Thursday, June 02, 2022
Diabolique - 1996
- Commentary: This is not the original 1955 Diabolique, which is cool and creepy. This is the 1996 Hollywood remake which is, eh. This may end up at the library the next time I thin my collection. Yet another in the Warner Brothers 4 Film Favorites collection. The four movies in the collection are this one, Copycat, The Crush and Pacific Heights.
Update 6/2/2022: This post was originally published on 8/14/16 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
Update 6/2/2022: You'll notice, I never passed this movie on, as I thought I might. I kept it because I couldn't believe how many excellent actors ended up in a film that was worse than a middling remake of a very famous film. I think it's a case of all these actors needed money, thus, needed work, thus, got together and scrounged up work, without much passion but with a definite purpose. That's how things go sometimes, in every profession; why not in the entertainment profession!?! I have one other movie I can think of, right of the bat, that gave me this same feeling: Fallen. With Denzel Washington and John Goodman, no less! And, although it occurred to me that that movie was "fun to do", the performances of the actors in this one indicate to me that this one wasn't. Which is exactly why I'm keeping it. I like collecting movies for a variety of reasons, one of them being to answer the question, what's the value of a schlock movie to the actors, to the audience? Comparing these two movies tells me, it's not necessarily clear.
Although neither of these movies got good reviews, Fallen's reviews were significantly better than the reviews for this one. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was because of Denzel Washington's and John Goodman's participation.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Sharon Stone Nicole Horner Isabelle Adjani Mia Baran Chazz Palminteri Guy Baran Kathy Bates Shirley Vogel Spalding Gray Simon Veatch Shirley Knight Edie Danziger Allen Garfield Leo Katzman Clea Lewis Lisa Campos
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1996
Directed by Jeremiah Chechik.
Labels: drama6, mystery1, popcorn-and-soda2, suspense2
