BATES MOTEL is good for television

BATES MOTEL will either entertain or disappoint. It depends upon what you were looking for in another Psycho movie.

Keep in mind, however, that BATES MOTEL (1987) was produced as a made-for-television thriller/horror movie. Anything televised is under strict FCC regulation. There was no way that BATES MOTEL was going to be any more graphic or explicit as the theatrical sequels of the PSYCHO movies.

Anyone over the age of 40 will recall the Made-For-Television, gothic thriller susense horror movie-of-the-week on ABC/NBC/CBS back in the early to mid 1970s. BATES MOTEL would fit precisely in that genre. You could say BATES MOTEL was already retro when it was televised in 1987.

Understood in that context, you might decide BATES MOTEL was entertaining television fare after all. It was an admirable effort to depict the ongoing story of the Bates Motel, post-Norman Bates.

What audiences perhaps did not fully understand was the weaving of a suspense thriller along with a subplot ghost story. And this is the fault of the show's writers and director. The ending has a quick, Scooby-Do-like resolution of the ghostly MOTHER character, but it was seemingly rushed and not well-developed. The ghost story has a feel-good resolution that supports the ultimate victory of Cort's character, the new owner of the Bates Motel. All-in-all, yes, the storyline could have been organized better, but given the fact it was a television movie with its accompanying lower budget and time schedule, it is still entertaining to trueblue Psycho fans.

Bud Cort's character appears very mixed-up. He alternates between goofiness, charming naivete and innocence to a determined young man of lucid thought and speech. I believe it was the attempt of the screenwriters and the directors to depict the character's rapid emotional and mental maturity development. But it's shaky at best. Still, it for the best that Bud Cort's character does show helplessness throughout and becomes strong enough to deal with the problems and intrigue around the motel.

I don't know about the rest, but I'm willing to overlook BATES MOTEL's shortcomings and give it two stars, certainly worth a look.