Diabolique (1955) Criterion 1080p BluRay x265 HEVC AAC-SARTRE

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 its unprecedented narrative twists and terrifying images, Diabolique is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking, featuring outstanding performances by Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, and Paul Meurisse.

Extras

• Introduction - In this new introduction, film preservationist and historian Serge Bromberg, the director of Henri-George Clouzot's "Inferno", a 2009 documentary about Clouzot's legendary uncompleted film, talks about how the filmmaker put his unique visual stamp on Les diaboliques. (15 min, 720p).

• Selected-scene Commentary - In this video piece, French-film scholar Kelley Conway, the author of Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in 1930s French Film, analyzes several scenes from the Les diaboliques, exploring Henri-Georges Clouzot's themes and visual style. (45 min, 720p)

• Kim Newman - In this interview, shot in London in 2010, novelist and film critic Kim Newman discusses how the groundbreaking Les diaboliques has influenced countless horror films, including Psycho. Newman's recent books include The Hound of the d'Urbervilles: The Crime-Book of Professor Moriarty and Nightmare Movies: Forty Years of Fear. (16 min, 720p).

• Trailer - The original French theatrical trailer for Les diaboliques.