Psycho | 4 Star Films

This French thriller begins at a small boarding school for boys. The principal is a difficult man who is married to a wealthy but frail teacher, and his mistress is another one of the teachers. Because he has been awful and abusive to both of the they befriend each other and devise a plan to kill him. They lure him away from school and eventually drown him in a bathtub. They go back to the school and dispose of the body in the murky pool. The deed is done and they are both apprehensive, especially the frail wife. When the pool is finally drained there is no body! This and other strange occurrences further frighten the wife and she becomes sickly. However, she could never expect what she saw one night that led her to die of fright. The twist at the end of the film is good. It is rumored that Hitchcock tried to get the rights to this story. He would just have to settle for making Psycho instead. What a shame.

4.5/5 Stars

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Catherine Deneuve, this British Psychological thriller is in the same vain as Psycho. Carol is a manicurist who is often absent-minded at work and she returns home to an apartment that she shares with her older sister. She passively resists the advances of an infatuated young man and at home she must live through her sister and a boyfriend in the next room.

*May Contain Spoilers
Then, they leave and an attached Carol cannot bear her sister to leave her alone. The next days and weeks she sinks into a unstable state and slowly loses her sanity while losing track of reality at the same time. She is sent home from work, becomes even more preoccupied, and then begins hallucinating back in her home. When Colin comes to speak with her she is still unresponsive and she unexpectedly bludgeons him to death. Then, later on the annoyed landlord comes by for his money, and then makes advances on her, only to be killed by a frightened Carol. Helen and her boyfriend return to find the apartment in disarray and Carol out of sorts and concerned neighbors come to spectate. The camera closes in on a family photo and a young Carol’s perturbing face.

This low budget documentary grade black and white film still packs a powerful punch and the best word to describe it is probably disconcerting. Unfortunately, I had never heard of the cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, but he had several wonderful films in his catalog including Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day’s Night, Star Wars, and of course Repulsion.

4/5 Stars