Rating: 
Summary: The Original Isn't That Much Better
Review: The only reason I originally went to see this movie was because Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani are two of my favorite actresses. Sharon Stone is at her best when she is playing the bad girl and in the remake of Les Diaboliques she is perfectly cast. I feel that I was somewhat fortunate to see the 1996 version of the movie before the "Don't mess with my classic" crowd poisoned my mind about the remake. Diablique isn't perfect but the original version had its flaws too(I saw the original after I saw the 1996 remake). For instance, I felt that in both movies that the two schemers went through way too much trouble in trying to manuver poor, fragile-hearted and weak Mia to croak over on a heart attack. Didn't anyone ever hear of the word, "Boo"? My biggest complaint about Diabolique is that Chechik didn't take more advantage of the sexual tension between Adjani and Stone, which probaly would have made the plot more believable.
Rating: 
Summary: a bargain
Review: This is (at least) the second remake of the classic French thriller, but surely its first incarnation as a comedy.
That Sharon Stone is preposterously bad should come as a surprise to nobody (howEVER did Martin Scorcese wring that great performance out of her in Casino?); the usually good Chazz Palminteri acts like Dan Ackroyd in a long, tiresome Saturday Night Live skit, and Isabelle Adjani, who has given some great performances in French films but who doesn't even look very good in this abortion, seems to be channeling Lillian Gish at her 19th-century worst: you half expect (and fully want) someone to tie her to the nearest set of railway tracks.
This putative thriller provides only one mystery: why is Shirley Knight, who yet again cannot cross a room without overacting, considered a major actress?
As for Kathy Bates, blah blah blah. She gives one of her routine performances, an exact carbon copy of which you can see in the vastly more entertaining Primary Colors. I hope she made some major bucks.
As a thriller, one star (wish it could be negative one).
As a comedy, three stars.
So two stars would seem a fitting compromise,
Rating:
Summary: Feeding the male libido
Review: This is a sexploitation thriller but not all that bad, mainly because it is played somewhat tongue-in-cheek so that the plot absurdities might be overlooked in the interest of high camp, or at least in the interest of a mild diversion, and also because the women are diabolically diverting each in her own way. Especially effective in a satirical performance is Sharon Stone as Nicole Horner, a duplicitous siren teaching math at a boy's boarding school. (Just the thought conjures up visions of a vampish Mary Kay Letoureau, although director Jeremiah Chechik studiously avoids that angle.) Her partner in crime is French actress Isabelle Adjani who plays Mia Baran, an ex-nun who is the owner of the school unhappily married to (after being seduced by, it appears) the school's sadistic task master Guy Baran played with a steady macho malevolence by Chazz Palminteri. Adjani, whom I recall (vividly) from Truffaut's L'Histoire d'Adele H. (1975) in which she played Victor Hugo's daughter Adele, obsessively in love with an English army lieutenant who didn't want her. The masochistic persona employed there is revisited here as Mia is used by both her husband and Nicole Horner, who is also Guy's mistress. Coming lately onto the scene is Kathy Bates as a man-despising, middle-aged, slightly butch Nancy Drew who doesn't let a partial mastectomy slow her down as she sleuths about looking for clues. She has some fine one-liners, but perhaps the best in the film comes from Sharon Stone. Two of the school's middle-aged bores have just come upon Stone and Adjani in the courtyard. Stone's ever-present cigarette inspires this from one of the men: "Don't you know that second-hand smoke kills?" Sharon Stone maneuvers past him, blows smoke in his face, and replies, "Not reliably." This is a remake of Les Diaboliques (1955) starring Simone Signoret which I have not seen. My guess is that the French version played it straight and made the ending at least plausible. Here we have not only a ridiculous ending but a plot in dire need of a plot doctor. I have also not seen the TV version, Reflections of Murder, starring that quintessential sex-kitten (and personal favorite) Tuesday Weld. Bottom line: see this for Isabelle Adjani, whose over the top performance is garnished with an au naturale glimpse, and for Sharon Stone who is at her diabolical best. Be aware however that if sexual exploitation of the male libido is not your cup of tea, you will not like this movie, and even if it is, you may find the story more than a bit silly.
Rating: 
Summary: The Divels !
Review: this is an amazing movie more than you think it is my best movie ever seen , and i still watch it every months some time twice .
i like the actress espcially Sharon stone (best)and Isabelle Adjani but they choosed the badest actor in this world chazz he is not suposed to act in this movie couse he is a bad actor, but it is great movie dont miss it .
Rating:
Summary: This movie was awesome, awesome , awesome!
Review: This movie totally rocked! I rented it while I was in Florida on vacation. I thought it was very well laid out and acted. I usually don't like Sharon Stone, but in this movie she was great. She and Kathy Bates had the best lines. And her wardrobe was totally to die for. Everything I read about this movie said it sucked, but I think the stupid critics who were supposed to be watching this movie were actually sleeping! I liked it so much I ordered my own copy of it. Diabolique is a definite must-rent, folks!
Rating: 
Summary: awesome...
Review: This movie was pretty good. Even though it is in french, the plot is easy to understand. It's a lot like an Alfred Hitchcock movie in a sense that it has a twisted ending. You must buy this movie.
Rating:
Summary: How come it's that boring?
Review: This movies is very boring. I saw it with my friends, and most of them ask me what is going on in the movies! Perhaps I am annoyed by my friends so I give a low rating?
Rating:
Summary: too campy to take seriously
Review: What a disappointment! A potentially good story is ruined by a sloppy execution. Sharon Stone's acting is just plain embarrassing - looks aren't everything Ms. Stone. Isabelle Adjani's talents are wasted. Time will eventually prove Adjani to be one of the greatest actresses of all time. Hopefully her mistake in choosing this film wont harm her reputation.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Masterpiece!!
Review: What a great cast! The sceenery is mystery colored and is accompanied by antique and old-school looking structures. The story line I think is very simple but extremeley complicated at the same time.
Adjani, Palmintery, Bates, Stone, are combined with ploting, scheeming, backstabbing, denial, greed and well, all the goodies! Without giving anything away, each cast mamber has the perfect role and attitude to go with it. If for any reason you dislike the cast, I'm sure this picture will change your mind. This one is definitely a movie you should'nt be without! This is a winner!!!
Rating:
Summary: Avoid the Hollywood remake and watch the original instead!
Review: Why am I even writing this review? Why are you even reading this review? This pointless film is a perfect illustration of why we should never bother with Hollywood remakes of their superior European counterparts. This 1990s update of the French classic thriller is dull and boring and utterly conventional. If you watch it, you will instantly have that "deja-vu" feeling of having seen this sort of production countless times in countless Hollywood B-grade movies. The original Diabolique, in the 1950s, was considered the best Hitchcockian thriller at the time not done by Hitchcock himself. High praise indeed. It is more suspenseful, more cinematographic, and better paced than the Hollywood update. There is really little reason to see the Hollywood version when the original is still around (heck, go rent/buy the Criterion DVD of the original!). Is there anything worthwhile about the Hollywood version? Well, if you're a Sharon Stone or Isabelle Adjani fan, I suppose you might like this film somewhat. And it's in color and you don't have to read subtitles. But really, don't waste your time.
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