This was really great. The whole thing is so Hitchcockian that it is not shocking at all that he wanted to make this, but couldn’t obtain the rights before Henri-Georges Clouzot did. The cinematography by Armand Thirard and the score by Georges Van Parys are so damn good. The lighting is scary in its own right but with the way it is shot coupled with the music, moments become truly terrifying. The mystery of the whole story is also so enthralling you get so invested in following Véra Clouzot’s Christina as she tries to figure it out.. The one thing that really bothered me is that the ending is so famous I knew what it was and knowing that made me realize the entire plot/plan from around the 15 minute mark. If there is any movie I wish I could wipe my brain and know nothing about going into tit, it would be this one. There is also an excellent 7 minute featurette on the Criterion release that compares the bathroom scene from this and shower scene from PSYCHO (which came out the following year) in a fantastic way — I highly recommend.
