Watch Les Diaboliques by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Good reasons to watch Les Diaboliques
The wife and the mistress of a sadistic boarding school director team up to murder him with a perfect alibi. They drown him in his bath; but when the body disappears, the two women start to panic. Have they really killed him or is he still alive?
One of the French masters of suspense (The Wages of Fear, Le Corbeau…), Clouzot signs here one of his best psychological thrillers. Served by outstanding actors (a determined Simone SIgnoret, a sensitive Véro Clouzot and a sullen Paul Meurisse) and a perfect sense of photography and tempo, Les Diaboliques is on par with the best Hitchcock movies.
As Hitchcock himself was asked “Sir, After seeing ‘Les Diaboliques’, my daughter was afraid to take a bath. Now she has seen your ‘Psycho’ and is afraid to take a shower. What should I do with her?”, he reportedly replied: “Send her to the dry cleaners.”
Halfway between a thriller, a film noir, and a horror film, Les Diaboliques will scare you to death.
I haven’t been able to find subtitles for English; the above video is in French with Spanish subtitles; if you find a version with English subtitles let me know!
All You Need to Know about Les Diaboliques
1955 - 87 min
Director Henri-Georges Clouzot
Stars SImone Signoret - Véro Clouzot - Paul Meurisse
What to drink Anything except the water of your bath will do (unless you're indifferent to being murdered)
