This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.
Night 7: "Don't be a devil. Don't ruin the interest your friends could have in this film. Don't tell them what you saw.'' Diabolique
The story is about Christina and Nicole, the equally abused
wife and mistress of Michel, who plot the cruel man’s murder. The film is set
largely at a boys' boarding school which Christina owns, but Michel runs poorly.
He is rude to the staff and boys and saves money by buying cheap wine and
spoiled fish. Christina is frail and reluctant to go along with Nicole’s plan
to murder Michel. However, they drown him in a hotel and then dump his body in the
school swimming pool. None of that is spoiler material because the movie really
takes off once the body of Michel disappears. Then the game begins. Cryptic
clues find their way to Christina and Nicole. Christina becomes remorseful and
wants to turn herself in. Nicole won’t allow that.
To add to the stress Christina is feeling is the incredibly
enjoyable character of retired police commissioner Fichet who, unasked,
volunteers to take the case of finding the missing Michel. Fichet surely must
be the blueprint for the rumpled, seemingly absentminded TV detective Columbo.
Fichet seems to be more of a pest than a threat and comes off like a bored, old
man playing detective, but if you pay close attention to the performance of
actor Charles Vanel you know that Fichet is actually an excellent, but subtle
detective.
Diabolique is not technically a horror movie, but it does
have one of the most famous and most terrifying moments in film history. That
scene is so notorious you might already know about it, but regardless of whether
you know what is coming or not, it is still shocking to see with your own eyes.
There is beautiful black and white cinematography and the scenes are staged with
care for maximum suspense. There is a lot of humor in the movie, too. Nearly
every minor character is comic relief, especially the boarding school staff and
the boys with their gossip about Michel. This movie is a spooky mystery that
will deliver that familiar unease and excitement you get from a great horror
movie but without blood or monsters.
