Films
/
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) poster

Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)

Horror, Mystery, Thriller, TV Movie • 1h 36m

Director: Mick Garris

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey, CCH Pounder, Warren Frost, Donna Mitchell, Thomas Schuster, Sharen Camille, Bobbi Evors, John Landis, Kurt Paul, Cynthia Garris, Alice Hirson

Arrow Psycho Collection 4K Blu-ray

UHD Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

UHD tiers

Excellent
Arrow Psycho Collection

Compare the discs

Blu-ray.comslow.pics

Overview

When he hears talk radio host Fran Ambrose discussing the topic of matricide, Norman calls in under a false name to tell his story.

Release details

Best Video Release

Arrow Psycho Collection 4K Blu-ray

Length
96 mins
Type
Movie

More from Arrow

See more →

Director: Brian De Palma

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray has a better encode than the Kino Lorber and Capelight 4K Blu-rays. Capelight 4K Blu-ray looks low-passed in comparison to the Arrow but is slightly closer to the Arrow in PQ than the Kino Lorber. 

Director: Bob Clark

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December

Best Video:

Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray

Director: David Lynch

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

 Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking

Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD

Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110

Director: John Woo

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed

Best Audio:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray, mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.

Director: Fred M. Wilcox

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray see comparison video 

Best Audio:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray  used what was also originally screened theatrically: The Perspecta Stereo 3.0 and a mono option. The Perspecta track sounds best with better dynamic range and was set as default with the mono as optional. The previous releases stereo were downmixes of a now lost original 4-track, and it sounds very thin as a result. See comparison

Director: Tsui Hark

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

There is a newer 4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata, which should be of better scan quality. The 4K restoration used on all current 4K disc releases stems from a low-quality Cintel scanner. The newer restoration has yet to be released on home video.

Director: Pupi Avati

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray or US Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray or US Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Both the US Arrow 4K Blu-ray and UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray are better than the horrible grade of the France Le Chat Qui Fume which has blacks looking greenish and milky with some yellow push. However, comparing these two, there's significant tradeoffs; Arrow has less black crush and some shots seems to be better graded but it's worse in some shots with a slight magenta grade; the UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray has a better color grading.

Additional Info:

UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray and US Arrow 4K Blu-ray have exclusive extras

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: capelight.de (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Paramount US, same black crush as the US disc but encoded by FiM and very good new supplements

Additional Info:

Paramount US 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision 

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray has MEL Dolby Vision

Director: John Carpenter

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Universal 4K Blu-ray. Maybe Turbine Blu-ray instead for better audio?

Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion or Arrow Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion = Arrow, not sure about France

Best Audio:

1989 MGM LaserDisc

More Horror on Blu-ray

Directors: Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray encoded by FiM

Director: Ridley Scott

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray  (additional scenes appear to be upscaled)

Best Audio:

Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)

Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Director: Neil Jordan

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent

Director: Paolo Cavara

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Celluloid Dreams 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

US Celluloid Dreams 4K Blu-ray caps and detailed QC breakdown

Director: Dario Argento

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Synapse 4K Blu-ray or UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray (some may prefer Synapse's grading, while some prefer Shameless's grading)

Best Video:

US Synapse 4K Blu-ray or UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray (some may prefer Synapse's grading, while some prefer Shameless's grading)

Best Audio:

4.0 track on the Synapse 4K Blu-ray

Director: Victor Halperin

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: James Whale

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Universal Complete Legacy Collection 4K Blu-ray set on September 26 2026

Best Audio:

?

Director: James Whale

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Universal Complete Legacy Collection 4K Blu-ray set on September 26 2026

Best Audio:

1993 CIC Video LaserDisc

Director: Kane Parsons

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray > US A24 comparisons

Best Audio:

US A24 4K Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set

Best Video:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1999 WB DVD

Additional Info:

No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.

The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray. 

Edit History

1 edit

Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.