I have a serious soft spot for huge, unwieldy franchises. Worlds that live on past five or six films. That have TV spinoffs or canonical book and comic book tie-ins. That just keep going for decades. For one reason or another, these stories have staying power.

But even the most popular franchises have some… oddities that pop up. I’m not talking about the unfortunate sequel or lackluster spinoff that people pretend to forget. I’m talking about the installments that were legitimately forgotten. Films, shows, or books that flew so far under the radar that only diehard fans know about them.

Welcome to Franchise Oddities. 

Almost anyone who’s watched a movie knows about Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. As a classic of the horror genre, it’s hardly a secret. It shocked audiences in 1960, and frankly, it continues to shock today.

From the shower scene with Janet Leigh, to Bernard Hermann’s piercing score, to the Bates Motel sign, to the Bates house on the hill – Psycho is full of imagery that would quickly become iconic.

It also made Anthony Perkins’s career, and it launched a franchise.

The original is one of Hitchcock’s best films, but the franchise it spawned? Well… let’s just say nothing quite measured up to the original.

Many horror fans are aware of Psycho II (1980) and even Psycho III (1986). I have incredibly vivid memories of the phone booth scene from Psycho III; it left a… considerable impression on my 10ish-year-old mind.

Neither of those sequels is particularly good, despite some interesting music and Perkins himself directing the third film. For the most part, they try – and fail – to re-create (and connect) the dots that made Hitchcock’s film so great. An uninspired story, questionable plot twists, and one-dimensional acting (particularly from Jeff Fahey in Psycho III) mar both films.

You’re probably also be aware that Gus Van Sant famously remade the original, shot for shot, in 1998 with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, and a smorgasbord of A-list late 90s talent. Meh.

However, were you aware that Psycho IV: The Beginning came out as a made-for-TV movie in 1990? Airing on Showtime and directed by Mick Garris (who would later direct The Stand miniseries and write the screenplay for Hocus Pocus), the film is a direct sequel to the first three (but it ignores the “twist” about Norman’s mother from Psycho II) – as well as a prequel of sorts – and it finishes Norman’s story.

The film finds Norman Bates once again released from jail but now married and living a seemingly normal life in a suburban McMansion. As Norman prepares dinner (on his birthday) and waits for his wife to come home from work, he calls in to a radio talk show that is discussing the topic of “mother killers.”

The radio host (CCH Pounder) lures Norman along, asking questions and poking the bear to get him to share his history, motivations, and details about his childhood. The film is mostly told through a series of nonlinear flashbacks to Norman’s young life with his mother – both before and after he killed her.

Listen, I’m just gonna say it: Psycho IV is actually pretty good! It’s clearly not on par with Hitchcock’s film, but of the four original films, I’d actually recommend this one. Perkins delivers his best acting of the franchise (aside from the first film), and Henry Thomas is superb as a teenage Norman.

Whereas Psycho II and Psycho III were almost straight-up slasher films, Psycho IV is a psychological thriller that takes its time to explore the mindset of a killer and Norman’s motivations in particular. The viewer also connects with and seemingly understands Norman far more than we do in any of the three previous films, where he is primarily portrayed as a lone weirdo with a penchant for taxidermy and murder.

Here’s the point where we say that, yes, the film treads much of the same ground as Bates Motel, the A&E show that ran for five seasons with Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga. That show is certainly part of the Psycho franchise, but it was critically acclaimed and successful. It’s hardly a franchise oddity.

Fun fact: Psycho IV was filmed at Universal Studios Florida in the summer of 1990 while the park was open. So guests who took the backlot tram tour in the park were occasionally treated to a live movie set with the Bates Motel and house! (Double fun fact: I was at the park that summer and clearly remember the house on the hill. It’s not something you easily forget.)

Psycho IV is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory (along with Psycho II and Psycho III) and is streaming on Starz (available with a subscription on Amazon and Hulu).

I watched all four films, but you don’t need to be that masochistic. Rewatch the original and then check out Psycho IV: The Beginning!