Rating: 
Summary: great film - quirky subtitles
Review: This is a great film, and I agree with all the other reviewers who said this. It was good enough to make it worth watching on the horrible VHS version. But the picture quality on this DVD is a dream. Wonderful. BUT - I did have some trouble with the subtitles. Occasionally they would "stick", and the titles would no longer advance with the film. This happened about three times during my viewing of the DVD. The fix is just to go immediately to the menu and return. This minor nuisance is not enough to make this a less than worthwhile purchase. Enjoy!
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Summary: A state of art thriller !
Review: This is an intriguing and complex feminist thriller . The multiple dramatic angles overpass all the previous considerations in the French Cinema and with the glorious exception of The postman always rings twice of Tay Garnett in USA and the Italian version Ossesione of Luchino Visconti in 1943 based on James Cain ` s novel , this scary movie will show the scrupulous chess game for murder planned for two women .
Simone Signoret will prove you once more why she was the most outstanding and prominent French actress through the XX Century , four years before her consecrated in USA with her more than deserved Academy Award by A room in the top.
Vera Clouzot is fine too . Superbly directed for Henri Georges Clouzot the same film maker who made that giant masterpiece Wages of fear , four years ago.
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Summary: An absolutely relentless film that will stop your heart!
Review: This is one of my favorite films, and of course, Criterion is now on board with the definitive version of this wonderfully complex thriller. No matter how many times you've seen it, you will never be able to guess where the twists and turns come from because they never let up. The story of a womanizing school headmaster who is brutal to both his wife and his mistress has shocked and influenced both filmmakers and audiences since it was first released in 1954. After the women decide to do away with the beast, the fun starts and bodies start disappearing and, well, to give anything else away to those who have not seen the film would be criminal on my part. Henri-George Clouzot's masterpiece will tickle anybody who loves intelligent horror. The film is expertly mounted, lit, and is accompanied by an eerie, smoky score that accompany the amazing images perfectly. Avoid the terrible Hollywood remake and get this incredible film in Criterion's deluxe edition, which is up to their usual excellent standards. In French with English subtitles.
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Summary: THE ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE....
Review: This is the original Henri Clouzot shocker from 1955 that has been imitated but never duplicated. Avoid the Sharon Stone remake. There is no comparison. This tense tale of two female schoolteachers at an abysmal school for boys who do away with the tyrannical headmaster (who is married to the weak one and lovers with the stronger one) has been masterfully presented by Criterion. The grim b&w photography and the dismal school create the perfect creepy mood for this tale of murder and irony. Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot (the director's wife) are the doomed pair who plot the almost perfect crime---only to find mounting evidence that their victim has returned. The classic nerve-wracking climax and spooky ending still hold up well. Don't miss this wonderful chiller. They truly don't make 'em like this anymore.
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Summary: A great mystery film with Hitchcock elements
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.This film, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the greatest French mystery films I have seen. In the film, a school principal is very mean to his wife and mistress. They team up to drown him and dump his body in a pool. Later they begin to suspect that he wasn't dead when they dumped him in the pool. The film has a surprise ending that I will not reveal as it would be considered a spoiler. The DVD dies not have any special features, but is still a really good film. The film had a remake done in 1996 with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. I have not seen the remake but intend to sometime soon.
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Summary: "Les Diaboliques"
Review: This review refers to the Criterion Collection DVD edition of "Diabolique"(1955 FR)....
Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Paul Meurisse and Charles Vanel turn in chilling and outstanding performances in this fine French thriller. "Diabolique" AKA "Les Diaboliques"(The Devils) is a wonderful piece of filmnoir that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire story.
Christina Delassalle runs a provincial school for boys. Her husband Michel is the very stern pricipal of the school. He is abusing her physically and verbally, but she is timid, weakened with a heart condition and very much under his thumb. She is not alone though. Nicole, a teacher at the school, is having an affair with Michel, and although she has quite a strong presence, she also turns up with a blackened eye, now and then. The two very different woman form an alliance and plan the demise of the man who is making their lives so miserable. The plan is elaborate but full-proof, they have their alibis, and everything goes off without a hitch..until...the body has disappeared from the pool they dumped it in..oops! And so this very chilling mystery begins.
The film is hypnotic with its fine intrigue and suspense. Shot in black and white, the shadows and light add a mysterious feeling. The music by Georges Van Parys is haunting and pulls you into the web right from the start. It is artfully directed by H.G. Clouzot and one that even though you know the surprise twists and ending, you will want to watch often.
I was really glad to see this on DVD. I would always watch it whenever I saw it coming on Turner. The transfer is presented in the original theatrical aspect(1.33:1) It was "created from a 35mm fine-grain composite master. Made from a restored Negative" So how does it look?...
Considering this is a 50 year old foreign film, I'd say ..pretty darn good! It is not as crystal clear as some of the others of the era, there are some specks here and there, but mostly the picture was more then decent and the black and white images crisp. The DD Mono was clear and distinct at all times. There is a nice insert with notes,chapters, and credits.The film is presented in the original French language track and has optional English subtitles(very nice and clear).
