Written by DAVID KEYES

December 4, 1998

Director Gus Van Sant has apparently pulled out all stops to honor Hitchcock’s original 1960 horror classic. Not only has his remake of the movie been rumored to be a direct shot-to-shot remake, but last Friday, during its proposed release, audiences peered into newspapers across the nation and discovered that no reviews of it existed. Yep, Van Sant has apparently ensured his honoring Hitchcock well. Like the master of suspense did with the original "Psycho," Van Sant held his remake from critics by avoiding the advanced test screenings usually needed to complete reviews on the date of nationwide release.

This is a move that could mean one of two things. First, is he merely following in Hitchcock’s footsteps? After all, the original "Psycho" was not allowed to have the advanced test screenings by critics, either. Hitchcock himself made the decision upon completion of the movie. According to various sources, he claimed that the move was to build up anticipation for the movie. After all, critics, some of the time, have a tendency to spoil the movie for the audiences.

Second, is this proposed move to avoid some sort of rejection by critics? The idea of a "Psycho" remake has obviously been a bad idea right from the beginning, and with all the rumors and discussions and debates going around about the proposed shot-by-shot line-by-line remake, it could be a chance for Van Sant to avoid the expected word of mouth from our nation’s critics.

But in weighing down both of the possibilities, the first choice seems to be the more appropriate one. Van Sant himself has said that the remake was not to outdo Hitchcock’s original, but to merely honor him with it. The movie, he explains, was designed to be a shot-by-shot remake in order to come as close to the original as possible, at the same time of making use of some of the new technology. Hitchcock wanted his infamous shower scene to be displayed with some of Janet Leigh’s frontal nudity, but the master of suspense knew that it would never get passed the censors. Today, that shot can be taken advantage of; half of the horror movies nowadays have more frontal nudity in them then anyone of Hitchcock’s time would have expected. In addition to that, Van Sant goes on and tells us about Hitchcock’s urge to shoot the Bates Motel from a helicopter camera. At that time, it, too, was impossible, and according to the director, that shot has been included in the new version.

While even new shots added to an original duplicate of "Psycho" might not settle well with some critics, others are taken the decision rather well. One critic so appropriately noted that an exact remake of the movie is virtually the most unique way to honor our great directors of the past. Yet, Joel Seigel damns the shot-to-shot remake as a ‘bad idea,’ claiming that we now know why the idea of one has never been used.

Critically, the Monday following "Psycho"s release was pretty heavily rejected, despite all the hype of Van Sant’s holding off of the film’s test screenings. Since the movie’s initial release, though, film buffs have projected that a $10-million dollar opening weekend will prove to be a steady boost for the film to earn some money. The remake cost an estimated $20 million. In examining all the bashing that has been given to Van Sant and his crew for this film, it’s likely they won’t be remaking any other movies real soon. Even more, they’ll likely release the advanced test screenings next time.