A classic film that continues to shock even today, Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques (The Devils)" is a film that effectively combines suspense and horror predating psychological horror films that would eventually evolve into the modern slasher films of the present.
The film takes place in a French all boy's boarding school run by it's cruel philandering headmaster Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse), he rules the school with an iron fist but it actually belongs to his suffering wife Christina (Véra Clouzot). Michel enjoys torturing his Christina and even flaunts his relationship with another teacher in the school Nicole (Simone Signoret) whom he also abuses. But even with Christine and Nicole's situation they share a common hatred of Michel, together they hatch a plan to be free of Michel by means of murder.
They go into Nicole's home in a distant village with Christine threatening divorce over the phone, the angered Michel makes his trip into the village and pleads with Christine but all of this is staged to kill Michel. Christine manages to sedate Michel and they drown him in a bathtub, the duo then drags Michel's body inside a huge box and dumps him in the school's swimming pool making it look like an accident.
The real fun begins when they were unable to find Michel's body after the pool is drained, suddenly he starts appearing in places and even sends his pressed suit back to the school. Christine and Nicole becomes paranoid and tries to fit the pieces together and find out if someone knew their secret or if Michel really came back as a ghost to haunt them.
The film is probably one of the scariest films I have seen lately not because of it's story but because of the mystery of the person who really knows what's going on and who's pulling the strings to scare the 2 women. The 2 other teachers of the school were also suspects because they were the ones who could benefit the most if Christine and Nicole are sent to jail, the nosy detective Alfred Fichet (Charles Vanel) seems the most eager to help but may also have his own agenda but nevertheless he is the authority figure that could be the main culprit of these happenings.
What worked for the film is how we see the situation seem to boil over then cools down and starts all over again, clearly Clouzot made the most of the story and kept the audience guessing until the end. What also helped was the black and white cinematography emphasizing the horror and the captured moments seemed all the more haunting than it should be.
I'm already used to cliches, formulaic endings and double crosses on suspense films but even with this film's premise I was still shocked by it's ending and I found myself clapping at the end. What also made the film interesting is the seemingly lesbian relationship between Nicole and Christina, Nicole being the taller more robust woman represents the male in the relationship and Christina being the fragile submissive other half.
This may not have been implied in the novel Celle qui n'était plus (She Who Was No More) where the film was based on but Clouzot gave strong possibilities on certain scenes. The film's influence is also undeniable and famed master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock himself cited "Les Diaboliques" as an inspiration to his greatest film "Psycho", notice the similarities when the putrid pool is drained to uncover the body as it bears resemblance in "Psycho's" ending when the car in the swamps were towed. Even the "No snitching on the ending" policy of the film was adopted by Hitchkock when "Psycho" was released urging moviegoers to come on time. Both directors focuses on the scum and mud that resembles the shroud covering the evil that has been committed in both films, clearly both films are in a high pedestal today and seen as classics in their own right.
Grade: A+
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