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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Psycho Legacy (2010)

The Psycho Legacy (2010) (NTSC)

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Released 2-Dec-2015

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary Deleted Scenes
Additional Footage-Extended Interviews
Interviews-Cast-Full panel discussion with Perkins
Featurette-PSYCHO reunion panel
Featurette-A tour of the Bates Motel
Featurette-Revisiting PSYCHO II
Featurette-Shooting PSYCHO II
Featurette-A visit with PSYCHO memorabilia collector Guy Thorpe
Featurette-PSYCHO on the Web
Gallery
Rating ?
Year Of Production 2010
Running Time 96:59
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Robert V. Galluzzo
Studio
Distributor
ViaVision Starring None Given
Case ?
RPI Box Music Jermaine Stegall


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    The production of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been exhaustively documented, with the film having been given a lot of attention for its two-disc special edition DVD release. But each DVD release of the three Psycho sequels has been barebones, with no commentaries or featurettes to shed light on the productions. Thus, Psycho super-fan Robert Galluzzo became determined to fix this oversight, spearheading a documentary that ultimately became The Psycho Legacy. Universal were uninterested in the project, however, leaving Galluzzo to personally finance the project himself, though he was permitted to use stills and footage of all four Psycho movies. It’s not a perfect documentary, nor is it definitive in any way, but one does have to admire Galluzzo’s tenaciousness, securing interviews with a variety of participants to piece together a fascinating documentation of the making of all four films.

    The Psycho Legacy is broken down into four main segments, with each of the four Psycho films being explored in varying degrees of detail. Since the making of Hitchcock’s film has been the subject of a number of documentaries, Galluzzo does not spend a great deal of time on the original Psycho, instead devoting the majority of the feature to uncharted territory. Reportedly, segments were created for 1987’s Bates Motel and the 1998 Psycho remake, but they were excised from the final edit and have disappeared entirely, not even featuring as DVD extras. Even though both productions are terrible by all accounts, it would still be fascinating to get some behind-the-scenes details of both projects, and some retrospective thoughts on them.

    Galluzzo interviews a wide variety of participants, including many of Anthony Perkins’ co-stars, Psycho IV director Mick Garris, and a few Psycho enthusiasts. He also reaches into the vaults, digging up ancient video pieces with Richard Franklin and Anthony Perkins. Heartbreakingly, Franklin was slated to be interviewed in the early stages of the production (the project was announced in 2007), but the Australian filmmaker died before Galluzzo had the chance to get him in front of a camera. That is forgivable given the circumstances, but it is an issue that substantial airtime is given to a number of interviewees with no direct involvement in the films, and several key cast members are MIA. Indeed, it’s a travesty that the likes of Meg Tilly and Roberta Maxwell are not on hand, as they would no doubt have provided more valuable insight. Psycho II cinematographer Dean Cundey does not even feature here, with all of his interview being relegated to a separate DVD extra.

    The Psycho Legacy was released hot on the heels of the mind-bogglingly extensive, four-hour documentary about the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Never Sleep Again. By comparison, this 90-minute Psycho documentary is a bit of a letdown, and it is hampered to an extent by its unmistakably amateurish construction. There is simply not enough visual flair, with the movie wearing its fan-made origins on its sleeve. Furthermore, as stated previously, Galluzzo does use interviews with fans a bit too often. While they occasionally impart interesting trivia, for the most part it’s stuff you can read on Wikipedia on IMDb, and they often discuss their admiration for scenes, characters, or pieces of music. As a result, The Psycho Legacy does often feel like a fan video rather than a definitive behind-the-scenes look.

    Taken as a standalone motion picture, The Psycho Legacy comes up short, though it does have some interesting production anecdotes to impart. For viewers who have seen all four Psycho films, and enjoy at least one or two of them, this documentary is worth seeing for the discussion of the often overlooked sequels.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Since this is a fan-made documentary, and it was produced before high definition video became so prevalent, one cannot expect much from DVD presentation. The Psycho Legacy is presented in...well, it differs - the interviews are full-frame 1.33:1, while film clips are non-anarmorphic 1.85:1, and the quality of the video does vary wildly. Thus, this is an inconsistent transfer, but one assumes most of the drawbacks are attributable to the source.

    The big issue with this release is the ugly interlacing, which presumably comes as a result of the DVD being mastered in NTSC rather than Australian-standard PAL. Some displays might not suffer the problem, but on my computers, my LG 42” HD display, and the other Sony 42” HD TV in the house, the image is riddled with interlacing artefacts that makes it difficult to watch at times.

    This aside, detail and sharpness is mediocre at best, though at least it does look on a par with a standard DVD, and is not VHS quality like 1987’s Bates Motel. Being a digital home-made documentary produced using consumer-standard equipment, the image doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny either, with blockiness and even some moire patterns. Information about the documentary’s technical specs are hard to come by, but one assumes there was only so much that could be done.

    The Psycho Legacy is watchable to a certain extent, more so on a smaller display, but it has dated quite substantially since its initial 2010 release. It’s also disappointing that there are no subtitles at all.


Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Nobody should expect much from The Psycho Legacy on the audio front. It’s encoded with a very basic Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track, which is very paint-by-numbers and humdrum. No surround activity, and the subwoofer is pretty inactive due to the documentary’s nature. Some of the audio fares better than others, with some interviews that sound a bit muffled due to ambient noise in the background. But again, Galluzzo didn’t exactly have a lavish studio in which to conduct his interviews.

    It is what it is.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    Via Vision have ported over all of the supplemental material that was available on the Region 1 Shout! Factory DVD release of The Psycho Legacy. It’s pretty comprehensive, almost making up for how incomplete the documentary feels.

Disc 1

Deleted Scenes (SD)

    A selection of deleted segments. Most of these are actually good value, and it’s a mystery why some scenes were cut. These scenes can be played individually or via a “Play All” function.

Extended Interviews (SD)

    Some interview snippets which did not make the final cut. I found this material mostly worthwhile, particularly Pogue’s idea for a Psycho IV, while Garris’ insight into Psycho IV could be a standalone Psycho IV extra in itself. It’s definitely worth going through these. The interviews can be watched individually, or via a “Play All” function.

Disc 2

Anthony Perkins Q&A (SD; 42:00)

    This is an absolute gem. Sound-bytes and video clips were used from this in the documentary itself, but this is the full thing, and it’s extremely worthwhile. Filmed sometime in the late-‘80s, before Psycho IV, Perkins stands in a crowded room answering questions and talking about aspects of his career. Naturally, the video quality is horrendous, as it was filmed with an ‘80s-era camcorder, and the composition is subpar, but it’s nevertheless easy to hear everything that Perkins says. At a daunting 42 minutes, it’s packed with information, including Perkins’ blunt opinion on the Bates Motel TV movie. Any Psycho fan should be glad to have this on the DVD, and should absolutely set aside the time to watch it.

Psycho Reunion Panel (SD; 6:37)

    A short selection of sound-bytes from a 2008 Psycho reunion panel, set to images presumably taken from said panel. Not much of this stuff is new, but I won’t complain too much.

The Bates Motel Tour (SD; 2:33)

    This was actually a MySpace video (yeah, remember MySpace?). This is much too short and the camerawork is often horrendous, but it’s still a nice recent glimpse of the location.

Revisiting Psycho II (SD; 15:30)

    This is a treat. Galluzzo sits down with writer Tom Holland and editor Andrew London to talk about Psycho II. Galluzzo has a big box of production items, including a copy of the script and a few posters, and his guests recall their memories of the movie’s production, including auditions and the premiere. There’s plenty of worthwhile insight here, making this a no-brainer for fans.

Shooting Psycho II (SD; 19:06)

    Despite the decidedly amateurish presentation (including inconsistent audio and even the interview ostensibly ending at one stage), this extra is one of the real highlights of the set. This is a conversation with Dean Cundey (who is not featured in the Psycho Legacy documentary), the cinematographer on Psycho II. He speaks at length about pre-production and planning, before moving onto actual shooting and his thinking behind several impressive shots. Cundey is a master behind the camera, and it’s a pleasure to hear him speak about his work.

A Visit with Psycho Memorabilia Collector Guy Thorpe (SD; 6:49)

    Galluzzo visits Guy Thorpe, a die-hard Psycho memorabilia collector. His house is full of Psycho-related things, from posters to autographs to a piece of the Psycho house, and even the Mother prop from Psycho II. Thorpe also talks about how he came into possession of a number of the more notable items.

Norman Bates In Print: Robert Bloch Author of Psycho (SD; 12:28)

    Essentially an extension of the documentary, this is a segment dedicated to Robert Bloch, with several interviewees discussing his works and the legacy that he left. It’s particularly interesting to hear about Bloch’s Psycho 2 novel.

Psycho On The Web (SD; 3:44)

    A brief interview with Jay Allentoff, who runs thepsychomovies.com. This is an unexpectedly cool piece, with Allentoff talking about how the site got started, the positive reception it received, and the correspondence he has had with several cast and crew members from the Psycho series.

The Hyaena Gallery Presents Serial-Killer-Inspired Art (SD; 12:00)

    This is a very niche segment to top off the package. Twelve minutes of interviews with artists whose artworks were inspired by serial killers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Psycho Legacy has been released on DVD in the United States by Shout! Factory, and our set is a direct port, with all the same extras. However, the documentary has seen a Blu-ray release over in Germany, flaunting a 1080i video presentation and DTS-HD 5.1 audio tracks in both German and English. Reviews are hard to come by, but reportedly the video is a SD upscale, so it’s probably not worth the import. Draw.

Summary

    The Psycho Legacy is not skilful enough to emerge as anything other than an informative minor extra that compliments the original Psycho, and the 94-minute documentary on the making of the Psycho. The DVD set itself is an essential buy for any Psycho fans, with a wealth of additional interviews and segments, as well as featurettes which serve as an extension of the documentary. It's definitely worthwhile, and it will take some time to chomp through.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Callum Knox (I studied biology)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Review Equipment
DVDPlayStation 4, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 42LW6500. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationLG BH7520TW
SpeakersLG Tall Boy speakers, 5.1 set-up, 180W

Other Reviews NONE