Synopsis
The most famous murder scene in movie history comprises 78 camera settings and 52 cuts: the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. 78/52 tells the story of the man behind the curtain and his greatest obsession.
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Cast
- Emilie GermainMarion Crane
- Osgood PerkinsSelf
- Peter BogdanovichSelf
- Guillermo del ToroSelf
- Eli RothSelf
- Jamie Lee CurtisSelf
- Aaron MoorheadSelf
- Elijah WoodSelf
- Bret Easton EllisSelf
- Alan BarnetteSelf
Recommendations
- 90
Village Voice
This doc could have been a mess, frankly. But Philippe has put the film together smartly, taking us from the general to the particular. - 80
The New York Times
Even moviegoers who know “Psycho” backward and forward...are bound to learn something new from the movie, which addresses the shower scene from critical, historical, theoretical and technical angles, down to the blinding white of the bathroom tiles. - 80
Variety
For a long time now, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” has been two movies, and the hypnotic film-geek documentary 78/52 is an ingenious and irreverent master class in both of them. - 75
Slant Magazine
78/52 comes to life when riffing on the psychosexual perversity of Psycho, which changed cinema's relationship with sex and violence. - 75
Consequence
As many note throughout the doc, the best moments that film as a medium has to offer are found in the smallest details. And when you find something truly great, as with this scene, you can just keep looking and looking until you spiral into the same void on which the grisly sequence ends. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Films about single film scenes, however, represent unexplored territory. Which is why 78/52 is such an enticing prospect – a deep dive into one of the most influential moments in cinema history: the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. - 70
Screen Daily
It’s a rare inside glimpse of how a cosmic moment is stitched together. - 67
The A.V. Club
The film picks up when it gets down to shot-by-shot analysis, allowing editors and other interviewees to break down one of the most famous sequences in movie history.
