Les Diaboliques (1955)

There are some films that one should really see only once since a second viewing can not re-create the impact of the first.  This movie is very definitely in that category.  No one who has ever seen it can forget the shock of its denouement and the image remains burned into one's brain.  Unfortunately there is just no way to regain one's innocence to watch it a-fresh.  That caveat apart, it remains a classic chiller, well-made and involving, but unfortunately without the same surprise factor.  And why anyone thought re-making it a few years back with Sharon Stone might be a good idea is definitely a mystery.  It's funny...some movies reveal something new with each watching, small details that one has not quite taken in before, whilst others can not improve upon the initial experience.  This is not to say that they should be consigned to the dustbin, since Clouzot's shocker of more than fifty years ago remains a template of excellence from which modern film-makers could learn some worthwhile lessons in audience manipulation.