Henri-Georges Clouzot may have been dubbed “the French Hitchcock”, but his misanthropy made the fat man look like Ron Howard. If not as sensationally sour as his earlier Le Corbeau, this adap of a novel by the authors of Vertigo still exudes a deep, detached chill. The bitter lack of humanity would be alienating if it weren’t for the vice-grip of Clouzot’s spare, control-freak craftsmanship. Sapphic undertones abound as teacher Christina (director’s wife Véra) conspires with her sadistic hubby’s mistress (Simone Signoret) to murder the miserly bastard. They dump him in the school pool; then the body goes AWOL… Professorial chat-tracker Susan Hayward goes into breathless detail over the final ‘terrorisation’, a sequence whose electric dread belies the obvious (and improbable) twist. A mechanical exercise, maybe, but what a work-out for the nerves – and leagues ahead of the diabolical Sharon Stone remake.
DVD Extras:
Audio Commentary: Insights Into Clouzot's Masterpiece of terror by Professor Susan Hayward.
