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People love horror movies. As much as they fail to accept it when a discussion about cinema’s horrific impact comes up, one can’t think about movies without the horror genre involved in some way. If cinema is like a stimulus, horror movies must be the greatest catalyst to get a reaction out of a viewer. Are you looking for a good old-fashioned scare-fest while sitting on your couch? HBO Max can be your next big destination for horror movies.

The streaming service has a stacked-up catalog of horror movies from all possible eras. The following list mostly looks at those Horror Movies on HBO Max that, in some way, defined the genre. But even beyond the scope of this list and the flavors explored here, lie many contemporary faces of horror on the streamer. From the slow-burning existential tension of I Saw the TV Glow and The Lighthouse...

Layered psychological horror-thrillers that evade cliché tropes can be hard to come by. Classic thrillers such as "Psycho" and "Repulsion" come to mind, as these films managed to unsettle audiences with their unconventional twists and evocative visual language. However, the psychological thriller genre owes a massive debt to Henri‑Georges Clouzot, whose 1955 thriller, "Diabolique," etched a benchmark like no other. Unraveling like a maze with several dead-ends and false exits, the central mystery in "Diabolique" is exquisite to behold to this day. In fact, the film's legacy is so undeniable that several filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, were inspired by Clouzot's work. "Diabolique" is a chilling murder-suspense tale that is still replicated in loose adaptations and contemporary remakes.

From the get-go, "Diabolique" sets up Michel (Paul Meurisse) as a monstrous figure whose cruelty knows no end. He's emotionally abusive toward the boys at his boarding school and treats his wife Christine (Vera Clouzot) with great disdain.

(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.) The Movie: Les Diaboliques Where You Can Stream It: Amazon Prime The Pitch: An unlikely alliance is formed between the frail wife (Vera Clouzot) of a cruel boarding school headmaster (Paul Meurisse) and […]

The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘Les Diaboliques’ is the Best Suspense Film Hitchcock Never Directed appeared first on /Film.

Jean-Pierre Melville’s most accomplished, most personal movie gets a new reissue. Ignored in 1969 and released in the United States only 37 years later, this somber, ultra-realistic look at the French resistance has never been equalled. Forget thrilling adventure tales with daring escapes, patriotic oaths and beautiful spies; Melville presents resistance activities in the Occupied territory as a fearful grind leading in one direction only. Criterion’s extras include an interview piece with historical operatives, who still argue points of strategy.

Army of Shadows

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 385

1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 145 min. / L’Armée des ombres / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 7, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier, Serge Reggiani, André Dewavrin.

Cinematography: Pierre Lhomme, Walter Wottitz

Film Editor: Françoise Bonnot

Original Music: Eric De Marsan

Written by Jean-Pierre Melville from the novel by Joseph Kessel

Produced by Jacques Dorfmann

Directed...

Brigitte Bardot proved her mettle as a dramatic actress in H.G. Clouzot’s strikingly pro-feminist courtroom epic, that puts the modern age of ‘immoral’ permissiveness on trial. Is Bardot’s selfish, sensation-seeking young lover an oppressed victim? Clouzot makes her the author of her own problems yet doesn’t let her patriarchal inquisitors off the hook.

La vérité

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 960

1960 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 128 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 12, 2019 / 39.95

Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Sami Frey, Marie-JoséNat, Jean-Loup Reynold, André Oumansky, Claude Berri, Jacques Perrin, Jacques Marin. Fernand Ledoux.

Cinematography: Armand Thirard

Film Editor: Albert Jurgenson

Written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Simone Drieu, Michèle Perrein, Jérôme Géronimi, Christiane Rochefort, Véra Clouzot

Produced by Raoul Lévy

Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot

H.G. Clouzot mesmerized audiences with the political outrage of The Wages of Fear and the riveting horror-suspense of Diabolique, but his intellectual,...

The Walking Dead, Stranger Things and even Brooklyn Nine-Nine are all getting into the Halloween spirit, but if you’re searching far and wide for a spooky movie marathon, Tobin Bell has now chimed in with his recommendations. Yes, the Tobin Bell, perhaps better known to you as Jigsaw, the twisted old serial killer who’s got a thing for playing games.

