Z-Reviews || Movies || Review

Are you a fan of Alfred Hitchcock? If you are, I strongly encourage you to check out the restored version of Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 classic Diabolique. Basically, the story is about two women, who work at a French boarding school for boys, who join together to commit the murder of the cruel and abusive school director Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse). Vera Clouzot plays Christina, the directors ailing wife, while Simone Signoret plays Nicole, the directors’ mistress. The wife and the mistress oddly ban together to get rid of Michel because of his abusive and controlling nature. The complex murder plan goes according to plan, however when Michel’s body doesn’t surface from the swimming pool that he was dumped into the night before, they know that something has gone terribly wrong and the fun begins.

Clouzot truly shines in her role of Christina as she faints and cries at all the right moments in order to gain sympathy from the audience. Opposite of Clouzot, Simone Signoret plays the blond bombshell who is the directors’ mistress. Unlike Christina, she is strong, manipulative, and takes control of any situation. Although Paul Meurisse doesn’t get that much screen time since he dies about a quarter-way into the movie, he does an impeccable job of showing what a swine his character is; that he really does deserve to die.

The movie has been masterfully restored so that the picture is sharp and sound is crisp. My only gripe is with the white subtitles, which were hard to read since the film itself is black and white. The movie is beautifully captured with every shot and angle giving the maximum effect. It is hard to imagine that this movie would have had the same mood and ambiance if it was filmed in color.

As I previously mentioned, if you’re a fan of Hitchcock, you’ll absolutely adore this movie. In fact, Clouzot was occasionally referred to as the “French Hitchcock." The plot is very well constructed and has so many twists and turns that it will keep you guessing up to the very last scene. The ending itself is shocking, unique, and unpredictable; making the 2hrs of reading subtitles well worth it.