Diabolique
Criterion Collection Edition #35
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot • 1955 • France
Starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Before PSYCHO, PEEPING TOM, and REPULSION, there was DIABOLIQUE. This thriller from Henri-Georges Clouzot, which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women, the fragile wife and the willful mistress of the sadistic headmaster of a boys’ boarding school, who hatch a daring revenge plot. With its unprecedented narrative twists and terrifying images, DIABOLIQUE is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking, featuring outstanding performances by Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, and Paul Meurisse.
-
Diabolique
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot • 1955 • France
Starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul MeurisseBefore PSYCHO, PEEPING TOM, and REPULSION, there was DIABOLIQUE. This thriller from Henri-Georges Clouzot, which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women, the fragil...
Extras
-
DIABOLIQUE Selected Scene Commentary
In this new video piece, French-film scholar Kelley Conway, the author of “Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in 1930s French Film,” analyzes several scenes from DIABOLIQUE, exploring Henri-Georges Clouzot’s themes and unique visual style.
-
Serge Bromberg on Henri-Georges Clouzot
In this 2011 introduction, film preservationist and historian Serge Bromberg, director of HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT’S ”INFERNO,” a 2009 documentary about Clouzot’s legendary uncompleted film, talks about how the filmmaker put his unique visual stamp on DIABOLIQUE.
-
Kim Newman on DIABOLIQUE
In this interview, shot in London in 2010, novelist and film critic Kim Newman discusses how the groundbreaking DIABOLIQUE has influenced countless horror films, including Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO. Newman’s books include “The Hound of the d’Urbervilles: The Crime-Book of Professor Moriarty” and ...
-
Double Exposure: DIABOLIQUE and PSYCHO
Two takes on how DIABOLIQUE’s bathtub murder influenced PSYCHO’s shower scene.
-
Three Reasons: DIABOLIQUE
-
Queersighted: Queer Fear
This new conversation between critic and programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, discussing the films in Queersighted: Queer Fear, was recorded in 2020.