Movies
[BD Review] Why Aren’t You Watching ‘Bates Motel,’ Asshole?
Horror fans have had to deal with so many shitty remakes, reboots, and rebarfs over the past decade that it’s almost like a bad joke. Has any other genre had to put up with so much shit? Nope. Miraculously last year, two horror reboots hit the small screen with seriously positive results: Hannibal and Bates Motel. I haven’t caught up with Hannibal yet, but I’ve heard terrific things. Of the two, that show has a less risky premise – being the tale of Hannibal Lector before Manhunter (which is the best Lector film – the Michael Mann one – and you know it).
Bates Motel, on the other hand, has a tremendously sketchy pitch that could have easily gone horribly wrong: the origins of Norman Bates, one of the most iconic characters in movie history. Not only that, but they “modernized” it. Talk about balls…
The creators, writers, and (especially) actors pulled it off though. The first season of Bates Motel is a dramatic marvel that boasts the best female lead in a wicked long time. As Norma Bates, Vera Farminga shockingly depicts the dissolution of a grown woman’s sanity as she provides us subtle insights on how Norman Bates came to be. She’s an insanely talented actress and we should feel honored that she gets to flex her muscles playing the most famous corpse in film history for 42 minutes a week.
Norman is played by Freddie Highmore, who is like a fucking miracle of casting. Seriously. Imagine how hard it must have been to cast not only someone who looks like young Anthony Perkins, but who can also project the psychotic rage and misplaced sexual confusion of the character. Highmore knocks it outta the park. This is the kid who first came into the spotlight by playing guitar like an asshole in August Rush. Now he’s having audiences wonder week to week whether he’ll kill somebody. It’s a tremendous performance from a very young actor who can convey all of the awkwardness of youth while still remaining very dangerous.
Rounding out the cast is Max Thieriot as Norman’s brother Dylan. I initially dismissed him as another pretty boy actor (the worst kind) but this kid has some serious chops. Every single Bates family member started out the series rubbing me the wrong way. Then by episode five I was rooting for them. There hasn’t been a series that did that to me in forever.
The only problem with the first season is the muddiness of the story lines not completely centered on the Bates. The whole infidelity plot about Bradley’s father introduced in one of the last episodes was pretty weak. It’s made out to be a huge deal with the last shot of the season, but it’s TKO-overshadowed by the fact that Norman killed someone on his own. It’s what the whole season has been leading up to, and they do it really well aside from the “who is B?” aspect.
Ultimately, the creators took the right path by taking the Bates mythos and creating their own twisted Pacific northwest drama akin to Twin Peaks. If you haven’t seen this yet, marathon this shit. It’s highbrow drama meets exploitation with acting that’ll kick your teeth in.
A/V
Bates Motel is presented in 1080p HD in 1.78:1 widescreen. For a show with only 10 episodes, there’s a lot to engross yourself in. Split across two discs, the HD really stands out – detail is crisp and clarity is downright perfect. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track is fine. It’s not a particularly strong mix, but it matches the show appropriately.
Special Features
45 minute panel discussion with actors and creators: Carlton Cuse talks about what makes the whole Pacific northwest so interesting and the “alchemy” that occurred on set. The actors talk about their characters and a whole lot more. This is a REALLY good feature for a package lacking in special features. Totally worth a watch if you dig the series.
Deleted Scenes: for several episodes. Nothing really worth a watch.
“Collectible” sketches from Jiao’s notebook. That books Norman finds, now you have postcards of it, you sicko.
This week kicked off with the release of hippo horror movie Hungry at home, and four more horror movies have arrived for at-home viewing as we head into the final weekend of June.
Here are the new horror movies that released on Friday, June 26, 2026!
The Halloween season can no longer be contained to the months of September and October, with “Summerween” becoming a thing in recent years. Essentially, it allows for Halloween to bleed into the warmer Summer months, and the first ever Summerween movie has arrived.
The Asylum released Summerween onto Digital outlets today.
In the film from writer/director Ryan Ebert, “On Summerween, a former circus clown escapes a mental institution to return to his abandoned mansion and hunt the teens partying there.”
Cole Chapleski, Chase Breithoff, Logan Roe, Sophia Sabol, and Clint Morrison star.
Director Ryan Ebert is the man behind a string of recent indie horrors we’ve covered, including Shark Side of the Moon, The Jolly Monkey, Jurassic Reborn, and Predator: Wastelands.
A witchy coming-of-age story from Dark Sky Films, Camp is now playing in select theaters.
Check your local listings to find a theater near you.
Camp is from writer-director Avalon Fast (Honeycomb, The Serpent’s Skin).
“Emily is the root cause of two devastating tragedies very early in her life, and she feels the weight of these accidents as though cursed. At her father’s suggestion, she takes a position at a summer camp for troubled youth to ease her guilt. When Emily arrives, she is welcomed by the other counselors, who accept her as she is and surround her with peace and forgiveness.
“As Emily begins to believe in a new kind of life, she starts to hear a voice whispering from deep in the woods — one that urges her to go home, and one that may be impossible to ignore.”
The film stars Zola Grimmer in her screen debut alongside Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis (Castration Movie Part 1 & 2, In A Violent Nature), Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp (This Too Shall Pass), Sophie Bawks-Smith (Honeycomb), Izza Jarvis, and Aiden Laudersmith.
Producers Tyler Perry and Jason Blum have joined forces for Peacock Original Strung.
The film is now streaming only on Peacock.
“A talented violinist takes a prestigious job as a music tutor for the gifted daughter of an influential and enigmatic family. As she becomes entangled in their opulent world, unsettling secrets begin to surface, forcing her to question her safety, her dreams, and even her sanity.”
Malcolm D. Lee (Scary Movie 5, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directs from a script written by Alan B. McElroy (Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers).
Chloe Bailey (“Swarm“), Lynn Whitfield (Jaws: The Revenge), Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”), Anna Diop (Us), Coco Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx), Langley Kirkwood (“Banshee”), and Romy Woods star in Peacock’s Strung.
Produced by Diablo Cody, director Meredith Alloway’s Forbidden Fruits brought a new coven of witches to the big screen earlier this year, and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”), Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Alexandra Shipp (Tragedy Girls), Gabrielle Union (Breaking In), and Emma Chamberlain star in Forbidden Fruits, released by IFC and Shudder.
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges the group’s ‘girl boss’ ways, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
“Forbidden Fruits grabbed me by the neck the very first time I read it,” Diablo Cody said. “It’s one of the craziest, most creative, beautifully bonkers projects I’ve ever worked on.”
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Forbidden Fruits may not necessarily forge new terrain in the teen satire space, but Alloway brings so much style and energy to her well-cast single-location stage play adaptation for the Gen Z crowd.”
The film is an adaptation of playwright Lily Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin and Through Her We All Die. Alloway and Houghton co-adapted.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by HUNGRY.
All aboard the swamp tour from hell – this hippo isn’t playing games…
HUNGRY is now available on Digital. Watch it now!
You must be logged in to post a comment.