78/52

2017

91 mins

Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
88%
79%
Documentary

Documentary tribute to a movie sequence: the infamous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho gets the full-on geek cinephile treatment.

"The... More

Documentary tribute to a movie sequence: the infamous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho gets the full-on geek cinephile treatment.

"The title refers to the number of set-ups and cuts in the two minute scene in Bates Motel that shocked audiences on release in 1960. Alexandre O. Philippe's 78/52 tracks in deliciously manic detail the story of this legendary sequence and how it changed cinema forever. Interviews with acclaimed horror filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), actor/producer Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Australia's Leigh Whannell (writer/producer Saw) feature. Three-time Oscar winning editor Walter Murch lends his expertise, as does author/screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis, composer Danny Elfman, actor Elijah Wood and even Hitchcock's granddaughter Tere Carrubba. Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis also offers insights on her mother Janet Leigh's most iconic role." (Sydney Film Festival)

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78/52 | Ratings & Reviews

88_%88 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
79_%1,183 reviews
Audience score rating

"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."

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Variety

"Philippe's tribute to Hollywood's most famous stabbing is an archival feast."

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Screen Daily

"A resourceful, if rather hyperbolic documentary that devotes 90 minutes to analysing one of the most famous scenes in film history."

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Hollywood Reporter

"It's ultimately not a movie about Psycho as much as it's about the shower scene. It's the double-edged sword of focusing on a few moments at the neglect of what surrounds those moments."

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