In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Saturday 23 November 2013

Diabolique (1996)

A remake of a 1955 French thriller about a murder at a boarding school that creates and sustains a thick, oppressive atmosphere. There are some superb camera movements that heighten the drama or elevate the uncertainty. It’s not unfair to say that it’s a little bit Hitchcock.
Sharon Stone occasionally slips into melodrama but mostly she does a fine job, and it goes without saying that Kathy Bates is always good, but for me it was the fragile Isabelle Adjani that stole the show.
It tries a little too hard to make the twists at the end extra twisty but that didn't detract from the quality performances of the three women that got the story to that point.

3½ baptisms out of 5

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