While speaking with Rotten Tomatoes to promote his latest film, which just so happens to be the Saw franchise’s newest installment, Jigsaw (our review here), the actor touched on his favorite horror movies, choosing such classics as Psycho and The Exorcist as some of the ones he really digs.

Here’s his full rundown on why he loves these flicks:

Diabolique (Les Diaboliques)

An old French film with Simone Signoret, and I think Paul Meurisse is in it. It’s the film that terrified me as child,...

Born 1917, as Jean-Pierre Grumbach, son of Alsatian Jews, Jean-Pierre adopted the name Melville as his nom de guerre in 1940 when France fell to the German Nazis and he joined the French Resistance. He kept it as his stage name when he returned to France and began making films.

Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.

Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood

The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.

The Eighth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-produced by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema.

The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations, and we’re especially pleased to present Jacques Rivette’s long-unavailable epic Out 1: Spectre Additional restoration highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s A Married Woman and Max Ophüls’ too-little-seen From Mayerling To Sarajevo. Both Ophüls’ film and Louis Malle’s Elevator To The Gallows – with a jazz score by St. Louis-area native Miles Davis — screen from 35mm prints. All films will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (47- E. Lockwood)

Music fans will further delight in the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra’s accompaniment and original score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s...

It’s the moment you wait for the entire horror film. It’s not just a plot twist or a payoff but a trigger to your deepest emotions. You want to be shocked and sickened and saddened when the killer is revealed, the hero suddenly dies, or the mystery is solved. Most of all, you want your jaw to be on the floor. **Spoilers obviously ahead**

****

The Brood (1979)- Mommy knows best

David Cronenberg’s third horror film is his first truly great movie and also his first superbly acted film. The Brood’s ensemble is solid but Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar stand out as maverick doctor Hal Raglan and his disturbed patient Nola Carveth. Nola’s estranged husband Frank (played by Art Hindle) teams up with Dr. Raglan in the film’s suspenseful climax. He confronts Nola while Raglan attempts to rescue Frank’s young daughter from a group of murderous deformed children.

Earlier this week, we gave you details on first wave of special experiences and events taking place at the 2015 Stanley Film Festival. We now have details on their impressive slate of features, short films, and additional special events, including screenings of The Final Girls, Deathgasm, Stung, The Invitation, and We Are Still Here.

We're teaming up with the festival for live coverage and special opportunities for Daily Dead readers, so be sure to check back all month for contests, features, and more.

"April 2, 2014 (Denver, Co) - The Stanley Film Festival (Sff) produced by the Denver Film Society (Dfs) and presented by Chiller, announced today its Closing Night film, Festival lineup and the 2015 Master of Horror. The Festival will close out with The Final Girls. The film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, is the story of a young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s,...

Movies 30-21

30. The Sixth Sense (1999) directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Before he spiraled into a critical nose-dive from which he’s yet to recover, M. Night Shyamalan was heralded as the next great American filmmaker. (No, seriously.) Before his gimmickry become obvious–all the twist endings, the important details withheld, trickery in lieu of genuine cleverness–Shyamalan crafted a genuine masterpiece that remains as potent as ever, regardless of the spoiling of its sneaky surprises. Bruce Willis has never approached the grace and subtlety of his performance here; his empathetic, sorrowful turn as a child psychologist searching for redemption deserved an Oscar nod. Maybe he woulda gotten one had this movie not come out in the insanely good movie year of our lord 1999. Willis is matched every step of the way by Haley Joel Osment, giving one of the great childhood performances, and lending credence to lines that could have...

In an odd turn of events, this list has a number of films that don’t have English-language titles. They just go by whatever the original title was. Good for us. What we do see in this portion of the list is a few movies that weren’t really created specifically to be horror films, but their themes and visuals made it so. In addition, we have some heavyweights of non-horror cinema creating horror films that push the genre all the more upward. “Thinking man horror,” if you will.

