Diabolique

Starring:Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates, Spalding Gray, Shirley Knight, Allen Garfield, Adam Hann-Byrd, Donal Logue, Diana Bellamy, Clea Lewis, J.J. Abrams, O'Neal Compton, Bingo O'Malley, Stephen Liska, James Kisicki, Kevin Vinay, Cory Pattak, Kate Young, Sophia Salguero
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Henri-Georges Clouzot beat out Alfred Hitchcock to secure the rights to this novel, which proved to be a veritable blueprint for an icy masterpiece of murder, mystery, and suspense. Véra Clouzot plays the sickly wife of a callous headmaster of a provincial boarding school going to seed, and the commanding Simone Signoret is the headmaster's mistreated mistress. Together they plot and carry out his murder, a brutal drowning that director Clouzot documents in chilly detail, but the corpse disappears, and a nosy detective starts sniffing around the grounds as threatening notes taunt the women. Clouzot's thriller is as precise and accomplished a work as anything in Hitchcock's canon, a film of grueling suspense and startling shocks in an overcast, gray world of decay, but his icy manipulations lack the human dimension and emotional resonance of the master of suspense. The film has been accused of being misanthropic by many critics, and Clouzot's attitude toward his characters is bitter at best, contemptuous at worst. The viewer is left on the outside looking in, but the razor precision and terrifying twists deliver a sleek, bleak spectacle worthy of attention. --Sean Axmaker

Description

An acknowledged influence on Psycho, Henri-Georges Clouzot's horror classic is the story of a sadistic headmaster who brutalizes his fragile wife and his headstrong mistress. The two women murder him and dump his body in a swimming pool; when the pool is drained, no corpse is found. Criterion presents Diabolique in a new digital transfer.

Customer Reviews:

Diabolique.......2007-06-25

Snatched from Alfred Hitchcock, who lost the film rights to Clouzot, "Diabolique" is one of the finest thrillers ever made--in any language. Macabre, mysterious, and haunting, it keeps you on the edge of your chair with mind-bending plot twists, taut pacing, and an atmosphere of ghostly uncertainty. Signoret is icy yet resplendent, while director Clouzot's real-life wife Véra conveys just the right mix of fear and paranoia. This is chilling perfection from a criminally under-recognized French master of suspense. Beware the atrocious American remake.

Blazed the path for suspense thrillers.......2007-06-23

WOW! Another great package of classic suspense, delivered by another great French cinematic guru. This influential film was directed in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot, and it still has some strong clamps in the upper echelon of this genre. You can't help but recognize this particular style emblazoned in more recent films, with the building of the suspense, the deceptive camera work with the shadows, the intriguing elements portrayed effectively for shock value. I love how it leaves you thinking after it's over...
Well, here's the plot--A rich woman kills her abusive husband, but the body somehow disappears. Throw into the mix the fact that her accomplice for the murder was her husband's mistress and you'll suspect some ostensible wickedness down below the surface. Although this sort of storyline has been done countless times, I still was wrapped up in it as everything unfolded. But by today's standards, don't expect the same amount of blood and gore and mayhem.
I'd advise you to skip the American remake, or at least watch it after the original. Comparatively, the acting and dialogue here might seem a little outdated, but the black-and-white images really capture the essence of the suspense. It's kind of like the remake of Psycho, it just can't come close to Hitchcock's.

Know Your History.......2007-01-09

It's easy to understand why Alfred Hitchcock was influenced by Diabolique. Many still believe this to be one of the greatest thrillers ever filmed. The movie contains many of what would become Hitchcock trademarks, clean editing, edgy themes, and escalating suspense. Two scenes stand out: the swimming pool sequence and the return of the victim. Though the movie may move a bit slowly for today's audiences, those two scenes alone make this must see cinema.

