in the thirty-eight years between movies, like the stolen money is now $400,000 instead of $40,000. There are some curious and unecessary changes such as Norman masturbating while observing Marion through a peephole and some dreamlike images intercut with the murder scenes. There are some minor dialogue changes and additions. The famous Bernard Herrmann music score is used again (some things are sacred) although in an adapted form. Director Van Sant replicates the Hitchcock cameo in the beginning of the film, although I hope that that was an homage and that he wasn't comparing himself to the late director. The blood in the shower scene was digitally added later, as the chocolate sauce Hitchcock used wouldn't wash well in color. That's another issue. The effectiveness and timelessness of black and white can't obviously be replicated in color. It's too bad that all of Van Sant's effort resulted in a critically scorned failure, but this was a project that nobody should have - or needed to - undertake.