20. Le locataire (1976)

English Language Title: The Tenant

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski has made one of the greatest horror “trilogies” of all time with 1965′s British production Repulsion, 1968′s American production Rosemary’s Baby, and 1976′s French production The Tenant, completing his “Apartment Trilogy.” Unlike the other two, Polanski actually stars in The Tenant as Trelkovsky, a reserved man renting an apartment in Paris.

Director of witty French comedy-thrillers

Since the dawn of cinema, France has simultaneously and uninterruptedly produced good mainstream movies and arthouse films. Georges Lautner, who has died aged 87, unabashedly claimed that the almost 50 films he directed from 1958 to 1992 belong to the former category. Lautner's mainly cops-and-robbers movies were among the most popular films ever made in France.

"I didn't want glory or to make masterpieces but popular films that would please the greatest number," he once explained. "International recognition didn't interest me. I was passionate at what I did with my faithful team. We made the films we wanted as quickly as possible. But with time, my commercial films appear almost intellectual."

Lautner's underestimated films were never invited to Cannes until, in 2012, the festival put together a belated "Homage to Georges Lautner". His death prompted President François Hollande to declare that his films had "become part of the cinematic heritage...

Les Diaboliques

Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot

Written by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jérôme Géronimi

France, 1955

There are few who can claim to have beaten Alfred Hitchcock to the punch at anything, but French director, Henri-Georges Clouzot, proudly can.

When Clouzot decided to buy the filming rights to Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s novel, Celle qui n’était plus (She Who Was No More), he beat out the next highest bidder, the master of suspense himself, by only a matter of hours, and in Clouzot’s subsequent movie adaptation, we can fully understand their mutual interest.

Serpentine, bitter, manipulative, and cruel to an uncompromising extreme, Les Diaboliques is a masterpiece in its own right, but will be forever known as the greatest film that Hitchcock almost made.

At an all-boys boarding school, two female teachers struggle to survive under the oppressive and barbarous management of the despotic headmaster, Michel (Paul Meurisse...

While New Yorkers have plenty of opportunity to see classic films on the big screen, you'll be hard pressed to find a lineup as front to back awesome as the Film Society Of Lincoln Center's "15 For 15: Celebrating Rialto Pictures."

The series honors the reknowned arthouse distribution shingle founded in 1997 that has brought some of the best known (and previously unknown) classics of cinema to American audiences. And the selection here by programmers Scott Foundas, Eric Di Bernardo and Adrienne Halpern represents the breadth and scope of the films Rialto has put their stamp on, ranging from the French New Wave ("Breathless") to film noir ("Rififi") to comedy ("Billy Liar") and more. There is something here for everybody and with the series kicking off tonight, we've got a special prize for some lucky readers.

Courtesy of Film Society Of Lincoln Center, we've got a copy of the excellent Rialto DVD...

Paulette Dubost, known as the "Dean of French Cinema," and an actress in films directed by Jean Renoir, Marcel L'Herbier, Jacques Tourneur, Julien Duvivier, Max Ophüls, Preston Sturges, François Truffaut, Louis Malle, and Marcel Carné, died of "natural causes" on Sept. 21 in the Parisian suburb of Longjumeau. The Paris-born Dubost had turned 100 years old on October 8, 2010. Dubost's show business career began at the age of seven, performing various duties at the Paris Opera. Following some stage training, her film debut took place in 1931 in Wilhelm Thiele's Le bal, which also marked the film debut of Danielle Darrieux (who's still around and still active). Ultimately, Dubost's film career was to span more than seven decades, during which time she was featured in over 140 movies. She is probably best remembered as the adulterous chambermaid Lisette in Jean Renoir's 1939 comedy-drama La règle du jeu / The Rules of the Game, considered by...

Time is an annoying thing, it ticks away, aging us all and leaving behind things we meant to do, but never got around to. This is a statement that can be related to just about anything in our short lives, but in this case it happens to be my opening for a large batch of Criterion Collection Blu-rays I, shamefully, never got around to fully reviewing after mentioning them in my weekly DVD and Blu-ray columns. For some of you that is enough, for others you would like more, this is my attempt to clean off the shelves and start anew.

