YMMV / Psycho II

• Awesome Music: The opening theme by Jerry Goldsmith is hauntingly beautiful.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Dr. Raymond is a minor, but faithful ally to Norman Bates. Considering that he's trying to help Norman resume a normal life and derail Lila's Evil Plan to drive him insane again, it's no wonder why this small character somewhat appreciated. By coincidence, he also happens to be the only helpful male character working with Norman.
• Even Better Sequel: Though more than a few viewers may regard it as heresy to suggest that Hitchcock's original classic could ever be surpassed, a fair amount of people hold this opinion while still tending to think very highly of the first film and its place in cinematic history. At the very least, even people who understand the original to be objectively more groundbreaking (being, among other things, a Trope Maker for the later Slasher Film genre that subverted several restrictive Hollywood conventions and pioneered certain tropes, e.g., Decoy Protagonist) may feel more invested in the unexpected twists and turns of the second film's plot when compared to the retrospectively more predictable storyline of the original film (due to Pop-Cultural Osmosis and since overused plot devices). The second film being directed by Hitchcock's protégé Richard Franklin, produced by Hitchcock's long-time collaborator Hilton Green, featuring Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles reprising their original roles, and being very attentive to replicating the atmosphere and details of the first film likely went a long way in creating this sentiment. The film is also arguably extremely well-paced when compared to the more uneven original, despite them having similarly convoluted sets of plot threads to juggle. Also, there's a case to be made for the film being a great companion piece to the first film if watched in black and white.
• Fandom-Specific Plot: Plenty of fans like to reimagine the ending so that Mary and Dr. Raymond survive and Norman doesn't go crazy again.
• Franchise Original Sin: Incorporating Emma Spool's storyline into the series. While it certainly demonstrates the extent of Norman's Mommy Issues and advances the plot of the second film (e.g., providing Norman an alibi for the murders), it arguably helps bog down the plot of the following film as an unnecessary element, and is ignored but not outright retconned in the final installment.
• Funny Moments: After Norman kills Emma Spool, he whistles nonchalantly while closing the windows.
• Heartwarming Moments: Mary comforting Norman.
  • The fact that pretty much the entire town is willing to give Norman a chance to rehabilitate and seem to support him, with only very few being as much as apprehensive. Makes everything that happens really tragic.
• He's Just Hiding: Some fans believe that Mary survived being shot by the police at the end.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Norman's motel is run by a jerkass drug dealer admitting prostitutes, perverts, and drug addicts into rooms. The previous motel manager from Bates Motel was human trafficker who also dealt drugs on the side.
• Jerkass Woobie: Lila Loomis. She's motivated by Norman murdering her sister, so you can understand her personal grief and why she continues to fill the role of the Hero Antagonist to Norman's Villain Protagonist, as well as filling the role of a Well-Intentioned Extremist due to her methods. However, she is downright vindictive towards a person that paid his debt to society and trying to move on with his life, so she is not that sympathetic.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: The sleazy and obnoxious Mr. Toomey is far more of a Hate Sink than Norman Bates, Lila Loomis, or Emma Spool despite the fact that unlike Bates and Spool, Toomey never murdered anybody.
• Money-Making Shot: The shot of a shadowed Norman standing outside his house in the dark as his "mother" watches by the window.
• Narm: Why does "Mother" sound like Daffy Duck at the end?
• Poor Man's Substitute: This sequel's director Richard Franklin can be considered the poor man's Brian De Palma after the latter was asked to direct only to turn down the offer.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The way things ultimately end between Norman and Mary. She'd originally been sent by her mother Lila (Marion's sister) to cause Norman to go insane again after he was released from the mental institution. However, while staying with him and seeing that he wasn't the monster Lila had described him as, she began to genuinely care for him and obviously developed feelings for him. This all ended when Mary found Lila's body in the cellar and believed that Norman killed her (it was actually Norman's crazed aunt, Emma Spool. She attempts to kill Norman while dressed as his mother before being gunned down by the police.
  • The scenes after the final confrontation; Norman doesn't utter a single word as he sits in the police station and then later returns home alone having lost both Dr. Raymond and Mary. He looks so lost and alone when he steps through his front door and into that big empty house. It doesn't help that Tony Perkins' facial expressions really sell just what he's been through.
  • The main theme. It sounds so somber and perfectly fits with Norman's loneliness that he feels in the Bates house after all the years of being away.
• The Woobie: The movie trades heavily on this regarding Norman, given what we already know of his abusive past. We see that he served his time and met the requirements to be released. He so desperately tries to get his life in order and maintain his newfound sanity, but he's being pushed over the edge due to a personal vendetta.

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