| Director | Richard Franklin, Richard Franklin |
|---|---|
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $34.7 million |
Norman Bates is released from a mental institution, despite the protests of Marion Crane's sister Lila Loomis. Against the advice of Dr. Bill Raymond, he moves to his old home behind the Bates Motel and starts working in a diner. A waitress there, Mary Samuels, gets thrown out of her boyfriend Scott's place, and Norman offers for her to stay at his home. He later discovers that the motel's new manager, Warren Toomey, is dealing drugs and fires him.
Norman's assimilation into society appears to go well until he begins receiving phone calls and notes from "Mother." A drunk Toomey picks a fight with Norman, who suspects him of leaving the messages. A figure in a black dress later kills Toomey.
After hearing voices in the house, Norman enters his mother's bedroom to find it exactly as it was twenty-two years before. A sound lures him to the attic, where he is locked in. A female figure later appears in front of Josh and Kim, two teenagers who sneak into the basement; Josh is killed, while Kim escapes. In the attic, Mary finds Norman, who shows her his mother's bedroom, only to find it back to its state of disuse. Norman fears he may have killed Josh, since Mary said the attic door was unlocked when she found him.
That evening, Mary meets with Lila, her mother. The two have been making the phone calls and notes. Mary altered the bedroom and locked Norman in the attic so she could change it back. All of this was an attempt to drive him insane again and have him recommitted. However, Mary's growing friendship with Norman has convinced her he is no longer capable of killing. She suspects someone else is in the house, pointing out that Norman was locked in the attic at the time of Josh's death.
Dr. Raymond discovers that Mary is Lila's daughter and suspects the two women must be harassing Norman. Norman does not buy it, saying the one behind everything must be his "real mother", despite there being no record of him being adopted.
While Lila is retrieving her "Mother" costume from the cellar, a shadowy figure murders her. Meanwhile, the police find Toomey's body. Mary runs to the house to try to convince Norman to flee. He answers the phone and starts speaking to "Mother". Mary listens in; nobody is on the line with him. While Norman debates with "Mother" about her command to kill Mary, she dresses as Mother in a bid to get Norman to "hang up". Dr. Raymond grabs her, thinking he has caught her in the act of trying to drive Norman insane, and Mary accidentally kills him with a knife.
When Norman sees "Mother" standing over Dr. Raymond's corpse, his sanity snaps, and he advances upon Mary. Backing into the fruit cellar, she stumbles upon Lila's body. Assuming Norman is responsible, Mary raises her knife to kill him but is shot dead by the incoming police. In light of an overheard argument between Mary and Lila, Mary's attempt to kill Norman, and her dressing as his mother, the police incorrectly determine that Mary committed all the murders.
Later, Miss Emma Spool, another waitress, visits Norman and reveals that she is his biological mother. Mrs. Bates was her sister (Spool being her maiden name) and adopted Norman as an infant while Emma was institutionalized. Emma was the real murderer, having killed anybody who tried to harm her son. In response, Norman kills her and carries the body to Mother's room. He begins talking to himself in her voice, as the "Mother" personality again takes control of his mind.