Diabolique (1954)

  I finally got a chance to watch this Monday night.  Between Rob's movies, Christy's movies, getting cable again, and season 1 of the X-Files, I've had it out for over a month.

I have to say, it did not disappoint.  I don't think it should be on the Scariest Moments of All Time list, which is not hosted on their webpage but can be found here if you want to see the whole thing.  I have some serious disagreements with the list as a whole but it doesn't give the specific moments from each film that they referenced, so maybe I'm selling it short. 

For a movie that is almost sixty years old, it did a great job of keeping the brooding, dark tone.  The characters are well-realized, the editing is tightly focused, and the dialogued is designed to draw you in with allusion. 

Christina Delassalle (Vera Clouzot) is the wife of a right bastard named Michel (Paul Meurisse), with whome she operates a boy's boarding school.  Although all the money for the school is Christina's, Michel runs it with an iron fist, oppressing everyone inside, and flaunting his mistress Nicole (Simone Signoret) under his wife's nose.  Unfortunately for Michel, his mistress and wife conspire to get rid of his abusive ass.  Luring him to Nicole's place, the two slip him a sedative and drown him in the bathtub.  The plan is to establish their alibi, then dump Michel's body into the swimmiing pool at the school, and wait for someone to discover him.  It's a good plan and it goes off without a hitch...until the body doesn't get found.  Growing desperate, Nicole manufactures a reason to drain the pool only to find that the body is gone.  Wracked with nerves, the two murderesses begin to fall apart.  The screw is tightened when Christina makes the acquaintance of a chatty former police commissioner (Charles Vanel) while at the morgue looking for her husband. 

One of the things I particularly liked about the film was the policeman.  His entire demeanor could be taken as Good Samaritan or Creepy Busybody, depending on your emotional state.  It's masterfully done as a performance and adds a great amount of tension.  The movie also weaves in some supernatural elements, like a little boy who claims to have seen the headmaster walking around the school after both women know that's impossible, but it never takes it too far into that realm, which I appreciated. 

It is French, black and white, and starts slowly so if you have a short attention span you're probably going to want to give it a miss.  If you have a little patience, however, it's well worth your time.