#thomas narcejac

[creepynostalgy]

Véra Clouzot and Simone Signoret on set of Les Diaboliques (1955)

[addictivecontradiction]

Les yeux sans visage, 1960

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac - The Living and The Dead - Arrow - 1965

[screamscenepodcast]

It's been a long time since your hosts have travelled to France! This week we cover LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (1960) aka EYES WITHOUT A FACE from director Georges Franju!

Based on the Jean Redon novel, the film stars Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli and Édith Scob. It delivers French New Wave horror while keeping you at arm's length -- but will that work in its favour?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 27:26; Discussion 35:33; Ranking 57:43

[byneddiedingo]

Lindsay Duncan, Jeff Fahey, and Kim Delaney in Body Parts (Eric Red, 1991)

Cast: Jeff Fahey, Lindsay Duncan, Kim Delaney, Zakes Mokae, Brad Dourif, John Walsh, Paul Ben-Victor, Peter Murnik. Screenplay: Patricia Herskovic, Joyce Taylor, Eric Red, Norman Snider, based on a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Cinematography: Theo van de Sande. Production design: Bill Brodie. Editing: Anthony Redman. Music: Loek Dikker. 

How can a movie with a car chase, a fight in a barroom, and an abundance of gore turn out so dull? Body Parts is based on an old trope, that of severed members taking on a life of their own. Adaptations of W.W. Jacobs's 1902 story "The Monkey's Paw" are so numerous they have a Wikipedia page of their own and Maurice Renard's 1920 novel Les Mains d'Orlac, about a concert pianist who receives the transplanted hands of a murderer, has been filmed several times, including Robert Wiene's 1924 silent The Hands of Orlac and Karl Freund's 1935 Mad Love, starring Peter Lorre. The many adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein also play on the notion of reanimated body parts. But it's not that the idea behind Eric Red's movie has been done to death, so to speak, it's that Red and the various screenwriters who worked on the movie find so little new and interesting to do with it. It's adapted from a 1965 novel, Choice Cuts, by the writing team known as Boileau-Narcejac, who provided the source material for some much better movies: Diabolique (aka Les Diaboliques, Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) and Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958). The acting isn't bad. As Bill Chrushank, a psychiatrist who receives the arm of a murderer after losing his own in an auto accident, Jeff Fahey does a solid job of suggesting the ways the transplant brings out the worst in what may have been his own latent tendencies to violence. Lindsay Duncan plays the surgeon who does the transplant as a cold-blooded scientist with just a touch of hauteur that turns malevolent when her breakthrough technique is threatened. Brad Dourif overacts a little as the artist who receives the other arm and finds that it actually feeds his imagination and produces darkly disturbing paintings that sell. And Kim Delaney does what she can with the role of Chrushank's wife, who bears the brunt of his emotional transformation. But Red's direction never builds suspense, giving us time to anticipate the shocks we expect the material to provide. There's also a completely unearned "happy ending" that saps any lingering tension from what has gone before. 

[haverwood]

Body Parts Eric Red USA, 1991 ★★★ I started watching knowing Jeff Fahey was in it and went like "hey remember that movie where he loses an arm, gets a transplant from a criminal and starts acting all whacky and deranged?"

Well this was it! Amazing. Huge throwback to the good old (and fun) VHS days.

So anyway, I could've bet money on this being a King adaptation but no, it's based on the "horror novel Choice Cuts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac" (copy/paste from wiki). It's great, fun and gory, with lots of familiar faces in it.

This kind of genre needs a big comeback.

[byneddiedingo]

Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones, Raymond Bailey, Ellen Corby, Konstantin Shayne, Lee Patrick. Screenplay: Alec Coppel, Samuel A. Taylor, based on a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Cinematography: Robert Burks. Art direction: Henry Bumstead, Hal Pereira. Film editing: George Tomasini. Music: Bernard Herrmann. 

