Editing Les Diaboliques (film) (section)

==Critical reception==
[[Bosley Crowther]] gave the film an enthusiastic review in ''The New York Times'', calling it "one of the dandiest mystery dramas that has shown here" and "a pip of a murder thriller, ghost story and character play rolled into one". He added "the writing and the visual construction are superb, and the performance by top-notch French actors on the highest level of sureness and finesse."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/11/22/archives/the-screen-a-chiller-of-a-thriller-diabolique-a-french-film-at-fine.html|title=The Screen: A Chiller of a Thriller; 'Diabolique,' a French Film, at Fine Arts|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|date=1955-11-22|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref> The ''[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]'' wrote, "If you like a good mystery and can stand it fairly morbid and uncompromising as to detail, this is one of the best offerings in a long time." The reviewer added, "You may suspect, as I did, one of the answers as the film nears its finale, but if you solve it all, you've missed your profession."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tinee|first=Mae|date=1955-12-26|title='Diabolique' Is Top Notch Thriller|newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' was more critical: “Although this has a few hallucinating bits of terror, the film is primarily a creaky-door type of melodrama. Its macabre aspects and lack of sympathy for the characters make this a hybrid which flounders between a blasting look at human infamy and an out-and-out contrived whodunit."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/1954/film/reviews/les-diaboliques-1200417881/|title=Les Diaboliques|author=Variety Staff|date=1955-01-01|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref> [[National Board of Review|The National Board of Review]] named it among the best foreign films of 1955,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1955/|title=1955 Archives|website=National Board of Review|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref> and called it "a genuine thriller—a shocking, satisfying chunk of ''Grand Guignol'' psychological suspense."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/500bestbritishfo00verm/page/121|title=500 Best British and Foreign Films to Buy, Rent, or Videotape|year=1988|publisher=W. Morrow|others=National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (U.S.)|isbn=0688077986|editor-last=Vermilye|editor-first=Jerry|edition=1st|location=New York|page=121|oclc=16901342|url-access=registration}}</ref>

British reviews were negative on first release. [[Milton Shulman]] in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' accused the film of "calculated malevolence", and commented that "it is no trick to sicken an audience by such blunt methods as these."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Review of Diabolique|last=Shulman|first=Milton|date=1955-12-04|newspaper=[[Sunday Express]]}}</ref> [[C. A. Lejeune]] in ''[[The Observer]]'' called it "extremely clever and very horrid," and complained about "a vogue at the moment for the horrid in entertainment."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Review of Diabolique|last=Lejeune|first=C. A.|author-link=C. A. Lejeune|date=1955-12-04|newspaper=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> Reg Whiteley in the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' described it as "a suspenseful but sordid slice of French life," and exclaimed: "Just how horrible can films get?"<ref>{{Cite news|title=Review of Diabolique|last=Whiteley|first=Reg|date=1955-12-02|newspaper=[[Daily Mirror]]}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]], reviewing the 1995 re-release, wrote: "The famous plot of the movie usually deceives first-time viewers, at least up to a point. The final revelations are somewhat disappointing, but Clouzot doesn't linger over them. The most disturbing elements of the movie are implied, not seen."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/diabolique-1995|title=Diabolique movie review & film summary (1955)|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=1995-02-17|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref> ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' commented that the film "makes for a great piece of Guignol misanthropy" where "everyone is in the end a victim, and their actions operate like snares setting traps that leave them grasping for survival."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/diabolique-1955|title=Diabolique|magazine=[[Time Out London]]|date=7 September 2012|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref>

On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Les Diaboliques'' holds an approval rating of 95% based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, ''Diabolique'' is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock's best work and with a brilliant twist ending."<ref name="rottomatoes">{{cite web |title=Diabolique |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1032980_diabolique |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=31 January 2023}}</ref>