The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen Les Diaboliques Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Grail Moviehouse, hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas.
Les Diaboliques
Movie Information
In Brief: Henri-Georges Clouzot is noted as France’s answer to Hitchcock, but the argument could be made that he was, at times, even better. Along with Wages of Fear and The Inferno, Clouzot’s mastery of morbidity is at least on par with Hitchcock’s darkest corners. Possibly the director’s best known work, Les Diaboliques (1955) is a gripping suspense-thriller with elements of supernatural horror, but the true nature of the story doesn't become fully clear until the film’s final frames. And that third-act twist still packs a punch more than 60 years later, even if you know exactly what’s coming. The director’s wife Vera Clouzot and Simone Signoret deliver bravura performances, but it’s Clouzot’s stylization and tense construction that have made this film a true classic. Ignore the regrettable 1996 remake and watch the original instead.
| Score: | |
| Genre: | Thriller |
| Director: | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| Starring: | Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse |
| Rated: | NR |
I remember well seeing this film for the first time in Oakland, CA during a 1966 revival , and the unique screaming in the audience at the climax: not merely a shriek, but a sustained howling that went on as those final moments grew ever more horrific. I’d never heard an audience scream like that. I doubt that would happen today, since groundbreaking movies like this have become so absorbed into the culture. And the fact that we’ve now seen it all.
And I agree with you: this film remains very strong.