Diabolique.......2006-11-12

"Diabolique" is one of the most influential horror films ever made. Alfred Hitchcock himself employed many of the methods used by this films director (H.G. Clouzot) when making his own masterpiece Psycho. In fact, the biggest problem with this film, when it comes down to it is that it's too influential. So much so that a lot of people won't be surprised by the twist ending and leaves-you-thinking fade out scene. Even if it surprises you, you'll recognize...It's been done so many times. This movie itself was even remade with Sharon Stone. Anyway, the movie takes place at a boys school run by Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse); A hateful, cold man who abuses his wife Christina (Vera Clouzot, who I believe was the directors wife), who owns the school. He's also having an affair with Nicole (Simone Signoret). Not the typical movie affair where everything's hush-hush. Even the students at the school know. Michel has already began abusing Nicole and the women decide that they've had enough. It's not just the abuse that worries them either. Christina has a heart condition and if she dies, Michel gets the school. They plan the murder quickly, yet efficiently. They lure him to a place far from the school, slip him a sedative via glass of wine, and drown him in a bathtub. Then, they dump his body into the pool at the school. Things go well for a little bit, but then the suit Michel was killed (and dumped) in arrives from the dry cleaners. Disturbed by this, Christina asks that the pool be drained. When it is, no body is found. Overcome by nervousness, Christina inadvertently hires a private detective named Alfred Fichet...She doesn't want to, but he makes her nervous and points out inconsistencies in her stories. Disturbing events continue to develop, including a young boy who claims Michel had just punished him and then there's the figure standing in the window behind the boys in a school photograph. It's all pretty intriguing stuff. The movie then leads up to one of the best twist endings (at the time) in history. The end title card even warns audiences not to tell people what they've seen. The final moment of the film is creepy and unsettling, but it a perfect way to end the film. This isn't a horror film that people used to today's standards of horror would like. This is no Hills Have Eyes or Hostel. This deserves more comparison to films like Rosemary's Baby and Psycho (the Hitchcock version, not the Gus Van Sant). It's got moments of really disturbing stuff and it's a very important film. And it's available in a pretty good (I'd give it 4/5) transfer from The Criterion Collection.

GRADE: A-

Brilliant !.......2006-05-12

I saw the mediocre American version before i saw the original. Even without seeing the original the Hollywood remake was so blah. Several years after that i saw the French version at the video store and rented it. Even though i knew the plot from the remake, the original almost gave me a heart-attack!!! It's brilliantly executed, nail-biting suspense with the final scene almost impossible to breath through!!! There's nothing quiet like it(Oh,maybe the master's own Wages of Fear-oh my God!). It's very cold; almost clinical the way he distances the audience and the characters yet works superbly! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO RECOMMEND !!!!

Average customer rating:

Underrated, A Good Remake
The context has been unluckily erased
not bad for a remake
STONE COLD STONE
Blame The Director-Not the Cast

Diabolique
Starring: Sharon Stone , Isabelle Adjani , Chazz Palminteri , Kathy Bates , and Spalding Gray
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Sliver (Unrated Edition)
Mortal Thoughts
Diabolique - Criterion Collection
The Specialist
Basic Instinct 2 (Unrated, Extended Cut)

ASIN: 0790750651
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 French thriller Diabolique is the epitome of noir. As a twisted plot unravels, the scene is set for murder and deceit. The Devils (a.k.a. Les Diaboliques) live at a rundown boys home with Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse) as the cruel headmaster treating the students with disdain and indignity. His wife, Christina Delasalle (played by Véra Clouzot), an ex-nun and owner of the school before their marriage, experiences the brunt of his abuse. He humiliates Christina in front of the student body and faculty and then flaunts his insidious affairs in front of her. Christina rebels quietly, although her heart condition leaves her vulnerable and too fragile to resist her husband's brute strength. Ironically, it is Michel's mistress Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret), another teacher at the school, who encourages Christina to plot a sinister revenge against him. As the abuse continues, "Cricri" is forced to make a decision as she realizes her husband will never grant her a divorce and give up the school. Since both divorce and murder are sins against God, Christina's religious beliefs conflict with Nicole's manipulation and ideas of revenge. As she is forced to choose, her actions result in a surprising and suspenseful turn of events that promise to keep you on the edge of your seat! (English subtitles) --Michele Goodson

Customer Reviews:

