Diabolique - Criterion Collection

Starring:Simone Signoret, VÃ©ra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Jean Brochard, Pierre Larquey, Michel Serrault, ThÃ©rÃ¨se Dorny, NoÃ«l Roquevert, Yves-Marie Maurin, Georges Poujouly, Georges Chamarat, Jacques Varennes, Robert Dalban, Jean Lefebvre, Camille GuÃ©rini, Jacques Hilling, Aminda Montserrat, Jean TÃ©merson, Henri Humbert (II)
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Studio: Criterion
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 !!!!

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