Let's get started...

Diabolique

Thanks to my trip to the Cannes Film Festival I got so backed up with my Criterion reviews I was never able to recover, so I'm heading as far back as May 17, when Criterion issued brand new DVD and Blu-ray editions of Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique,...

According to a title card at the end of Laissez-Passer, Bertrand Tavernier's fact-based drama of the French film industry in wartime, Maurice Tourneur hated the scripts of the few movies he made post-wwii. So there's that.

But his last film, Impasse des Deux Anges (1948), fascinates. If the script has a flaw, it's that it takes a very simple, predictable story (actress runs away from groom the night before her marriage, with an old lover who's also a jewel thief—pursued through the night by gangsters, they conclude their relationship so she can move on) and attempts to reinvigorate it at regular intervals with dizzying tonal shifts, implausible new characters and sub-plots, and ghostly, somnambular flashbacks. But the flaw is also a strength, since it makes the film jazzy, offbeat and strange.

As the "two angels" (though the title really refers to a dead-end street where they made love in...

“Don’t be diabolical. Don’t spoil the film for your friends by telling them what happens. Thanks on their behalf.”

Those are the words of Henri-Georges Clouzot at the end of the film, Les Diaboliques. For good reason too, the film is a murder mystery. Not because of who has killed who; we’re told that information right away in the film. The true mystery is what occurs throughout the second half, which makes Les Diaboliques one of the classics, not only in the horror genre but in film in general. It’s no surprise that Clouzot was called the ‘French Hitchcock’, but I think of the man as more of his own filmmaker, not taking from another.

We are introduced to Christina Delasalle (Véra Clouzot), wife of Michel (Paul Meurisse) who is having an affair with Nicole (Simone Signoret). Sounds like a typical film, but what makes it...

Chicago – One of The Criterion Collection’s most successful and beloved titles has long been Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Diabolique,” a 1955 classic that has inspired countless films, among them Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece “Psycho.” The company has given the film the upgrade to HD while also re-releasing it with new packaging and special features on standard DVD as well. We got our hands on the latter and can say that this once-discontinued entry in the Criterion Collection has made a triumphant return.

DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

What more is there to say about “Diabolique”? It’s a classic thriller, one of the best of its kind that’s ever been made. With spectacular twists and turns, this is arguably Clouzot’s masterpiece, a film that rewards and shocks every single time you see it. (My love for “The Wages of Fear,” another great Criterion Collection film, is the only thing that cautions me...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Pirates of the Caribbean: on Stranger Tides – Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane

Movie of the Week

Pirates of the Caribbean: on Stranger Tides

The Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane

The Plot: Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.

The Buzz: Who dares to release a film on the same day as the next Pirates film? No one dares. Well, slight correction — Woody Allen dares, but Midnight in Paris is a limited release. Really looking forward to that one too…but back on task…

I will admit my bias, as I absolutely adored the first three Pirates films, but that aside, this film’s first trailer knocked my socks off. Though it be a mere trailer, it had it all: Jack Sparrow (the...

By Vadim Rizov

American movies, for whatever reason, are low on killings that take place in bathtubs and swimming pools. The French, on the other hand, have several films that famously make soaking yourself in water a charged event: 1969's La Piscine has a brutal pool-side forced drowning, and the centerpiece of Diabolique is a messy tub murder. The atmosphere is fetid from the opening shot, a scum-level view of a pool, which becomes increasingly important after Christina (Vera Clouzot) and Nicole (Simone Signoret) kill Christina's brutal husband, school headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse), and dump his corpse in the pool. When it doesn't rise to the top, the pool is drained, revealing a striking lack of dead people. Where's Michel? Numerous shots of puddles large and small hammer the question home.

Nominally a thriller, Diabolique (newly re-released on DVD in a digitally restored print via Criterion) is a pitch-dark...

