PSYCHO II & PSYCHO III Remasters (1 Viewer)

[John KB]

I couldn't find a thread for these. Supposedly they are available Sept. 13th. This week. They are rereleases from Universal Studios.

Anyone interested in these? Any known reviews?

 

[Will K]

I'll be picking them up, if I can find them. Sometimes I have to drive all over creation to find catalog titles. As far as reviews, I've searched and there don't seem to be any.

I cannot wait to replace those old GoodTimes versions.

 

[Scott Temple]

I've only found one review for Psycho II.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=17611

I'm very interested in these. I've been wanting to replace my shitty (open-matte and non-anamorphic) Goodtimes discs for years. My copies shipped (along with 1982's Alone in the Dark) from DVD Empire and I should have them this morning. Extras, of course, would have been nice, but honestly, the 1.85:1 16x9 transfers are all I need.

 

[John KB]

It seems they are going to be hard to find... Future Shop here in Canada don't have them on order... same with Best Buy. Maybe WalMart hopefully.

 

[Scott Temple]

I sure wish we could get a DVD release of Psycho IV: The Beginning. And hopefully that 16x9 edition of Psycho (1960) - in the upcoming Hitchcock Masterpiece Box Set - will eventually be made available individually.

 

[DavidPla]

I live in Canada as well and am hoping to find it. Doesn't seem to be anywhere at the moment.

 

[TravisR]

I found a copy of both today at Best Buy (in the U.S. though).

 

[Michael Elliott]

No source info here but I'd say that all four will be re-released in a year or two as a Legacy set. Just like TREMORS will be getting in a few months.

 

[Haden]

Here's another person anxiously waiting for Psycho 4 to come out on DVD.

Couldn't find Psycho 2 or 3 in stores anywhere today. Guess I'll just order them online.

 

[Bradley-E]

I don't think Universal will do all four in a Franchise Collection. You will never see a F.C. with the JAWS titles either.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Then there's no reason why part 4 wasn't released with these two and the upcoming re-release of PSYCHO. Most fans already own the old PSYCHO and if they want the anamorphic one then they'll have to buy the box set. If they want the sequels they have the option of getting them today. That leaves part 4, which perhaps Universal doesn't think will sell well. In a cheap trick, they can repackage it with a stand alone release of PSYCHO, which will make those who only want the anamorphic release, without the box set, buy all three sequels as well. Us who buy 2 and 3 today will have to rebuy them just to get part 4. Universal recently did this with their Brando titles. They released three on their own over the past couple years and the 4th film was never released except in a box set with the three previously released films.

 

[Will K]

As I predicted, I had to generally look all over Charlotte to find the discs. I finally scored them at Media Play after coming up empty at BBuy, CC, WM, etc. Ridiculous! What is it with finding catalog titles these days???

As far as the discs themselves, I'm generally pleased. It's hardly to believe Psycho II is 23 years old. The movie certainly appears a bit dated now, but this is the best it's ever looked on home video. Not stunning by any means, but sharper and cleaner than older versions. Some shimmering was annoying, but I don't know if that's a problem with the transfer, encoding, or what. Interestingly, the trailer is actually a teaser, entirely different than the full trailer found on the laserdisc.

Psycho III fares a bit better visually, obviously being a slightly younger film. Photographed in an entirely different style than its predecessors, this is a mostly dark and colorful film that translates well to DVD. The image is generally crisp and stable. The trailer appears to be the full, final version trailer instead of the teaser with Norman walking up the stairs with a dinner tray.

 

[Adam Portrais]

Thanks for doing all my looking for me Will. I'll most likely be picking up Psycho II Friday. I didn't even know this was coming out as I was looking for it yesterday. I haven't seen either II or III but thought I'd pick up II when I heard it was featured at QT6 in Austin a few days ago.

 

[Eric DiPiazza]

I found 'em both on my first try at Tower Records. They were $12.99 each. Great to finally have good versions of these two films. Oh, and I too would buy Psycho IV in a second.

 

[Matt Harrison]

I would buy a Psycho IV release. Would be nice to complete the collection indeed.

 

[Kevin M]

Man..23 years..I still remember seeing it in the dollar theaters four or five times on the same day in 83 along with Mother's Day...a buck went a long way back then.....boy I feel old. :frowning:

 

[Scott Temple]

I sent an email to Universal today regarding Psycho IV: The Beginning on DVD. I asked them if Universal had the DVD distribution rights for the film or if some other studio (perhaps Showtime) had the DVD rights. I explained to them that the film has never been available on DVD in Region 1 and that Goodtimes had released a VHS of it sometime in the mid-to-late '90s. I asked if the anamorphic edition of Hitchcock's Psycho would also be available individually or only in the Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection. I also thanked them for the new Psycho II and III DVDs. Here is the reply I received.

 

[Mike<> C]

what are the chances of these being remastered again only in 5.1? Im not a fan at all of doubledipping but Id like to purchase these.

 

[TravisR]

I don't think Universal has that much interest in the Psycho sequels to ever 'bother' re-releasing them as SEs. They're not even releasing Psycho IV as others have mentioned. And it took them 8 years into the DVD format to put out their own version of II and III.

If they wanted to do SEs, they would've done them this time. And as much as I enjoy them, it's not like the Psycho sequels are huge catalog titles for them.

 

[Mike<> C]

so do you think even with hdtv this will be the best of these editions?