Underrated, A Good Remake.......2007-01-08

"Diabolique" has the makings of a bad remake. They kept the French name for the title, it (slightly) changes the ending, and it's written by Don Roos, a writer/director better known for comedies like "The Opposite of Sex" and "Happy Endings." While "Diabolique" isn't better than the original, but it is good and a nice cast and some suspenseful moments fill it out. French actress Isabelle Adjani plays Mia Baran, a woman with a heart condition who is the owner of a boy's school. Her husband Guy (Chazz Palminteri) is the headmaster, who is abusive to Mia and openly has an affair with the principal Nicole (Sharon Stone, who looks hot). Sick of what they have to put up with, Nicole and Mia plot to kill Guy. The plan is simple (sort of idiotic, but simple);
They go to Nicole's house, bring Guy over, drown him in the bathtub, smuggle his body back to the school, and than dump his body in the swimming pool. Everything goes well, but the tension of the body being found is driving everyone crazy. Soon, the pool is drained and no body is found...And the women believe they're being blackmailed by an unseen presence, since the suit they killed him in turns up, as well as pictures of them hauling the body out of Nicole's house. One of the movie's creepiest moments (it was in the original too) comes when the cameraman that are at the school are filming the children and see, what appears to be, Guy standing in a window overlooking the school. In the original, it was the school picture where he was seen in the window but here it is just as effective. Kathy Bates brings a charming performance as the detective hired by Mia to find Guy, who suspects something wrong immediately. "Diabolique" does attempt to improve upon the original in making Stone's character more sexy, cold, intelligent, and witty. Roos has mostly dealt in writing comedies, so Stone has several funny lines ("You're dead, this is heaven, and I'm the Virgin Mary."). Palminteri is good casting for the husband and in this film he's a lot more sadistic than the original. "Diabolique" will, if nothing else cause people to gain interest in seeing the original (if they haven't already). But it is a worthy remake that's definitely better than remakes like "Psycho" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning." Stone is sexy,
Adjani is superb, Bates is great, and Palminteri is perfectly cast. The script is pretty solid, it's a good companion piece to the original, and it's worth seeing.

GRADE: B+

The context has been unluckily erased.......2006-06-09

This is a remake of the black and white adaptation of Boileau-Narcejac's novel. The shift from the French context to the American decor is nothing but a change of settings and it adds nothing. But it is extremely well built as a thriller and this American version adds a clearly stated sexual relationship between the two main women, the plotters. It also emphasizes this feminine presence by making the « inspector » a woman, which is unthinkable in the French context of the 1950s. And this woman can become an accomplice in the final cover-up, the final assassination of the ressuscitated victim, out of feminine understanding. The context of this let's say prep-school for boys is hardly described and does not correspond to the original French school for delinquents. We never get this idea that the kids are imprisoned and that the school is a reservation for anonymous survivors ghetto-ised out of the social war that is raging outside. And that is such « schools » that both the conservative right and the socialist left are asking for in France right now to take care of suburban young rebels who call themselves barbarians or the natives of the republic, be they black, brown, grey or white, which does not in anyway matter.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne

not bad for a remake.......2005-09-04

This version of a classic has been updated and pretty well.
Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani look so much like the main players in the original it couldn't have been a mistake casting them in this.
I don't know where the other reviewers are coming from. This is a story of cheating, lust, deciet and murder. Of course Stone is going to play that well. That is the momentum for the plot, without that, there is no story.
Having seen the original a number of times, all I can say is I wish they would have kept the original ending. It was by far better than this.
That is why I only gave it 4 stars.
Word to the wise.... if you like twisted mysteries that are convoluted, you should like this. But do see the original first, it's definitely worth it. This one is a decent remake.

STONE COLD STONE.......2005-07-03

Sharon Stone may be the distaff side to Mickey Rourke. These two performers know how to play sleaze and Stone once again provides a cold-hearted finish to her role in this mediocre version of the French classic. The movie might have had more oomph if they had cast someone other than Isabelle Adjani as her partner in crime. Undeniably beautiful, Adjani just doesn't have the cajones to hold up her end of the movie with the flashy Stone. Another factor is the miscasting of Chazz Palminteri as the worthless husband/lover. He is so wooden in his performance that his fate is neither cheered or jeered. Although the movie gets a boost from the appearance of Kathy Bates as the sly detective, even she can't bring enough life to justify this remake. So why three stars? It held my interest and kept me guessing for a while, but it's strangely convoluted ending doesn't really fulfill the plot's thrust. One plus is Randy Edelman's scrumptious score; it fits the movie perfectly.