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les diaboliques was completely unavailable on home video for decades.  It wasn't until 1999 when it was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection that many people finally got to see the film.  Now, in 2011, we have Arrow Academy bringing the film in high-definition for the very first time in a decked out special edition.  Does Arrow's treatment of the film do it justice?  Absolutely, the film has never looked or sounded better.  Though the years have certainly taken their toll on the source material, Les diaboliques remains worthwhile thriller that stands with the best of them.Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse) is a very bad husband.   He married Christina (Vera Clouzot) for her money, but along with that money came the family...

I became aware of Les Diaboliques as part of my Uni based Hitchcock obsession, and the discovery that rights for the novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac were almost bought by Hitch ensured that I had to track down this film.

That the film took me out of my self imposed exile on Planet Hitchcock is testament to the power at play here, the film seduced me from the outset and twisted my emotions and expectations through the story of murder, paranoia and terror. Revisiting the film on this beautiful Blu-ray, released today, compounds my feelings on the film. It still has that power.

Henri-Georges Clouzot cast his wife Vera opposite the immaculate presence of Simone Signoret as the wife and mistress of the domineering and abusive headmaster Delassalle, played by Paul Meurisse. They hatch a plot to murder the man, to free themselves. I can’t go into...

Submarine (15)

(Richard Ayoade, 2010, UK/Us) Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Noah Taylor. 97 mins

Ayoade evidently did his homework before stepping behind the camera, swotting up on everything from the French New Wave to The Graduate to Wes Anderson, but the result is a fresh and distinctly British-flavoured coming-of-ager, full of provincial frustrations and recognisable types. The story takes few risks – an intelligent Welsh schoolkid's quest for self-definition and sexual adventure – but Submarine works hard to earn our affections with a mix of sincerity, energy and impeccable comic timing.

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (12A)

(Woody Allen, 2010, UK/Us) Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones. 98 mins

The ever-scrappier Allen observes life's frivolities with a bemused but cheerless eye in a London comedy whose great cast compensates for the fatalistic outlook.

Route Irish (15)

(Ken Loach, 2010, UK/Fra/Ita/Bel/Spa) Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop. 109 mins

Loach considers the physical...

Welcome rerelease for Henri-Georges Clouzot French suspense classic of 1955, with a powerful performance by Simone Signoret. By Peter Bradshaw

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Diaboliques, from 1955, is now on rerelease. The icily brilliant suspense thriller about a bathroom murder is said to have inspired Alfred Hitchcock to make Psycho, but I suspect Hitchcock may also have been fascinated by the Patrick-Hamiltonish nature of the plot and its final twist. The director's wife, Véra Clouzot, plays Christina, the abused wife of Michel, a loathsome prep-school headmaster, superbly played by Paul Meurisse – a man openly having an affair with a teacher, Nicole (Simone Signoret), whom he is notorious for abusing quite as much as his wife. So Christina plots with Nicole to murder her husband, and square-jawed, square-shouldered Signoret plays the dominant "masculine" role in the plot, while scared, submissive Christina goes along with it. Satisfying, elegant and nasty.

Rating: 5/5

ThrillerPeter Bradshaw

guardian.

Criterion is re-releasing Diabolique on Blu-ray and DVD May 17th. The 1955 French film will get the Special Edition treatment, and here’s the extras:

* New digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)

* Selected-scene commentary by French-film scholar Kelley Conway

* New video introduction by Serge Bromberg, codirector of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Inferno”

* New video interview with novelist and film critic Kim Newman

* Original theatrical trailer

* Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty

For those, left in the dark, the film was directed by Henri-Georges Clouzo and here’s Criterion‘s synopsis: “Before Psycho, Peeping Tom, and Repulsion, there was Diabolique. This thriller from Henri‑Georges Clouzot, which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women—the fragile wife and the willful mistress of the sadistic headmaster of a boys’ boarding school—who hatch a daring revenge plot. With...

