Powerful

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This is one of the best noir thrillers I've ever seen. Hypnotic and disturbing, it almost reminds me as much of Carnival Of Souls or a William Castle film--only this has better performances, a stronger script. Hossein has crafted a masterwork here. I was glad to finally get a DVD from santa flix on googly.A drifter gets picked up by a strange blonde one night in the streets of Nice, France. She seduces him then dumps him. To add insult to injury she tries to run him down with her car before speeding way. He manages to get the number off her license plate. This leads him to a house where two blonde sisters live. Either one could be the woman he seeks, and either one could be out to do him greater harm.This plot description doesn't do justice to this eerie psychological thriller. All three leads give excellent performances.

Strange enough, all the previous comments merely described the beginning and left the details over. I feel a necessity to confirm that this is a family work, since Marina Vlady was also Robert Hossein's wife, and the - excellent - jazz music was written by te director's father, André. Under these circumstances, no wonder it was a really good thriller, seen when issued and immediately identified with the music. The suspense was flawless, and maintained throughout until the end. Robert Hossein, at the time one of the best European players, managed to impose himself also as a top screen and stage director. He's still putting up great stage shows, with a preference for religious subjects.harry carasso, Paris, France

"Toi le Venin" is Robert Hossein's masterpiece,and one of the great thrillers of the fifties.Based on a Frederic Dard novel,a writer the director often worked with (see also "le Monte-Charge" which Hossein did not direct but in which he was the lead too),the screenplay grabs you from the first pictures on a desert road by night where a beautiful blonde might be the fieriest of the criminals to the mysterious house where he finds his femme fatale ..and her sister.Then begins a cat and mouse play .One of the sisters is in a wheelchair .But is she really disabled?Which one is the criminal who tried to kill the hero on that night? The two actresses,Marina Vlady and the late Odile Versois were sisters.Turn off all the lights before watching.Highly suspenseful.

WHEN I first saw this film, in London, in 1958, I was bowled over. I had never seen a film like this before. It had a strange, hypnotic effect, quite unlike the films that I had seen previously and it left a lasting impact.I believe that Odile Versios & Marina Vlady are sisters, if not twins. Certainly the interaction is amazing in its power to influence the viewer.If this has been converted to DVD - in Region 2 format - and in the original French language, I would love to hear about it & where it can be purchased.