Diaboliques, Les (1955)

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Pierre Boileau (novel) and
Thomas Narcejac (novel) ...

Release Date:

21 November 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

See it, be amazed at it, but... BE QUIET ABOUT IT! (original Finnish poster tagline)

Plot:

The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women.

Plot Keywords:

Contact Lens | Guilt | Class Photograph | Drowning In Bathtub | Bronze Statue

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Simone Signoret	...	Nicole Horner
Véra Clouzot	...	Christina Delassalle (as Vera Clouzot)
Paul Meurisse	...	Michel Delassalle
Charles Vanel	...	Alfred Fichet, le commissaire
Jean Brochard	...	Plantiveau, le concierge
Pierre Larquey	...	M.Drain, professeur
Michel Serrault	...	M. Raymond, le surveillant
Thérèse Dorny	...	Mme. Herboux
Noël Roquevert	...	M. Herboux
Yves-Marie Maurin	...	Moinet, une jeune Moynet
Georges Poujouly	...	Soudieu, un élève
Georges Chamarat	...	Dr. Loisy
Jacques Varennes	...	M. Bridoux, professeur
Robert Dalban	...	Le garagiste
Jean Lefebvre	...	Le soldat

Also Known As:

Diabolique (USA)
The Devils (USA) (TV title)
The Fiends (UK)

Runtime:

114 min | UK:92 min | USA:116 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (1968) | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-18 (1956) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:16 | Italy:VM14 | UK:X (original rating) (1955) | UK:15 (re-rating) (1985)

Filming Locations:

Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, France

Company:

Filmsonor

Trivia:

The film is based on Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel "Celle qui n'était plus" (She Who Was No More). Alfred Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this novel; Boileau and Narcejac subsequently wrote "D'Entre les Morts" (From Among the Dead) especially for Hitchcock, who filmed it as Vertigo (1958).

Quotes:

Christina Delassalle: Don't you believe in Hell?
Nicole Horner: Not since I was seven.
Christina Delassalle: I do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003) (TV)

Macabre and depressing story makes for somber viewing

Director Henri Georges Clouzot must not have had a sunny disposition. This movie is painful to watch, the angst-ridden actors bite and hack each other to bloody pieces, and the camera contemplates the action like a vulture, waiting for raw carcasses to dismember. All this, without really showing any violence. It's all in the mind.

Les Diaboliques is shot in black and white, but as I remember it, it was all murky grey. Maybe it was just the worn-out print, maybe it was intentional, but it really worked on me. Like the constant drizzle of October rain, the dirty, bedraggled schoolchildren, the delapidated buildings, the rotten school-lunches! I felt deeply suicidal!

The movie is full of scary scenes, of something unspeakably bad waiting to happen to the "murderesses". The long-awaited bathroom climax is not the most scary part, yet it is a welcome release for all the pent-up emotion, and Vera Clouzot truly appears to be near death. Her features twisted and tortured,her expressive body wretched and thin like a concentration-camp prisoner. She looks to be in real pain.

Les Diaboliques means The Devilish, and the Devil is clearly at work here. I have seldom felt a stronger presence of evil, and Clouzot manages this feat without a single concession to the bloodbath that is the modern horror-movie. This one has influenced everything from "the Exorcist" to "Rosemary's baby", yet still feels like an original, subtle classic. I loved it.