Watching all Psycho movies back to back, Perkins is noticably thinner and frailer in this movie so it's most likely he was suffering from the affects of AIDS at this time.
sharePoor Tony, and his role as Norman in this film was a lot more smaller than the other Psycho films, mainly because the film focuses on the young Norman Bates (Henry Thomas). Anyway, Tony was still awesome.
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*spoilers*
I felt sad watching the end of the movie when Norman looks back at the House and says "I'm free". Knowing full well Tony Perkins could never really shake the character of Norman Bates and knowing he died of AIDS just gives the ending a poignant feel. The film truly feels like a Swan song.
I felt sad watching the end of the movie when Norman looks back at the House and says "I'm free". Knowing full well Tony Perkins could never really shake the character of Norman Bates and knowing he died of AIDS just gives the ending a poignant feel. The film truly feels like a Swan song.
Yeah, it is kind of sad. He looks markedly older in this, in fact he looks to have aged 10 years in the 4 that had passed since Psycho III. Such a shame his life was cut short coz of that dreadful illness.
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Duty Now For The Future
You guys are overreacting. He would still live for another two years and make another couple of films. He was tall and skinny all his life, obviously when you get older your features become more noticeable. It's true he aged badly, but I don't think he was sick here, he was just old. I wish all these sequels had not been done. They were all bad and tarnished the reputation of the first one. I wish Tony hadn't agreed to this, other than financial what was his gain from playing Norman again in these inferior films?
sharePerkins was suffering from HIV/AIDS since around 86 (I think he was being tested during the filming of Psycho III). There's a couple of articles on Google regarding how he found out via the National Enquirer when they obtained test results for a face lesion he was waiting for. He did however look a bit different from Psycho III in the face which was most likely due to steroids and HIV medications.
When you talk to God its called prayer...when God talks to you it's called schizophrenia...
A lot of his scenes in Psycho IV were extreme close ups, making him look more tired and old than he really was. He was a lot more handsome offscreen than on, but that was because Norman hardly ever smiled, not a natural, genuine smile that in real life made Tony look a lot younger.
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