Les diaboliques/Diabolique (1955)

Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic French thriller gets a Hollywood makeover in this glossy remake. Guy Baran (Chazz Palminteri) is the dull, loutish headmaster of a private school that has seen better days. While Guy oversees the day to day operations, the school is actually owned by his wife Mia (Isabelle Adjani), whose spirit has been crushed by Guy's casual cruelty and whose health is frail. Guy has been openly having an affair with one of his teachers, Nicole Horner (Sharon Stone), who has almost as much contempt for Guy as Mia. Mia and Nicole eventually join forces against their common enemy and plan to murder him and conceal the evidence. However, while the killing goes as planned, Guy's body mysteriously disappears from the carefully chosen spot where it was dumped, and when a chatty detective, Shirley Vogel (Kathy Bates) begins asking questions, both women begin to wonder who knows what about their murderous scheme. This was the third remake of Les Diaboliques, following two made-for-TV adaptations, Reflection of Murder and House of Secrets.

L'instituteur Michel Delasalle, un homme odieux et tyrannique, dirige à Saint Cloud un pensionnat pour garçons, secondé par sa femme Christina et sa maîtresse Nicole. Les deux femmes décident de se débarrasser de Delasalle, le noient dans la baignoire et jettent son corps dans la piscine. Mais le cadavre disparaît. Désormais, d'étranges phénomènes surviennent dans l'établissement et laissent croire que Michel aurait pu survivre.

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Stars: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Meurisse
Production land: France
Premiere Date: 29 January 1955 France
IMDb - 8.3 (17247 votes)