Blending together the elements of horror & mystery in a seamless manner, cleverly using its available resources to provide a sense of dread & uncertainty, and efficiently sustaining its tense atmosphere from start to finish, Diabolique (also known as Les Diaboliques) is one of the finest examples of its genre(s) that simply refuses to age despite being nearly 60 years old.

The story concerns the wife of a cruel headmaster who, along with the help of her husband's mistress, devises a plan to murder him, and after careful arrangement manages to successfully execute it without leaving behind any traces. However, things are ultimately set in motion when the body mysteriously disappears from site after which a number of strange occurrences ensue.

Ingeniously…

SHOCKtober Day 7 of 31

In Henri-George Clouzot’s 1955 psychological thrill ride, Diabolique, horror and supernatural elements disrupt the film noir conventions that are established as the framework of the film—all subverted by a gender swap that presents both a reversal of power in traditional gender roles and a queer subtext to the love triangle at the center of the criminal action.

Two women, the frail and demure wife of a boarding school headmaster and his mistress, conspire to divest themselves of the brutish, abusive man in their lives—permanently. Simone Signoret is the sultry and decisively amoral Nicole, an on-premise faculty member who doubles as the extramarital lover and punching bag—who dons a fresh shiner from her previous night’s tryst…

"It doesn't pay to be nice to you."

Sometimes likened to a French Alfred Hitchcock on account of his proficiency at generating suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot produced his most Hitchcockian effort with 1955's Les diaboliques (known stateside simply as Diabolique). Though it opened to somewhat mixed reviews, the box office receipts were overwhelming from the onset.

Loosely based on the 1952 psychological suspense novel She Who Was No More by the two-man writing team Boileau-Narcejac, Diabolique revolves around the uneasy alliance that develops between Christina Delassalle (Véra Clouzot) and Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret). Though the frail Christina owns a decrepit boarding school outside Paris, she feels trapped in a loveless marriage to its unfeeling, profligate headmaster Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse). Michel…

Wow.

I finished this film just moments ago, and I immediately want to go tell the world what I just saw. But I cant. Because at the end, a little message scrolled past that told me not to ruin the surprise. Diabolique is very interesting in the fact that a movie released in 1955, 58 years ago, is still making its audiences keep quiet about the ending. I have to thank the fans of the movie who didnt spoil this for me, and I will become one of those people who will carry the secret of this film to my grave.

Well, thats a little extreme, but I feel its justified in this context. The twist is simple, but planned…

"There is only one possible end. We are monsters. I don't like monsters.” 

The set up of having the battered wife of a controlling husband and that said husband's mistress come together for a murder plot is an rarely seen element that makes Diabolique a fascinating thriller. Relying on the psychological side of murder and the state of toxic relationships adds pockets of symbolism dealing with human behavior with the addition of the supernatural. The act of murder given the full weight of moral consequences along with the omnipresent paranoia and guilt following the characters involved; killing another human is not as simple or routine like swatting a nagging a house fly. The ramifications are deeper than just having the…

It must have been ghoulish fun for audiences in the early 1950’s to discover the twists, turns and unexpected revelations of Director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s deliciously dark film “Diabolique”.  Set in a remote reform school for behavioral issues geared for boys, the headmaster is both cruel and feared.  Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse) is married to Christina (Véra Clouzot) who owns the school.  She, unhappily married, is friends with Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret) another disciplinarian at the school and a former mistress of Michel’s.  His harsh methods bestowed on both women as well as subordinates and students.  In short, he’s no dream boat.
     Christina, occasionally frail due to a heart condition, enters into a collaborative plot to murder Michel and…