Psycho (1998) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - December 3, 1998]

While I do remember Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho being released, and giving it an emphatic pass, I thought it was a summer release.

Nope, it was lump of cinematic coal dumped into the holiday season for... reasons. While there are those that will defend this 'artistic exercise' as being a scathing statement on, or indictment of, remakes, I doubt I will ever become one of them. I have zero interest in ever watching this.

Psycho III (1986) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - July 2, 1986]

In addition to the underperforming Big Trouble in Little China, a second sequel to Psycho was also released to theaters and drive-ins across the United States on the fourth of July weekend of 1986.

And, just as was the case with the former, this was another that seemed to come and go from theaters before I returned from an overseas visit to my family. Which seems weird, as I saw Maximum Overdrive on its opening weekend, which was a mere two weeks later, while I was visiting friends in Dallas.

That being said, when I did finally get around to seeing Psycho III I found it to be an atmospheric and interesting close to what I have come to consider an unexpected trilogy of films. I also tend to ignore the contradictory nature of the film's final image, as it smacks of being something mandated by the studio so that a Psycho IV could be (and was) made.

Psycho (1960) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - April 16, 1969]

Wednesday, April 16, 1969 saw a re-release of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho hit San Francisco Bay Area theaters and drive-ins. Coupled with this re-release was Strategy of Terror, a film created by editing together a two-parter episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre into a single feature.