Blame The Director-Not the Cast.......2005-06-27

With some of Hollywood's worst trash on his resume, Director Jeremiah Chechik gives us something slightly better than his worst ("The Avengers") and much worse than his best ("Benny and Joon"). This oddly unsatisfying 1996 remake of the classic 1955 French thriller illustrates Hollywood's ham handed ability to turn a classic suspense tale into a weak atmosphere piece. I say oddly because Isabelle Adjani and Sharon Stone are together on the screen for almost the entire film and the two actresses truly bring out the best in each other. So you have a long series of well-played scenes by fine actresses, but they are strung together into a slow paced story line that lacks unity and consistent motivation. Which could be caused by a lot of things but is most likely the result of trimming in post-production, in which important unifying elements were left on the cutting room floor. Or it could be that the director and production designer just failed to translate the writer's vision onto the screen.

Since this ultimately this is a story about an evil character who develops a sentimental side, it is absolutely critical that this process is communicated to the audience. The audience should not just be surprised by the ending but should be able to think back and see all the motivational pieces click into place. In this regard the movie is a complete failure.

Then there is the issue of cheating. Because we only know what he wants to tell us, a director has a variety of legit ways to introduce misdirection and surprise into a film. But occasionally a director lacks the integrity and vision to play by the rules. Such is the case here as only the audience sees the underwater shot of a clearly drowned Guy (Chazz Palminteri). It is shown to convince us that he is dead but this then makes his reanimation impossible. Plus it is fairly useless because you know that he has to come back for there to be much of a story. That is cheating and there is more cheating in the unintentionally comical climatic scene. The beauty of the original movie was the absence of cheating and the macabre irony of the ending. All that is missing.

Whatever, it means that the only reason to watch this version of "Diabolique" is for the acting of Adjani and Stone. Although Adjani was 40-41 years old when she made this film, she has lost little of her beauty. While she was probably the world's most beautiful actress in her twenties, there is simply no debate that she was the most beautiful 40 year-old in cinema history. Stone pretty much plays her hard-as-nails self but she is given some great lines and her character is a great contrast to the ethereal take Adjani gives to her own character.

If you are looking for a better but less obvious remake of the original "Diabolique", track down 1971's "Let's Scare Jessica To Death". This almost forgotten horror classic is truly scary. It has much better production design than 1996's "Diabolique", with creepy whispering and images that stay with you and creep you out even weeks later. Jessica is a woman recently released from a mental "institution" who goes to a farm in a quiet rural area. The odd locals and their local legends begin to mess with Jessica's head as her husband and his secret girlfriend attempt to scare her to death.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Riveting in terms of suspense...

Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AXJKYE

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o English (subtitles) o French (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: In this heralded French terror classic by director-screenwriter Henri-Georges Clouzot, the wife of the headmaster of a school for boys tires of his violent treatment of her, along with his philandering, and teams up with his mistress (Simone Signoret) to drown him and make it appear as a suicide. When the body goes missing and sightings of the supposedly dead man are reported all over town, the two mismatched women must uncover what happened to the body before it's discovered what they've done. Upon its release, Clouzot urged all who saw the film not to reveal its surprise ending--- one which still stands as one of the original "shock" endings. Special Features: o Interactive Menu o Photo Gallery o Posters o Scene Access o Trailer(s)

Customer Reviews:

Riveting in terms of suspense..........2006-12-27

Clouzot is possibly the cinema's most devout pessimist: no other director has portrayed human vices so persuasively... If his bitter vision of the world is finally limited and unattractive, his status as a major filmmaker, entertaining through suspense while simultaneously expressing his private dismay with cool and detached visual precision, remains intact...

"Les Diaboliques" is a mystery set in a shabby boys' boarding school... The plot - a sadistic headmaster is murdered by his wife and his mistress; ominously and inexplicably, his corpse vanishes is too contrived to survive repeated viewings, but the stark gray images emphasizing physical decay offer a precise, grimly poetic visual correlative for the characters' warped emotions...

Clouzot's moral pessimism, shock tactics and readiness to display man's worst excesses suggest parallels with Hitchcock and Fuller, while his focus on cruelty, domination and decay may be compared with that of figures as diverse as Leone, Blier and Fassbinder...

