everything you have heard about this movie is true.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Christina (Véra Clouzot) is the owner of a private boys boarding school and is one its teachers. Despite her ownership of the school, her abusive husband Michel (Paul Meurisse) is the headmaster. He is also abusive to the boys and the staff including his mistress Nicole (Simone Signoret), another teacher. Christina and Nicole devise a plot to kill Michel. From then on, everything goes awry.I believe that every film buff remembers how they felt during the last fifteen minutes of this brilliant thriller during the first viewing. This segment has to be one of the most frightening, nail-biting sequence in film history. As if this wasn't enough, it is followed by a shocking plot twist.The thrill of seeing this film the first time cannot be matched. But even knowing its conclusion, there is still much tension and suspense seeing it again. (This was my third viewing.) Director Henri-Georges Clouzot pays perfect attention to detail and from one second to the next, each moment seems to have the potential to veer into chaos. Whether it does so or not is the mystery.And of course, H-G Clouzot brings out the best in his cast. Signoret is at her signature best but it is Véra Clouzot who stands out especially in the climactic scene."Diabolique" (aka "Les Diaboliques") was written by director Clouzot and Jérôme Géronomi and based on the novel "Celle qui n'était plus" by Boileau-Narcejac.Unforgettable.OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Directing by Henri-Georges Clouzot

There are three particularly striking things about ' Diaboique '.First, it is a masterpiece of black and white cinematography.I have never seen another film that made such good use of luminescence, reflections and shadows and which dared so much to use such dim lighting in some scenes but very effectively.Secondly, the acting is superb all round. Everyone plays their role so convincingly it is as if they were born to play these particular roles.Simone Signouret does an especially good job.She exudes brazenness simply with subtle facial expressions and the way she moves.Finally, the plot never bogs down.The tension is kept up at all times and you keep wanting to see what happens next. A great thriller and an intriguing time capsule of 1950's France.

An abusive headmaster at a French boarding school is vile to both his wife and mistress. Both decide to team together to put paid to him for good.And thats all I'm going to tell you on this film. There are enough genius twists and turns to delight the most ardent horror/thriller fan. To say anymore would be diabolical (see what I did there?)An amazing cast (especially the director's wife Vera Clouzot as the sparrow-like wife and Simone Signoret as the uber-cool mistress) are amazingly directed by the master Henri-Georges Clouzot.After making Wages of Fear, Clouzot optioned the rights to this film to make sure a certain Mr Alfred Hitchcock didn't get his mitts on it. And you can see why.Watch this film, absorb every glorious detail and marvel at the ending. But don't tell anyone.

Great stuff! But here's the thing, even though I know have seen this before, I remembered nothing. Just recognised the odd scene vaguely as I might have done if seeing clips. It certainly seems likely that I have read the book and seen the remake since first being it but even so... Maybe it is that the blu-ray is so fantastic that I don't recognise it or just maybe I originally watched it with a bottle of wine and dropped offer and there. Surely not, although even now I feel the the first part with the school, the kids and the general exposition probably does go on rather more than it need. Still, once we get going we certainly do and I was held in complete suspense and caught out terribly in the end. Stunning, with great visuals and superlative performances from Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot. Again, I don't recall being aware that Vera was the director's wife but that might explain the extremely see-through nightdress, which seemed a bit surprising for mid fifties cinema, or maybe that's just the blu-ray!