78/52

Cert Running time

Take a good long look behind cinema’s most famous shower curtain, with this revealing documentary.

Alfred Hitchcock’s horror masterpiece Psycho terrified the world in 1960 when Janet Leigh’s felon was stabbed to death in the Bates Motel. The audience of the time had never seen a movie moment like it.

Accompanied by its famous screeching score by Bernard Herrmann, the iconic and hugely influential shower scene lasts barely three minutes, yet is composed of a painstaking 78 camera set-ups pieced together in a ferocious sequence of 52 edited cuts.

With seven days of filming required to complete it, the scene took twice as long as anticipated. This forensic examination deconstructs the astonishing technical expertise and planning involved and touches on the writing, casting, acting, shooting, editing and sound effects involved.

Alongside much detailed research, interviewees such as Edward Scissorhands compo ser Danny Elfman and American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis provide enthusiastic insight.

Cinema addicts, Hitchcock fans and film students will love it.