Chicago – Imagine working on the most ambitious, personal artistic endeavor of your life only to watch the most unusual circumstances of fate tear it away from the public eye. Such was the case with 1969’s excellent “Army of Shadows,” a film that took 37 years to find an audience stateside. Released in U.S. theaters for the first time in 2006, Jean-Pierre Melville’s fascinating tale of the French Resistance has now been given the Criterion Blu-ray upgrade and firmly stands as the excellent piece of work that it should have been recognized as for the last several decades.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

Like its characters, “Army of Shadows” fell victim to politics, revolution, misunderstanding, and a bit of propaganda. The film was released in France shortly after a quelled uprising in 1968 had turned President De Gaulle into an enemy of the cultural revolution. The immensely-powerful Cahier du Cinema read the film as a...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

The Dilemma – Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder

The Green Hornet – Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz

The Heart Specialist – Wood Harris, Zoe Saldana, Brian J. White (limited)

Movie of the Week

The Green Hornet

The Stars: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz

The Plot: Following the death of his father, Britt Reid (Rogen) teams up with his late father’s assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

The Buzz: This looks to be an off-weekend for Hollywood. The Green Hornet is the ‘Movie of the Week’ only because I’m in the mood to rant, and because I don’t want to rant about the latest Vince Vaughn romcom, and because I know absolutely zippo about The Heart Specialist.

So…

I believe The Green Hornet will likely be the ‘B.O. Bomb of the Week.’ Based on its horrible trailer,...

Deep End

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the British Film Institute:

Make film your New Year resolution

BFI Southbank – BFI Distribution – BFI Festivals – BFI IMAX – BFI DVD – BFI Membership BFI Online – BFI Filmstore – BFI Mediatheques – BFI Gallery – Sight & Sound 2011 is set to become a landmark year for the BFI and this will be reflected in the broad and diverse range of film offerings for audiences across the UK. From film and television premieres and seasons at BFI Southbank, the most eclectic range of DVDs and nationwide theatrical releases by the most influential artists of British and world cinema, to a free insight into the BFI Archive via the Mediatheques around the country and online, there is something to entertain, educate and inspire anyone who loves film. BFI Southbank Great Auteurs – seasons include Howard Hawks (Jan/Feb), Francois Truffaut (Feb/March) Nicolas Roeg (March), Terence Rattigan (April...

Chicago – What truly defines a master of suspense? Is it the skill of keeping an audience’s attention rapt with slick pacing, elaborately designed set-pieces, and a whopper of a twist ending? Or is it simply the ability to viscerally convey the psychological trap of a character until the audience feels confined within it, and every onscreen gasp, scream and shiver becomes the viewer’s own?

Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the few filmmakers in cinema history who not only warrants comparison to the legendary Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, but deserves to be considered his equal (both men were greatly fond of storyboards). Though he only made a quarter as many pictures during his career, which spanned nearly four decades, he made some of the most influential and spellbinding thrillers ever made, including two renowned masterpieces, 1953’s “The Wages of Fear” and 1955’s “Diabolique.” The latter film certainly...

Many might find L'armée des ombres extremely boring. In fact, for a film about the French resistance against Nazi occupation during WWII (1939-1945), the film pratically doesn't have any action scenes. However, if you're patient enough, you'll appreciate L'armée des ombres (which is adapted from a novel of Joseph Kessel) that explores the bottom of the leading protagonists' heart.

Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), an engineer and a suspected resistant, is put behind bars by the French police. Afterwards, he's handed to the Gestapo's headquarters in Paris because he knows a lot of things. Philippe manages to escape and flee to Marseille in order to meet with fellow resistants. Moreover, he'll eliminate the traitor who caused his imprisonment. However, the Gestapo will try to not only arrest Philippe, but also his companions.

Let's be honest: the pace of Jean-Pierre Melville's film is really slow from the beginning to the end.

The New York Film Critics Circle, the nation's old est association of movie reviewers, turns 75 this year; and the Museum of Modern Art is marking the occasion with a 12-week series (Friday through Sept. 23) of award-winning films, each one chosen by a member of the group.

My choice, screening Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m., is Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1954 French thriller "Les Diaboliques," shot in black and white, which does for bathtubs what Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" does for showers.

It unfolds in...