Christina Delasalle, a fragile young wife with a weak heart, and Nicole Horner, a strong, forceful mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school';;s filthy swimming pool... but when the pool is drained, the body has disappeared - and subsequent reported sightings of the headmaster slowly drive his ';;killers';; up the wall with almost unbearable suspense...
So dependent on visuals, many horror films do not wear well except as kitsch. But crafted fright films like Diabolique maintain their power by creating atmosphere through what is not seen.
Like the greater of Hitchcock's essential films, the movie is a skillful marriage of ingredients that tread dangerously close to the edge of reasoning while still absorbing them in impeccable artistic standards.