A must have for your thriller or foreign film collection...
Merci....Laurie
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Summary: The Greatest Film Hitchcock Never Made.
Review: Vera Clouzot stars as Chritina Delasalle, the abused mousy wife of Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse), the tyranical headmaster of a run-down French boarding school for boys. Despite being the rightful owner as well as a teacher at the school, Christina lives in terror of her husband, fearing violent reprisal should she leave him or try to stand up to him. She does not even protest when her husband has an affair with another teacher at the school, Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret). However, when Nicole experiences the violent wrath of Mr. Delasalle, the two women deside it is time to get rid of the man who has caused them so much misery. The plan seems to be a success. Michel is drugged, drowned, and then tossed in the school swimming pool. But when the pool is drained, no body is found and the women feel Michel's presence more than ever. This truly classic chiller builds to one of the most frightening and suspenseful climaxes I've ever seen. It's also got one of filmdoms greatest twist endings which I wouldn't dream of revealing. Michel Delasalle is one of the most despicable men ever portrayed. Besides treating both his wife and mistress badly, he is also a miser. Despite being wealthy, he never makes any repairs to the old rotting school and buys rotten food for sale and serves it to the entire school. For that matter, few characters enlist any real sympathy. Michel's mistress Nicole is a hard, ruthless woman, Christina is weak and submissive, and the kids are all brats. Word has it that Hitchcock was so impressed by this film that he wanted to remake it. Instead, the authors of the book on which this film was based wrote "D'entre les Morts" which Hitchcock would make into his masterpiece, "Vertigo". "Diabolique" has a very Hitchcockian feel to it what with the story line and the direction but without the Bernard Herman score or the humor. The film seems to have influenced Hitchcock's "Psycho" in a lot of ways. Certain things like the black & white cinematography, the place where the murder takes place, the way the body is disposed, the nosy private eye, and the twist ending are all highly reminicent of "Psycho". Film students would do well to compare the two. For everyone else, this film would make great Halloween viewing.
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Summary: THIS IS THE ORIGIN OF ALL TWIST ENDING STORIES
Review: WHAT AN ENJOYABLE TIME I HAD WATCHING DIABOLIQUE! THIS MOVIE IS A CLASSIC MYSTERY AND IN THE END I DON'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BE REALLY SUPRISED.ACTUALLY IT IS REALLY EASY TO PREDICT THE TWIST MUCH BEFORE YOU COME TO THE END BUT STILL THIS IS A GREAT PICTURE WITH A MARVELLOUS CAST FROM A VERY TALENTED FRENCH DIRECTOR . THE ONLY REASON I GIVE 4 STARS TO THIS DVD IS NOT BECAUSE THE MOVIE DESERVES IT BUT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF SUPPLEMENTS.IF YOU LIKE MYSTERIES,JUST BUY IT EYES CLOSED.
Rating: 
Summary: I used to like it, then I changed my mind
Review: When I first saw this film several years ago, I thought "Wow, what a great film! Very Hitchcock-like, and well paced...." I just saw it again last week and thought, "What was I thinking?" The pacing is slow and dreary, and the acting isn't even all that great. The plot, while interesting, is not well executed and dragged like crazy. We're asked to suspend WAY too much reality in order to buy the multiple twists at the end. (SPOILERS AHEAD) First of all, how in the world did that dead man manage to stay under water for that long without gasping for air? It's never explained to us. After that, was his body somehow replaced before being shoved into the crate and driven back to the estate, or did the (live) man actually live and breathe in that box, wrapped in plastic, for the entire drive back? And the biggest incredible suspension of belief factor in this movie: If the cops were on to the bad guys for so long, WHY, OH WHY, would they sit back and WAIT until they've killed the headmistress of shock before they emerge from the shadows to arrest them? I mean, an integral part of the conniving scheme was thinking that this woman was too weak of heart to do much on her own; surely if the cops had figured out the scheme they would have interceded BEFORE someone else had to die, right? Even worse is that it all happens within the space of minutes: Headmistress sees husband (whom she thought was dead), headmistress keels over and dies, and cop emerges from the shadows. Hey, copper, could you not have stepped forward just a few seconds earlier, when you might have been able to save her life? A decent movie, but nothing terribly special.
Rating: 
Summary: Sub-par for Criterion
Review: With all the wonderful, high-quality disks I've bought from the Criterion Collection, I was markedly disappointed with this one. While the movie was fantastically eerie and deserving of four stars(although I believe Hitchcock would have done a much finer, more suspenseful, 5-star job), the quality of the print was far inferior to every other Criterion disc I've bought thus far. The film is quite scratchy and has some very noticeable flaws throughout. After such fine discs as The Third Man, The 39 Steps, and The Lady Vanishes, the quality of this more recent film was a disappointment.
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