Les Diaboliques (1955)-Unrated

Run Time:116 minutes

4 stars out of 4

Based on the novel by Pierre Boileau, Celle Qui N'était Plus, Les Diaboliques is a classic French suspense film, more widely known in the U.S. as Diabolique, and has just recently re-released on DVD. Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, this film is executed so well that, if it had been in English, could've been mistaken for a work of Alfred Hitchcock. Actually, Hitchcock also battled for the rights to adapt Boileau book, and when he lost the rights to Clouzot, put Psycho into production to outdo his rival. Set at a boys' boarding school in France, the plot revolves around the cruel headmaster, his mistress, and his ailing wife. The rather sadistic headmaster, Michel (Paul Meurisse) openly romances with his mistress, Nicole (Simone Signoret), especially in front of Christina (Vera Clouzot), his wife, just so that he can enjoy her pain. Christina, afflicted by a terrible heart condition, decides she can take no more of this cruelty from her husband, and she agrees when Nicole approaches her about finishing off Michel. Nicole is just as enraged with Michel for his cruel ways, and more willing to commit murder than the somewhat meek Christina. When a long weekend recess clears out the school of students, the two seize the opportunity and sneak away to a house in another city, where they call up Michel and blackmail him into coming over. While there, they poison his drink and finish him off by keeping his head under in the bathtub. From there, they embark on an elaborate plan of returning the body to the school, dumping it in the outdoor pool, and trying to make it look like Michel got drunk and drowned accidentally. When his body still hasn't surfaced after a few days, they get desperate, and find an excuse to drain the pool. When Michel's body still cannot be found, even in the bone dry pool, strange things start to happen to the women. The suspense builds and builds, all the while keeping the audience in the dark, until the incredible climax at the end, which is one of the most dramatic and creepy I have ever seen. Rarely these days can you see a film that entirely relies on suspense. Mostly the filmmakers are just to afraid that the audience will lose interest in the plot and throw in rapid-fire cutting from shot to shot to shot, and douse the film in a hearty amount of gore and profanity. This film is a refreshing reminder of former days in the movies, when directors shot what they thought did justice to the script and to the actors. Signoret, one of the most famous French actresses of all time, puts on another awesome performance, greatly helped by Vera Clouzot's presence, and they both come across as born into their roles. The striking black and white cinematography, the almost unbearable suspense, and the intriguing characters all come together to make this film an excellent cinema experience, best seen on the big screen.