Rainey Dawn As other reviewers have mentioned: This made for TV film is a pilot for a TV series that never materialized nor is this film in any way a part of the "Psycho" franchise. This has become a stand alone "fanboy" type of film - so I've heard.I DO NOT recommend this film to fans of the "Psycho" film series nor would I recommend this film to fans of comedy films. Watch this film ONLY out of curiosity and do not expect anything near the "Psycho" film series because this is far, far away from them. There are only very loose connections to the "Psycho" franchise.Several things wrong with this film: It's not funny (I only got a couple of laughs out of it in the beginning), irritating characters, and the story does not make any since at all - the whole "1950s" thing with the ghost saving the woman's life should have been left out of this film - would have been much better with out it.I got this film via Amazon in the "4-Movie Midnight Marathon Pack: Psychos" - a worthwhile collection even though I am not fond of "Bates Motel"... it's still worth having in a Psycho collection for the sheer novelty of it.3/10

katenalliesmom I don't understand the low ratings for this little gem of a movie. So what if it ignores the psycho sequels and changes up a few things from the original psycho. It's still a great movie. Good acting and a nice little ghost story mystery thrown in. I especially loved Bud Cort as Alex. I am a huge fan of the original Psycho and it's sequels and I think this is a great addition for any psycho fan or even someone who has never seen psycho. It was great revisiting the Bates Motel all covered in cobwebs and neglected. Gave it a nice creepy feeling. I just upgraded to a better copy of this from ioffer (they are also selling it on amazon) and it's a fairly good picture quality. Don't let the bad reviews keep you from giving this movie a try.

Christmas-Reviewer This is a bad TV movie. However what is funny is that it was a pilot for a TV show. I don't know they were thinking. To me if there is no Norman Bates there is no Bates Motel. Instead we get a "Twilight Zone" set at The Bates Motel. That might not sound bad however this movie is bad. The acting from Lori Petty is beyond words. Bud Cort is no Anthony Perkins. The screenplay must of been written by a 12 year old. The direction isn't there at all. Its bad from a to z. This movie should be shown in film schools as the prime example of bad movie making. I can not think of anything worse. If you can let me know. Bates Motel must have made Alfred Hitchcock spinning in a shower drainBates Motel is a 1987 American made-for-television comedy-drama horror film and a spin-off of the Psycho film series produced by Ken Topolsky, written and directed by Richard Rothstein, and starring Bud Cort, Lori Petty, Moses Gunn, Gregg Henry, Jason Bateman, and Kerrie Keane. The film is about Alex West, a mentally disturbed youth who was admitted to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather. There he befriends Norman Bates and ends up inheriting the Bates Motel. It was originally produced as a pilot for a proposed TV series set in the Bates Motel, but it was not picked up by the network. The film ignores the time-line from Psycho II and Psycho III.Alex West (Bud Cort) roomed with Norman Bates (Kurt Paul) at the state lunatic asylum nearly twenty years for killing his abusive stepfather, and they became close friends. After Norman's death, Alex learns that he has inherited the Bates Motel, which has been vacant since Norman's arrest. Alex travels to Norman's California hometown (renamed Fairville for this film; in the original film it was Fairvale) and with a little help from teenage runaway Willy (Lori Petty) and local handyman Henry Watson (Moses Gunn), Alex struggles to re-open the motel for business, until rumors about the place being haunted by the ghost of Norman's mother, Mrs. Bates, are apparently true. Only to find that the haunting was a prank and the ghost was the bank manager, Tom Fuller (Gregg Henry), who refused to give Alex a loan by trying to scare him away. Tom is then forced to help Alex and the others with renovating the motel or face prison for fraud. The motel was soon finished with the renovation.Meanwhile, Barbara Peters (Kerrie Keane) runs away from home and ends up staying in Alex's motel for the night, contemplating suicide for getting older, going through three divorces, and not having children. Barbara meets a teenage girl (Khrystyne Haje), who invites Barbara to dance at an after prom party in the motel with her and her teenage friends, including Tony Scotti (Jason Bateman), though Barbara felt uncomfortable hanging with young kids. It is then revealed that Barbara's real name is Sally, and that the teenage girl is her younger self from an alternate dimension who took her own life and is now trapped in "the other side", along with Tony, and other teens who also committed suicide. Sally tells Barbara that she has a life worth living for, then Sally leaves with the rest of the group. Barbara leaves the motel the next day, planning to live her life to the fullest.Alex looks at the screen telling viewers, "If you ever need a room, come by." "I can't say for sure what you'll find, but it is what makes the world go around."The general idea of the film sounded interesting but it fails to send chills down your spine.

The_Triad Bates Motel is a terrible film. If you are a fan of Psycho and the Psycho series trust me, you are not missing anything.Where to start? The plot centres around a man named Alex who met Norman Bates in a sanitarium, and on Norman's death, is left the Bates Motel in his will. Alex then goes about finding the place, and fixing it up so Bates Motel can live on.Now here's how you know a movie is bad: 1) You go into it with low expectations and it's still awful.2) You take the film on it's own terms, not worrying how it relates to the Psycho franchise and it's still awful.3) You take it in the context that it's a pilot for a sitcom and it's still awful.Bates Motel is more of a comedy than anything else, and while I'm willing to accept (just) that the Psycho franchise can go in this direction, I cannot accept the woeful attempts at humour that are featured in the movie.The acting is terrible and the script woeful, complete with an ending that anyone who has seen an episode of Scooby Doo will guess very early on. This film is so far away from the original Psycho as to be offensive to anyone who treasures the original for the stone cold classic it is.Just please be aware, Bates Motel is rare and hard to get for a reason. It is awful, and stands as the worst film I have ever seen.