NO VACANCY: Movie reviews of 78/52 and The Florida Project by Howard Casner

For questions: hcasner@aol.com

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Warning: SPOILERS

Writer/director Alexander O. Philippe’s 78/52 is not only everything you wanted to know about the infamous scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal film Psycho that did for showers what Jaws would later do for Fourth of July swimming in the seas, but everything you didn’t know you wanted to know (the name derives from the set piece requiring 78 camera set ups and 52 shots).

There has always been something perverse, not just about all of Hitchcock’s oeuvre, but especially in Psycho.

It’s not just that the movie is horrifying and scares the shit out of you.

It’s not just that it’s somewhat mean spirited (not just to the audience, but to the characters on screen).

It’s just that you can tell Hitchcock is having fun killing someone in such a way that both terrifies the audience while making them enjoy it and then feel guilty about it.

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