By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho (1960) is easily in my top five films of all time. Movies that attempt to pay homage or copy Hitchcock’s original are a mixed bag. For example, the God-awful remake or Happy Birthday to Me (1981) fail on every possible level. Others, like Graduation Day (1981) and the Friday the 13th franchise have been successful. They were able to tell their own story yet managed to smoothly pay homage to Psycho.
Insane (2010) is a Sweden release that isn’t at all subtle in the fact that they are utilizing much of Psycho’s plot to make their own film. The title should be a hint to any fan of horror. Surprisingly, this movie was really interesting and was able to capture a bit of the magic Psycho had. Usually, when a movie blatantly takes from a classic, I hate it. This was the exception to the rule. In fact, this could have been released as a revision and I would support it far more than I did with the Gus Van Sant’s production.
This film opens with a girl being murdered by a man in a gas mask at a hotel. Later, the hotel manager David (Lars Bethke)welcomes Sarah (Johanna Leamo) a single young woman who though finds David odd, reveals to him that she’s sending a picture to her sister Jenny (Alida Morberg) who is a good girl. She tells him that Jenny who has a devoted boyfriend John (David Lenneman) looks at her way of life as being a bad girl.
When David walks Sarah to her room, he kisses her. She backs away and makes it clear she wants no part of him. He apologizes but she isn’t impressed. Sarah quickly meets her fate with the man in the gas mask.
Later, Jenny comes to the hotel to search for Sarah. She asks David if he’s seen her, and he lies saying he never has. She has no reason to disbelieve him, and takes a room in the empty hotel. David puts on the charm and sets up a candlelight dinner. When John shows up and harshly questions David about the romantic atmosphere, he quickly and shyly says he didn’t have any idea that Jenny was in a relationship. John doesn’t buy it and is somewhat of a jerk to David.
During Jenny and John’s search, we find out more about David’s past. Via disturbing flashbacks, we find out that his mother was a horrible person. As I don’t want to reveal spoilers, I will stop there and allow the viewer to watch the conclusion themselves.
I was surprised about how well this movie captured the intent of Psycho but also made the story their own. Though no one will ever touch Anthony Perkins performance, Lars Bethke was the perfect choice for David. He was reserved when he needed to be. He portrayed a sensitive, misunderstood, sympathetic and awkward man magnificently. If not for him, I don’t believe this film would have made the impact it did. He is a fantastic actor and I hope to see him in more films in the future.
Overall, I suggest people seek this one out. It’s nowhere as good as Psycho but it may be the best film to properly pay homage to it. It’s on Amazon Prime for free for those who have Amazon memberships.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
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