Henri-Georges Clouzot Collection - PAL DVD

Average customer rating:

Henri-Georges Clouzot Collection - PAL DVD

Manufacturer: Film Prestige
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Henri-Georges Clouzot enjoyed a 40-year career in films in his native France, and saw his reputation rise and fall amid the changing tastes of audiences and critics, at home and internationally. Acclaimed in particular for his thrillers, Clouzot was one of the genuine rivals to Alfred Hitchcock and, at his peak, seemed to anticipate the moves of the better-known English director. The Three-Disc Box Set Contains: 1. Diaboliques, Les / Diabolique (1955) - PAL DVD (EUROPEAN TV VIDEO STANDARD) ALL region, Full Screen, Black and White. Available soundtracks: original FRENCH and RUSSIAN (voice-over). Available subtitles: FRENCH and RUSSIAN ....................................................................................................................................... 2. Quai des Orfèvres / Jenny Lamour (1947) - PAL DVD (EUROPEAN TV VIDEO STANDARD) ALL region, Full Screen, Black and White. Available soundtracks: original FRENCH and RUSSIAN (voice-over). Available subtitles: RUSSIAN (removable) ......................................................................................................................................... 3. Salaire de la peur, Le / The Wages of Fear (1953) - PAL DVD (EUROPEAN TV VIDEO STANDARD) ALL region, Full Screen, Black and White. Available soundtracks: original FRENCH and RUSSIAN (voice-over). Available subtitles: FRENCH and RUSSIAN .................................................................................................................................... This is very rare, collector's edition BOX SET officially released in Russia by studio "FILM PRESTIGE". CUSTOMERS FROM NORTH AMERICA and JAPAN: Please, make sure your DVD player supports PAL DVDS (Europe, Australia, and Asia) before bidding; otherwise you can watch PAL DVDS on computer with DVD-ROM.

Average customer rating:

Underrated, A Good Remake
The context has been unluckily erased
not bad for a remake
STONE COLD STONE
Blame The Director-Not the Cast

Diabolique [Region 2]
Starring: Sharon Stone , Isabelle Adjani , Chazz Palminteri , Kathy Bates , and Spalding Gray
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Sliver (Unrated Edition)
Mortal Thoughts
Diabolique - Criterion Collection
The Specialist
Basic Instinct 2 (Unrated, Extended Cut)

ASIN: B00005TNYZ

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Underrated, A Good Remake.......2007-01-08

The context has been unluckily erased.......2006-06-09

not bad for a remake.......2005-09-04

STONE COLD STONE.......2005-07-03

Blame The Director-Not the Cast.......2005-06-27

Diabolique /Quick And The Dead (Two-Pack)

Average customer rating:

Diabolique /Quick And The Dead (Two-Pack)
Starring: Warner 2pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Average customer rating:

Diabolique [Region 2]
Starring: Simone Signoret , Véra Clouzot , Paul Meurisse , Charles Vanel , and Jean Brochard
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00004VYD5

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L'Amant Diabolique/ Demonlover

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ASIN: B0007D9RI6

Product Description

Diane (Connie Nielsen) works for a French firm bidding to purchase a Japanese animation outfit. Diane maliciously hatches a plot to take the job of her supervisor Karen. The plan succeeds, but then Diane faces problems when a competing American firm, represented by Elaine (Gina Gershon), becomes involved. Diane's assistant Elise remains loyal to Karen, and she frustrates Diane's every move. When it comes to light that the one of the concerned parties controls an Internet site which broadcasts actual torture, the plot thickens. En même temps qu'elle négocie un contrat avec une agence japonaise qui veut révolutionner la pornographie sur Internet, Diane joue l'espionne pour une autre compagnie qui cherche à détenir l'exclusivité des droits sur la toile. Coincée entre l'exigence du marché de l'Internet et l'éthique humaine elle se retrouve également prise au piège entre la fantaisie et la réalité.

Average customer rating:

Underrated, A Good Remake
The context has been unluckily erased
not bad for a remake
STONE COLD STONE
Blame The Director-Not the Cast

Diabolique [Region 2]
Starring: Sharon Stone , Isabelle Adjani , Chazz Palminteri , Kathy Bates , and Spalding Gray
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video