Last Updated on August 2, 2021
Here’s something quite cool for you PSYCHO completists: The original pilot for “Bates Motel,” which aired in 1987 and starred Bud Cort and Lori Petty, has been quietly released by Universal as part of their “Universal Vault Series”. Yes, they’ve dug deep into the vault for this one, and we’re glad they did!
One of the most infamous murder locations in history re-opens under new management in the chilling Bates Motel. To Alex West (Bud Cort), Norman Bates was the father he never had. So after spending 27 years together in the state sanitarium, Alex is finally released, having inherited the Bates estate upon Norman’s passing. Aided by a wisecracking young drifter (Lori Petty), Alex reopens the infamous motel, their guests including a suicidal divorcée, a ’50s gang of eerie teens and the late Mrs. Bates herself. A feature-length TV movie originally broadcast on NBC, Bates Motel is the rarest film in the Psycho legacy…the stuff that screams are made of!
“Bates Motel” was originally supposed to be an anthology series of sorts, but obviously it never took off past this pilot. Still, there’s plenty to chew on here for fans of all things “Bates,” even if this really doesn’t have much to do with the legacy set-up by the Anthony Perkins films.
And if you’re looking anything even close to resembling the current “Bates Motel,” well, you’ve got another thing or two coming…
Co-starring are Gregg Henry, Moses Gunn, Robert Picardo… and Jason Bateman!
Order the DVD right HERE!
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