"This place ain't no motel..it's a burial ground."What's most interesting about director Richard Rothstein's Bates Motel(..besides the fact that it was actually a proposed television pilot for a series which has something to do with why it's practically impossible to find without the proper resources)is how his script(he also wrote the screenplay)disregards the other sequels, adapting a separate story from the series where Norman never left the asylum, with amiable, lovable geek Bud Cort inheriting the Bates Motel from him because of their close relationship together inside the place. So Bud gets out, heads for Fairvale, procures a loan to renovate, and the Bates Motel is open for business once again. But, of course, such a grand decision hits a snag when an ominous presence maintains around the property. Rothstein's story puts more emphasis on the setting unlike the movies which focused on Norman Bates and the situational developments which surrounded him.There's a lighthearted side to this movie which differs from the darker nature of the series, and you can see how those involved in Bates Motel, the production, wanted to capitalize on the iconic status of Psycho without exploring the sub-textual material which made Norman such an intriguing character. Bud is as innocent and gentle as a lamb, and you never, once, consider him a threat to anyone. We witness how circumstances arise as construction continues(..such as the skeletal remains of Norman's parents, the sinister figure of a lady in black turning up to give Alex the willies)perhaps offering spooky warnings against reopening the Bates.The cast sure is an interesting group assembled. Lori Petty is her usual perky, spunky self, attempting to educate Alex(Cort)on life outside the enclosed environment he once lived. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed her interaction with Cort's Alex, because she has pep and fire and he needs that kind of strength. And, the fact that she has nowhere to go, having lived in the Bates Motel as a squatter, only provides for reason for her to vocally worm her way into his good graces, by forming a wedge between Alex and those which might take advantage of his meager nature. Moses Gunn is an old timer whose house is to be bulldozed over due to progress(..condos and suburban communities), for which Alex seeks as a contractor to help build Bates back into a properly running establishment. Gunn brings a veteran presence that actually helps things along. Gregg Henry also shows up as a bank executive who provides Alex with a loan to build the Bates back to prominence.While I do find the idea of building a continuing story around the Bates house and motel an interesting idea, without it's emotional core, Norman, I'm just not sure it could ever have taken off, despite the noble efforts of the cast to make it work.Introduced towards the end of the pilot movie is aerobics instructor Barbara(..she's introduced by a matchmaker to a young Jason Bateman), a product of three failed marriages, no children, and lost dreams, desiring to be an author, contemplating suicide, renting a room at the Bates, and you can see, conceptually, what Rothstein was up to..the series would have those from all walks of life popping up at the Bates, perhaps seeking new leases on life. Kids, right out of the 50's, show up to rent rooms and party at the Bates, but there's a specific purpose for their presence and it concerns Barbara. This is rather an intrusion into the story-line regarding Alex, but, as I mentioned before, it seems to be here as a method for future potential episodes regarding characters who might stop by the Bates. The final minutes, regarding someone responsible for attempting to spook Alex away from the Bates, is executed rather clumsily. I will say that it was nice seeing this again after all these years..I hadn't seen it since the night it aired!

Bates Motel is a terrible film. If you are a fan of Psycho and the Psycho series trust me, you are not missing anything.Where to start? The plot centres around a man named Alex who met Norman Bates in a sanitarium, and on Norman's death, is left the Bates Motel in his will. Alex then goes about finding the place, and fixing it up so Bates Motel can live on.Now here's how you know a movie is bad: 1) You go into it with low expectations and it's still awful.2) You take the film on it's own terms, not worrying how it relates to the Psycho franchise and it's still awful.3) You take it in the context that it's a pilot for a sitcom and it's still awful.Bates Motel is more of a comedy than anything else, and while I'm willing to accept (just) that the Psycho franchise can go in this direction, I cannot accept the woeful attempts at humour that are featured in the movie.The acting is terrible and the script woeful, complete with an ending that anyone who has seen an episode of Scooby Doo will guess very early on. This film is so far away from the original Psycho as to be offensive to anyone who treasures the original for the stone cold classic it is.Just please be aware, Bates Motel is rare and hard to get for a reason. It is awful, and stands as the worst film I have ever seen.

This was as scary as the first Psycho movie made in 1960, with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin. It was full of suspense. A young guy Bud Cort, took Norman Bates wish, after his death in his will, to have the Bates Motel and Mother's House. The Psychiatrist thought it would be good. He did go and with help from a young girl named Willie and Moses Guinn helped him restore the Bates Motel. The young lad had financial trouble. However this Banker was trying to scare him away from the Bates Motel. Dressing as Norman Bates Mother and telling him scary stuff, about a murder that took place years ago. At the end the Banker got caught with some help from Willie she came in dressed as Mrs. Bates and got a confession. After all the excitement was over Bud got to keep the Motel. Norman Bates house behind the motel, should be made into an attraction for visitors. Make it into a Bed and Breakfast, your not going to get stabbed. It should be on the historical register.

I've been getting bugged for years for copies of this film -- since it hardly ever got played after it bombed on TV back in '87. As a piece of Psycho history, I taped it in '87 and foolishly let people know that I had a copy.... I'm so glad Sci-fi is airing it so I don't have to sit through it anymore. Made as a potential pilot for an anthology series, the movie flopped badly and a show never materialized. Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates himself) boycotted the production. Not that he really needed to, since the public hated it as much as he did....I'd like to say this film is awful. But I can't really say that, since I've seen so much worse. But as an attachment to the Psycho films, it IS awful. It ignores the two sequels that had been made and even makes mistakes based on information from the original. Bud Cort gives a mind-numbingly dumb performance as the friend of Norman's who inherits the motel after his death. You never really have sympathy for him 'cause he just plays it so dumb. Lori Petti, who I usually love, is rather annoying as the squatter that befriends him. She does an okay job with her part, but the problem is that all the main parts were poorly written. We get more than half of the way through the movie, focusing on Cort and Petti trying to get the motel running again, and then we enter the first of the Twilight-Zone-ish stories: a woman who wants to kill herself is befriended by some strange teens. The writing and acting in this segment isn't bad, but after sitting through the Cort/Petti story, it hardly seems worth it. There's really only one creepy segment in the film -- the presence of the woman in black at Mrs. Bates funeral (but the discovery of her corpse is nonsense, since they found her body in the basement in the original film). The whole Jake Bates story seemed like it was jammed in so they could add a few more scares, though the scares fell flat. And the black-and-white segment at the film's climax could have been great -- if they hadn't went the Scooby-Doo unmask-the-villain route -- but as another reviewer wrote, it seemed to be the inspiration for "Scream 3" (which I love, by the way). Though the film is a piece of Psycho history, I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, except maybe fans of the actors -- even then it wouldn't get a strong recommendation....