It’s generally a lazy idea to remake something in pop culture simply because young audiences are unlikely to seek out the vastly more accomplished original versions. “Psycho” was remade a couple of times, embarrassingly, without Alfred Hitchcock.
And now there is a serialized prequel in “Bates Motel” (A&E, 10 p.m.), a stylish looking homage of life when Norman went to high school and his mom was more than just not a bag of bones, but a very vibrant mother.
Strangeness and some scares ensue, but the oddest thing is that for a sequel to a 1960 movie, it’s set in contemporary times for what must be budgetary terms: It would just be too expensive to get a lot of vintage cars instead of a lot of current ones (which could also be used for product placement).
Still, its executive producer Carlton Cuse of “Lost” fame knows a thing or two about time travel, so he makes the thing work, though Freddie Highmore, as Norman, and Vera Farmiga, as his mother, Norma, like to wear clothes that could have been worn in the 50s.
The two have moved to rural Oregon after the father of the family dies mysteriously in Arizona. There is an older son, too, named Dylan who pops up and starts causing trouble in the second episode.
There’s a murder and cover-up that seems unnecessary in the premiere (why not involve the police?) that’s compounded with guilt as the show goes on. But there are other things going on as well, including a manga book found beneath the motel floorboards that seems to predict things that are happening in the town hiding secrets.
“Bates Motel” seems to be taking its cues from other cable horror attempts, particularly “American Horror Story,” though there’s a little bit of “Weeds” thrown in there too. And while the Norma-Norman dynamic can be creepy at times, it feeds right into the general feeling of unease the show is meant to cause.
Cuse is also having fun in his storytelling, which may be reason enough to stick around to see what happens.