‘Diabolique’ Remains a Devilish Delight

H.G. Clouzot’s 1955 suspense classic “Diabolique,” which will is showing in a complete, restored version with a fresh 35mm print at the Nuart this week, has a famous sequence that is such a jolter you can never forget it.

Although the film therefore cannot possibly have the same impact upon those of us who’ve seen it before, it’s still a pleasure--a deliciously nasty, often quite funny tale of an odious boys’ school proprietor (Paul Meurisse) targeted for murder by his hard-edged, take-charge mistress (Simone Signoret) and his vulnerable but fed-up wife (Vera Clouzot).

The cast, which includes Charles Vanel as a nosy retired police inspector, is sensationally good, especially Signoret, who’s as nervy as she is sexy. The seedy elegance of the film’s 19th-Century French provincial settings are highly atmospheric and captured in glorious black and white.

Information: (310) 478-6379.

Martial Arts Magic: The revival of the lively 1974 Hong Kong martial arts movie “Master of the Flying Guillotine” at the Monica 4-Plex Fridays and Saturdays at midnight calls attention to writer-director-actor Jimmy Wang Yu, regarded by some film scholars as more influential than Bruce Lee and the originator of the “tournament film,” in which one kung fu contest rapidly follows another.

This film, part of the “One-Armed Boxer” series starring Wang, which he launched in 1968, finds him taking on the implacable Blind Man (Kam Kang), emissary of the hated Manchu Dynasty and a master martial artist who wields a Flying Guillotine designed for instant decapitation. The One-Armed Boxer and the Blind Man’s inevitable climactic encounter caps amazing martial arts displays, staged by renowned stunt coordinator Liu Chia Liang.

That the print is faded and scratched should not keep away martial arts aficionados any more than the dubbed dialogue, for it is the only known print of the film, which actually made Variety’s Top 20 grossing films in November, 1977, when it was released in U.S. grind houses and drive-ins.

Information: (310) 394-9741.