The Father of Modern Horror Movies

[redshifter]

"psycho"? no, the film that inspired "psycho", called "les diabolique" ("the devils") from 1955. it is a french suspence/horror movie about murder and the living dead. i don't know how i missed this one. the ending gave me chills. besides "psycho", this movie has influenced "the shining" and "the ring", and i'm sure many others. has anyone else seen this classic?

 

[AGR]

All I know is; "The Ring" is one Creepy film!!!

This guy is freaky as hell, too!! Dario Argento!

http://www.darkdreams.org/

 

[chadbang]

There have been two remakes of Diabolique - one during 70s (a tv movie I think) with Don Stroud (I believe) which has a psychedelic feel and then again with Sharon Stone (in the 90s?). I don't think that third remake really did any box office and I never saw it. I remember the 70s version scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. It was later I saw the original (with the most illegible subtitles ever!

) The one kind of film I appreciate from the French are their scare films. I'm also a big fan of "Eyes Without a Face". I won't even try to spell that in French. Another nicely creepy one about a scientist trying to graft a new face on his disfigured daughter. Oh yes, and recently I bought "Castle of Blood" a sort of French version of a Hammer horror film. Not drop dead scary, but some very tingly moments none-the-less. Excellent B&W photography.

 

[daycart1]

Yes, the original is clever and atmospheric. I also agree that the Sharon Stone remake blew.

 

[ry_goody]

ring ring ring ring ring BANANAPHONE

 

[dhwilkin]

Ooh, didn't know about this one. "Psycho", at least the original, is a classic. I'm gonna have to track this one down.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhwilkin Ooh, didn't know about this one. "Psycho", at least the original, is a classic. I'm gonna have to track this one down.

criterion has a good dvd of "les diabolique" out.

 

[chadbang]

Here you go, redshifter, here's that remake (this review says "borrows" so maybe the just stole some of the ideas) that I remembered seeing. Isn't Goodtimes that really cheapo label?

"GAMES" (Goodtimes, 67) D Curtis Harrington, S Gene Kearney, P George EdwardsPaul (James Caan) and his rich wife Jennifer (Katharine Ross) live almost like abored mod Gomez and Morticia (without the kids). They collect pop art, throwtheme parties, hold a black mass and play mind games in their NYC townhouse.After an older fortune telling European con artist (Simone Signoret) tricks her wayinto their lives, one of their games goes deadly wrong. This borrows fromDIABOLIQUE (which starred Signoret) of course, but has some good shocks and isa lot more fun than that Sharon Stone remake. With Kent Smith as Jennifer’slawyer, Ian Wolfe as the doctor, Don Stroud as the delivery boy, Estelle Winwoodas a neighbor, and Florence Marley. I wonder if that Central Park hansom cabdriver is Lawrence Tierney. William A. Fraker was the cinematographer.

 

[redshifter]

chadbang,
looks interesting. i'll netflix it!

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

redshifter said... criterion has a good dvd of "les diabolique" out.

Cool, I'll check it out.

 

[eyeteeth]

You maybe right about 'modern'? I'm not sure.

Sort of related but I like the early, early less well known horror films.
Some I've seen, some not yet seen.

Le Manoir Du Diable (1896) (aka The Devil's Castle)
Edison Frankenstein (1910),
Der Student von Prag (1913) (aka Student of Prague)
Der Golem (1914) (aka The Monster of Fate)
Homunculus (1916)
Nachte des Grauens (1916), (aka Night of Terror)
Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (1919) (aka The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Drakula halala (1921), (aka The Death of Dracula)
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922), (aka Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror)
Vampyr (1931)

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 Yes, the original is clever and atmospheric.

I know you're refering to Diabolique but I'm appling your statement to practically every recent remake.

The Ring stinks compared to the original japanese Ringu

The Dutch 'Vanishing' vs Hollywood version? No contest.
The French 'La Femme Nikita' vs 'Point of no return? Again no contest.

Hollywood treats us like idiots.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth ...I know you're refering to Diabolique but I'm appling your statement to practically every recent remake. The Ring stinks compared to the original japanese Ringu The Dutch 'Vanishing' vs Hollywood version? No contest. The French 'La Femme Nikita' vs 'Point of no return? Again no contest. Hollywood treats us like idiots.

then again, you did watch those hollywood remakes, so...

i generally agree, although i did enjoy "the ring" a lot.

 

[Takashi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter then again, you did watch those hollywood remakes, so... i generally agree, although i did enjoy "the ring" a lot.

I don't know if you guys already know, the movie RINGU is made from original novel by Koji Suzuki. When they made the movie RINGU, they also made the sequel from original sequel novel RASEN (= spiral). They marketed to run both movies on the theater at the same time, but RASEN was a disappointment, not as scary as RINGU. (Original novel is to be blamed, I think) So they decided to make another sequel to RINGU, which is RINGU 2, quite a different story from what original auther developped as aftermath, but it was better than RASEN. As you can imagine, they derived to make another sequel, RINGU 0. (And it was like something you can imagine from Jaws 3.)

 

[Takashi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth The Ring stinks compared to the original japanese Ringu The Dutch 'Vanishing' vs Hollywood version? No contest. The French 'La Femme Nikita' vs 'Point of no return? Again no contest. Hollywood treats us like idiots.

I agree, but The Ring successfully copied the mood and atmosphere of the original, I think.

And La Femme Nikita is TV series (I love Peta Wilson btw), the movie was simply "Nikita".

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takashi the movie was simply "Nikita".

Oh, I often find reading titles to be confusing.

Actually I think you're correct. The original French may have been 'Nikita' only.