Michael_Elliott 78/52 (2017) **** (out of 4)The shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO lasted for less than a minute yet it took seven days to shoot. This wonderfully entertaining documentary takes a look at that minute worth of footage and breaks everything down from the score, to the edits, to the violence and certain things throughout the movie that foreshadows it.78/52 is a highly entertaining documentary that fans of PSYCHO are going to really enjoy. A lot of documentaries (like the one on THE SHINING) are a bit far-fetched in their ideas but that's not the case here as everyone interviewed is basically a fan and we break the sequence down in so many ways that you'll be seeing things for the first time. I've seen this movie countless times in my life and yet I learned a few new things here.The people interviewed include: Peter Bogdanovich, Jamie Lee Curtis, Guillermo del Toro, Alan Barnette, Justin Benson, Danny Elfman, Bret Easton Ellis, Jeffrey Ford, Mick Garris, Neil Marshall, Bob Murawski, Elijah Wood and Richard Stanley. We also get archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh and Joseph Stefano. Also interviewed is Marli Renfro who was Leigh's body double during the shower sequence.The documentary does a really great job at showing how marvelous the sequence was. We get to watch it slowed down as well as getting comments on various edits, why the edits were done and countless other stories. This documentary covers a lot of ground in its running time and there's really not a weak moment to be found. If you're a fan of PSYCHO then I'm sure you've seen other documentaries on the sequence but this one here takes it to a new level. Of course, one of the biggest highlights is having Renfro discuss how she got the part, what Hitchcock was like and how the shooting of the scene went. She was certainly a major player in this sequence so it was great getting to hear from her and get her stories.

gavin6942 An unprecedented look at the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960), the "man behind the curtain", and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema.While it might seem like quite a feat to devote 90 minutes of coverage to a one-minute segment of a film, this documentary pulls it off. By exploring every possible angle -- the sounds, the editing, the casting -- we see just how much went into getting the notorious shower scene just right. Most interesting is how many clues are in the film leading up to this moment that may not be obvious, but were sprinkled there by Hitchcock with a knowing wink."78/52" is playing on July 20, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. In this golden age of documentaries, this film still stands out as the cream of the crop.

husmith He says Donat and Mr. Memory appear "at the same theater" in the opening and concluding scenes. I don't think so. The first is a raucous music hall with a lively bar crowd. The last is the more-sober London Palladium. It is now incumbent upon me to provide a full five lines as the site requires.

Will Jeffery A 91-minute analysis of the famous shower scene from Hitchcock's 'Psycho' and how it changed the course of cinema. The first of its kind, a feature length documentary on one scene. The film gets its name '78/52' from 52 shots in a 78 second sequence. It's very entertaining and incredibly rich with goodies you never considered went into the making of the famous scene. I loved the archival Hitchcock commentary they recovered. Though, as I personally feel the movie horror scene has drastically changed (you can decide for the better or for worse), to have young horror film makers (of some damn awful films) and irrelevant actors interviewed to share their thoughts in quite enthusiastic ways suggests that Hitchcock's achievement is less pioneering than the film makes it seem. That aside, I'm surprised they pulled it off, you can tell the director (who is obviously a massive Hitchcock nerd) adores the content and it really shows.