Quentin Tarantino waking to fansImage by INSTARimages.com
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Shawn S. Lealos
Published 22 minutes ago
Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more.
Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre.
To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapQuentin Tarantino is a very opinionated filmmaker, and he didn't hold back recently when discussing a controversial remake that he likes better than the masterpiece it was based on. Tarantino has made some of cinema's greatest movies over the last 30 years, and he has many influences. However, Alfred Hitchcock is not one of his influences.
While many film fans and scholars consider Alfred Hitchcock one of cinema's best filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino has always said he feels the director was highly overrated. This includes Tarantino dismissing a masterpiece that Tarantino made in the horror genre. Even more shockingly, Tarantino prefers the much-maligned remake.
Quentin Tarantino Prefers Gus Van Sant's Psycho Remake To Hitchcock's Masterpiece
Vince Vaughan as Norman Bates in Psycho remake
Alfred Hitchcock remains one of the most respected directors in cinema history, and in 1960, he directed the horror masterpiece Psycho. The movie tells the story of a motel owner named Norman Bates who kills people who visit his inn. The film received four Oscar nominations, including Best Director, and it received three sequels, a remake, and a TV series.
Most critics have praised the film, and the movie has been emulated by later projects, specifically thanks to the early scene where the leading star, Janet Leigh, was killed early. Hitchcock knew that the early twist was a huge moment, as was the twist at the end with Norman's mother, causing Hitchcock to beg people not to spoil the ending.
Quentin Tarantino admitted in an interview that he wasn't "overly enamored" with Alfred Hitchcock, nor was he with Psycho. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has listened to Tarantino interviews over the years. However, what was surprising was that Tarantino said he preferred the much-maligned Gus Van Sant remake to the original.
Made in 1988, Gus Van Sant directed a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, but in color and with new actors. Vince Vaughn played Norman Bates while Anne Heche played the Janet Leigh role of Marion Crane. Tarantino admitted in interviews that he loves De Palma's Hitchcock-style movies better than Hitchcock's films.
He also passionately defended Gus Van Sant's remake over the original Psycho. The movie was a box office disappointment and received mostly negative reviews, with most critics asking the purpose of a shot-for-shot remake. However, according to Tarantino, "at least Van Sant was trying to do something" with this "experiment."
Quentin Tarantino also put his money where his mouth is and has screened Gus Van Sant's Psycho at his Los Angeles revival house, New Beverly Cinema, more than once.
Quentin Tarantino Even Liked Psycho's Sequels Better Than The Movies
Norman stands outside of the Bates house in Psycho II
Interestingly, Quentin Tarantino also said that he preferred Psycho II to the original movie. According to Tarantino, director Richard Franklin had everything going against him when he made the Psycho sequel because Psycho was "more revered" than it is now. Anthony Perkins was back as Norman Bates, and the script was penned by Tom Holland (Child's Play).
"Hitchcock was definitely more revered than he is now. By the 80s, Hitchcock was treated like some sort of cinematic saint ... So, the idea of remaking or especially sequalizing [a Hitchcock film ], people talked about it like sacrilege."
Tarantino said he disagreed because he was more "enamored" with Richard Franklin than Hitchcock. He even called Franklin the "Australian Hitchcock." Tarantino noted that Franklin made his sequel the "Norman Bates story" rather than just telling the same story again.
Tarantino then said that Anthony Perkins' performance as Norman Bates in Psycho II is not only better than the first movie, but is one of the best horror movie performances of all time. Tarantino said what made it better is that the movie has the viewer rooting for Norman Bates to get better in the end.
Tarantino Explains Why He Doesn't Like Alfred Hitchcock's Movies
Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates staring at the camera in Psycho (1960)
Quentin Tarantino has been very open about his dislike of Alfred Hitchcock movies. He has even said in the past that he doesn't like either North by Northwest or Vertigo, calling both of them "mediocre" films of their eras. He also called Hitchcock's "return film," Frenzy, a "piece of crap."
Once again, Tarantino admits this is his opinion. Still, he remained overly critical of fans who "discover North by Northwest at 22 and think it's wonderful when actually it is a very mediocre movie." The film has a 97% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and it has been added to the National Film Registry for its significance.
Tarantino said that he felt that Hitchcock "was held back by the times that he worked." He went on to say that he doesn't like Hitchcock movies very much because he doesn't like the "third acts of his movies." Tarantino feels that Hitchcock couldn't end his films the way he wanted to, although he admitted this was just his opinion.
Tarantino added that Hitchcock would've made better movies if he had been making them in the 1970s, but was the age he was in the 1950s. Tarantino suggested that Hitchcock was likely held back by the Hays Code, which told him what he could and couldn't do in his movies, limiting him to hinting at things rather than showing them.
Quentin Tarantino said that by the time he could do what he wanted to do in the 1950s, he was too old to really make it work. That said, he also noted that Hitchcock used the Hays Code against them by showing shocking things because he had to do it, and it allowed him to deliver his message more slyly.
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