2023 sees the 25th anniversary of a slew of memorable horror films, including Gus Van Sant’s notorious remake of Psycho.
We caught up with Gus Van Sant to discuss his take on the Hitchcock classic.
Can you recall when you were approached about doing a Psycho remake?
It came about first in a meeting with Universal Executives. They wanted to meet right after I had made Drugstore Cowboy and they had a few projects to offer me, they also wanted to know what I may want to create. One of the executives was in charge of the Universal Library, which also handled remakes. They suggested there may be an old fifties title I may like to remake. at that time in 1989 there was a fashion of remaking films, say a film noir, but generally they tried re-inventing the ending because the old film noirs were usually dark and depressing.
I suggested a film from their library but in remaking it – to not change the way the director shot the film, andalso to not change the script, because They laughed at the idea of making a film like that. But then about five years later I suggestedit again, and with the attention we were getting with Good Will Hunting, they said they thought it was a good idea.
You have mentioned in previous interviews it was a conscious choice to replicate the style and scenes of the original, was there any pushback from the studio on this?
No they went ahead with the plan.
Was the renaissance of teen horror in the late 1990s, the reason Psycho was remade?
Yes that was in style at the time and Psycho had been remade by people including Anthony Perkins, there was a Psycho II, Psycho III.
You put together a phenomenal cast with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Viggo Mortensen and Julianne Moore, to name a few, what can you recall about the casting process?’
It was relatively ordinary, with casting sessions, a casting director.
What made you decide on Vince Vaughn for Norman Bates, and were there any other actors considered?
There were a few ideas, but I thought Vince could be menacing, so I chose him.
You were remaking one of the most famous horror films of all time, I guess you were ready for the inevitable backlash?
Yes, I was aware that there could be a backlash, but that was part of the experiment, which was to see if remaking a film as close as you could would have an effect. Backlash was thought of as good. But the results were that it wasn’t as frightening as Hitchcock’s film, and I attribute it to the director, me, my DNA, and the different totally immersive style of Hitchcock. Without that, it seemed it couldn’t be reproduced.
Have you ever rewatched your Psycho over the years?
I haven’t recently.
If the film did well, were there any plans to continue the series?
Yes, we had big plans for other ones.
Bloody Flicks 