Diabolique (1955) (Criterion Collection)

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Les Diaboliques tells the story of a sadistic headmaster who brutalises his wife and mistress and their plot to murder him. Superbly edited with nail-biting suspense, the two women murder the headmaster and dump the body in the swimming pool, but when the pool is drained no corpse is found. An unsettling and beautifully-paced study of betrayal, mistrust and guilt, Les Diaboliques is atmospherically shot in black and white, its murky tones hauntingly echo the moral ambiguity of its principals.

Before Psycho, Peeping Tom, and Repulsion, there was Diabolique. This thriller from Henri.Georges Clouzot (Le corbeau, The Wages of Fear), which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women - the fragile wife and the willful mistress of a sadistic school headmaster - who hatch a daring revenge plot. With its unprecedented narrative twists and unforgettably scary images, Diabolique is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking, featuring outstanding performances by Simone Signoret (Casque d'for, Army of Shadows), Vera Clouzot (The Wages of Fear), and Paul Meurisse (Le deuxieme souffle, Army of Shadows).