Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Psycho IV: The Beginning 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Arrow's The Psycho Collection 4K.

Psycho would hardly seem on its face(s) to be a property that would be easily "franchise-able", which may be why it took so long for the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's memorable original to come out. One way or the other, though, the four Psycho films aggregated in this handsomely packaged new(ish) set from Arrow have what I personally consider to be some remarkably facile "updates" to a story that is by now so well known that even those who haven't seen the 1960 classic (and I found out after I posted my review of Universal's first Blu-ray release of that film that there were an inordinately huge amount of folks who hadn't) know the "big secret". However, knowledge of that "big secret" arguably partially informs the at least intermittently rather smart attempts at revisiting the inimitable character of Norman Bates in Psycho II and Psycho III, if admittedly that same intelligence may not extend to the made for television Psycho IV.

Shout! Factory released Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1080 many years ago for Region A, and my Psycho IV: The Beginning Blu-ray review of that release should provide ample plot information as well as a listing of supplements on that release and my reaction to its technical presentation.

Psycho IV: The Beginning 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's standalone 1080 presentation. This release does not include a 1080 disc.

Psycho IV: The Beginning is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.78 and 1:33 (for screenshots from the 1.33 version, please see my Psycho IV: The Beginning Blu-ray review. Arrow has included the same booklet for its 4K UHD and 1080 sets, and that booklet includes the following information on the restoration:

Psycho IV; The Beginning is presented in both 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 aspect ratios with stereo 2.0 audio. The original 35mm camera negative was scaneed in 4K resolution by Fotokem. The film was restored in 4K and graded in SDR and HDR10 by Heavenly Movie Corp.

This is another presentation where the 4K UHD version offers some really gorgeous new suffusion and generally excellent detail levels, but where grain resolution may frankly not be as tight looking and generally pleasing as on Arrow's 1080 version of the film. Still, I was rather impressed overall with the organic qualities of this presentation, even if some of the CCH Pounder radio call in sections are almost "littered" with kind of reddish-brown flecks of grain that permeate that deep blue backgrounds. That same quality, albeit arguably with more of a yellow tint, can also attend any number of household scenes with Perkins, especially in some of the extreme close-ups (some of which may be optical zooms) that are employed. Overall, though, the palette definitely is one of the highlights of this 4K UHD presentation, and even "little" pop of color like Mother's blood red lipstick really have considerable new energy in this version. The many low light scenes see a bit of improvement in shadow detail courtesy of HDR, but probably not by any huge amounts.

Psycho IV: The Beginning 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Psycho IV: The Beginning features an LPCM 2.0 track which struck me as being interchangeable with the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the old Shout! 1080 release. The track provides considerable force for the utilization of Bernard Herrmann's iconic string score, as well as Graeme Revell's new music, while also providing capable support for this pretty talky film. Aside from a couple of murder scenes and a final conflagration, a lot of the soundtrack actually doesn't provide much more than dialogue, and this track offers excellent fidelity and decent dynamic range. Optional English subtitles are available.

Psycho IV: The Beginning 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One (Theatrical Aspect Ratio)

• Archival Audio Commentary with director Mick Garris and stars Henry Thomas and Olivia Hussey


• Death by Strings (HD; 18:06) is a well done visual essay by Guy Adams focusing on the scores for the Psycho films.


• The Making of Mother (HD; 27:41) is an archival interview with makeup effects artist Tony Gardner.


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 13:14)


• The Scoring of Psycho IV (HD; 6:11) has some fun candid footage of the scoring session(s). This was seemingly sourced from some pretty shoddy looking videotape.


• Trailers

  Psycho (HD; 6:33)

  
  

  Psycho II (HD; 2:11)

  
  

  Psycho III (HD; 1:23)

  
  

  Bates Motel (HD; 1:03)

  
  

  Psycho IV: The Beginning (HD; 2:14)

  
  

  Psycho (1998) (HD; 1:42)

Disc Two (TV Aspect Ratio)

• Archival Audio Commentary with director Mick Garris and stars Henry Thomas and Olivia Hussey

Psycho IV: The Beginning 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Psycho IV: The Beginning probably wasn't strictly necessary, so to speak, and it certainly never rises to the heights of the first film in particular, but probably not even to the diminishing returns of the second and third. Completists may still want to check it out, and Arrow provides a release with generally solid technical merits and some appealing supplements.