"In the grand scheme of things little boys can be giants.........a boys best

                      friend is his mother."

The film begins with local radio presenter, Fran Ambrose, discussing the issue of matricide - and she has a live guest who had just got out on parole after killing his mother. However the next caller, who names himself Ed, says that he had been following the show and felt it had no real insight, and that maybe he could help. He reveals that he has killed before and now he would have to do it again. Whilst the radio station are initially unaware of who exactly Ed is, the viewer is aware from the beginning that it is one Norman Bates - who is also out on parole after killing his mother and a few other women. The beauty of this film is that it switches between the present, the radio show, and Norman (or Ed) describing the past events of his life...and by the end of the film his past has led up to his present, and shaped his future.

We see how Norman murdered his first victim, a young woman, who sneaked into his mothers house and lies waiting in Norman's bed. However Norman's mother doesn't like the intrusion and so 'tells her son to murder the hoar' although we cannot forget that at this time he had already disposed of his mother. We also see him murder his second victim, an older woman, by strangulation - before putting her in the boot of a car and pushing the vehicle into the lake at the Bates Motel. However for me these are the trimmings, the main focus of the film is Norman's relationship with his mother, and the re-enactment of her death. he tells us how his father died at the age of six, and the relationship he had with his mother since that time - it had always been him and his mother - and you will need to watch to assess the bizarre relationship for yourself.

By this time the Doctor on the show is getting suspicious and thinks that it is Norman bates talking - and by this time we know that Norman is now married to a psychologist whom he met during his sentence, and that she has told him some startling news that has driven him to want to kill her. As the past meets the present Norman hangs up and awaits the return of his wife - but not before requesting that she meets him at the Bates Motel. Can he resist the urge to kill again....and will his mother have any influence on his behaviour........

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