Movie #112 Diabolique *1955*

Simone Signoret - Nicole Horner
Vera Clouzot - Christina Delassalle
Paul Meurisse - Michel Delassalle
Henri-Georges Clouzot (Director)

What a great surprise!  I was in the mood for some modern, light horror tonight.  I have had this film on my Netflix Streaming account for a while.  For some reason I was thinking it was an American horror film from the 70's.  Boy was I wrong.  I guess I should pay more attention to the synopsis.  But in this case I am glad I didn't or I wouldn't have selected this film.  As a matter of fact after the first 5 minutes I almost shut it off.  Not because it was bad, I just wasn't in the mood for a foreign film.

This film, made in 1955, is a French production.  It is less horror than psychological thriller.  It is the story of an abusive boys school principal.  Both his wife and his mistress work at the school and they are fully aware of each other.  The male, Michel, is not only abusive to the children, but to both of the women in his life.  Headed by the mistress, Christina they make up and follow through on a plan to murder Michel by drowning him in a bathtub then disposing the body in the murky school pond.  When the pool is drained however the body is missing!  Strange events begin to happen around the school and the town within.

This is one creepy, scary film.  I would whole heartedly recommend this movie to any horror enthusiast.  Now I might loose a few friends in doing so (not all my friends take kindly to 1950's French cinema).  I loved that at the end of the film there is a plea to please not tell your friends what happen during the movie.  It is a film that is centered around a major plot twist.

One issue for me was the pace at which the sub titles appear and disappear on screen.  I am a slow reader and there is a lot of talking.  This means that I spend a lot of time reading and not as much time appreciating the shots and camera work.  I was able to notice all types of scenes that must have been totally stolen by later films from this one.  I really enjoyed one shot in particular from inside the empty pool shot upwards at Nicole.

WOW!  I was surfing IMDB just now and saw that there is a remake of this film with Sharron Stone as the wife and Chazz Palminteri as the abusive principal.  I've never seen that movie, but it sounds horrible.  Kathy Bates, Spalding Gray and JJ Abrams all have small roles in it.  That is simply bizarre.

This film is available through Criterion Collection.  Gotta love it when you are totally and pleasantly surprised.  I give this film a 4/5 stars.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #26 Let Me In

Remakes.  I am the first one in line to complain about Hollywood cashing in on some cheap remake of a classic or foreign film.  How many of my childhood memories are going to be spat upon by the studios.  This year alone there was a remake of Alice in Wonderland, The Karate Kid, Clash of the Titans, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Piranha and I'm sure a slew of others I am forgetting (or trying to).  If you add sequels into the mix I would be that over 50% of the movies released this year were based on some other visual source material. 

Let Me In is a remake of a Swedish film that was released in 2009 called Let the Right One In.  The original film was a much adored feature by the few thousand Americans that saw it in it's theatrical run (myself included).  It has also gained a lot of notoriety after having been released on DVD.  So why would Hollywood feel the need to remake such a little known film?  One that has a loyal all be it small fan base.  This isn't the new Harry Potter film with a legion of fans that will flock to the theater reguardless of the quality of the film.  This also isn't some cheap slasher mash up that can be thrown together for a quick opening weekend cash grab then fade away into the $5 DVD box at Wal-Mart.  The original is an art film.  The original is understated and subtle.  Things that neither Hollywood or remakes are known for.

Those are the questions that are buzzing around this film.  This film is in a "no win" situation.  Remakes are though to never be better than the original, and this isn't the type of movie that is going to draw a large audience on opening weekend.  As a matter of fact my local theater (from now on will be known as the cardboard box) opted to screen Case 39 instead.  Apparently this is a horror picture with Renee Zellweger that I have never heard of, and I hear about every movie.  Judging by the Metacritic scores they chose poorly. Case 39 = 30.  Let Me In = 80.

Let Me In stars Chloe Moretz of Kick Ass and 500 Days of Summer fame.  It also stars Kodi Smit-McPhee.  His major prior role was in last years The Road.  It also has smaller roles for Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas (who apparently has it in his contract that he must play a detective in every role).  The film is about a 12 year old boy who is a bit of an outcast.  He is brutally picked on by the school bullies.  His parents are getting a divorce and he doesn't seem to have any friends.  He meets a young girl who moves into his apartment complex.  Or at least she seems to be a young girl.  The arrival of the girl and her father coincide with some horrific murders.  

The kids forge a awkward friendship.  The girl, Abby, walks around only at night and in the snow without shoes on.  When asked if is cold her response is "I sorta don't get cold".  After watching the trailer I have decided that it is not spoiling anything to inform you that she is a vampire.  What's great about this movie and the original is that being a vampire doesn't really seem to matter that much to the young boy Owen.  It is no different than having bad acne, or a crackling voice to him.  He falls in love with her.

Allow me to say THANK GOD for R rated horror films.  I have grown sick of these PG-13 pseudo horror films.  The one's where they want to scare you, but no so much that scare off the ticket sales of the 14-18 year old demographic.  I am sick of "horror" films that are afraid to be honest with their audience.  Let Me In is R rated and terrifying.  There are no punches pulled and the film is a big success for it!

This remake is very close to the original.  You can tell the film makers had a lot of respect for Let the Right One In.  They didn't go out of the way to change a lot of things.  There is a bit more CG in the remake, some of which works, some of which doesn't.  But they didn't Americanize it too much.  They simply retold the same story in a different language in hopes a new collection of people will discover it.  It has been proven that American audiences will not attend foreign language films in the theater.  That is a shame.  I probably watch 20-30 foreign language films a year.  Not all of them work.  But with the availability of digital photography and mediums like YouTube and OnDemand services world cinema is now more accessible than ever before.  I strongly urge anyone who might read this to give the foreign language films a chance.   Heck email me and I will get you going with a "starters guide to foreign films" DVD list build specific to your tastes.

I really enjoyed Let Me In.  I think it did Let the Right One In a service.  I might even call the comparison a tie.  Anyway, this was a great weekend.  I saw my most anticipated movie of the year with my girlfriend and it lived up to expectations.  Then I was pleasantly surprised by a remake that I had concerns was going to be a thrown together mess.  I would give Let Me In a 4/5 stars.  Check out the link below for the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h39ikMdei4