It’s Marketing, Mother

The Times reports how disappointing “Psycho’s” opening weekend was (“Reaction Tepid to ‘Psycho,’ ” by Richard Natale, Dec. 7). A mere $10.5 million. But when “John Carpenter’s Vampires” brought in about the same amount, and was No. 1 of that particular box-office weekend, it was called a hit.

I’m getting sick of everybody making a big deal about this movie. Where was everybody when they were cranking out those bad “Psycho” sequels? Nobody was crying sacrilege then. Or what about that TV movie? Starring Jason Bateman I believe. If that’s not an insult, I don’t know what is.

SCOTT MARTIN

Burbank

Marketing wizards would like to blame “Psycho’s” poor performance by claiming that today’s audiences are not shocked by its shower scene. Instead, they should look at their revealing trailers and ads. The original scared the living daylights out of us precisely because we had no idea what was coming.

DAVID WILCZYNSKI

Redondo Beach

I propose that, instead of the $20 million or so that it took to make and market a remake like “Psycho,” Hollywood could spend half of that by promoting the original black-and-white “Psycho” with a hip campaign designed to attract a younger audience. With all those “Joe Camel” advertising execs looking for work, it shouldn’t be too hard.

JOHN G. HILL

Mission Hills

In reviewing the remake of “Psycho,” Kenneth Turan, among others, added the aside that the original was the first American film to present the sight and sound of a toilet. This is not true.

Toilets are seen being used as planters in “The Mating Game,” released in the spring of 1959, and while I’m not certain if a flush is heard in “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959), one is definitely used for comedic purposes in “Dinosaurus!,” released a month before “Psycho” in 1960.

RICK MITCHELL

Los Angeles

I have been reading the articles that blame the performance of the movie “Babe: Pig in the City” on its release date. What a bunch of slop.

The blame rests with the director, George Miller. This movie is dark and depressing and although everything always works out in the end, by that time there is no uplift, just a relief that we are back where we started.

MICHAEL SCHWEIT

Northridge