Vertigo (1958)

[creepynostalgy]

Véra Clouzot and Henri-Georges Clouzot on set of Les Diaboliques (1955)

[addictivecontradiction]

Les yeux sans visage, 1960

[kinonostalgie]

Diabolique (1955), ( Die Teuflischen ) directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, is a masterclass in psychological suspense, blending elements of horror and noir into a chilling tale of betrayal and murder. Adapted from the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, the film is a landmark of the thriller genre, renowned for its eerie atmosphere, nerve-wracking tension, and one of the most shocking endings in cinema history.

Set in a decaying French boarding school, the story follows Christina (Véra Clouzot), the frail yet kind-hearted wife of the sadistic headmaster Michel (Paul Meurisse). Michel’s relentless cruelty extends not only to his wife but also to his mistress, the strong-willed teacher Nicole (Simone Signoret). Despite their unusual dynamic, Christina and Nicole form a deadly alliance, plotting to rid themselves of Michel once and for all. Their carefully orchestrated plan involves drowning him in a bathtub and disposing of his body in the school's murky swimming pool, making it appear as an accident.

But when Michel’s corpse mysteriously vanishes, fear and paranoia take hold. Christina, already fragile, spirals into terror as strange occurrences suggest that Michel may not be as dead as they believed. The slow-burning suspense builds relentlessly, leading to a climactic revelation that remains one of the most unforgettable twists in film history.

Clouzot’s meticulous direction, combined with stark black-and-white cinematography, heightens the film’s oppressive and unsettling atmosphere. Every shadow and lingering silence adds to the tension, keeping the audience in a perpetual state of unease. The film’s psychological complexity and methodical pacing make it a gripping experience, influencing countless thrillers, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

A cornerstone of psychological horror, Diabolique is a haunting and expertly crafted thriller that lingers in the mind long after the final frame. Its legacy as one of cinema’s greatest suspense films remains undisputed, proving that true terror often lies in the unseen and the unknown.

[agendaculturaldelima]

  #ProyeccionDeVida

📽 Cine Club AF. Noches de Terror, presenta:

🎬 “LOS OJOS SIN ROSTRO” (Les Yeux sans visage)

🔎 Género: Terror  / Thriller / Película de culto.

⌛️ Duración: 88 minutos

✍️ Guion: Claude Sautet, Pierre Boileau y Thomas Narcejac

📕 Novela: Jean Redon

📷 Fotografía: Eugen Schüfftan (B&W)

🎼 Música: Maurice Jarre

💥 Argumento: En la ciudad de París, un brillante y desquiciado cirujano rapta chicas con el fin de utilizar su piel para reconstruir la belleza de su hija, destrozada por un trágico accidente del que él se siente culpable.

👥 Reparto: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel, Edith Scob, François Guérin, Alexandre Rignault, Béatrice Altariba, Claude Brasseur

📢 Dirección: Georges Franju

© Productoras: Independent Pictures, The Guys Upstairs, Killer Films

🌏 País: Francia-Italia

📅 Año 1960

📽 Proyección:

📆 Miércoles 30 de Octubre

🕖 7:00pm.

🎦 Sala Lumiere de la Alianza Francesa (av. Arequipa 4595 - Miraflores)

🎫 Entrada: S/.5

👩‍🦳👴 Adulto Mayor: Ingreso Libre

🖱 Reservas: https://www.joinnus.com/events/cine/lima-nuits-de-terreur-crimenes-del-futuro-65076

👀 A tener en cuenta: Película recomendada para mayores de dieciséis años (16+)

[bernamegeh]

Boileau Narcejac Kimdir

Boileau-Narcejac, Fransız polisiye edebiyatında önemli bir yere sahip iki yazarın oluşturduğu bir yazarlık ikilisidir.Pierre Boileau (1906-1989) ve Thomas Narcejac (1908-1998) tarafından kurulan bu ortaklık, özellikle gerilim ve suç romanları alanında dikkat çekmiştir.İkilinin yazıları, psikolojik gerilim unsurları ve beklenmedik olay örgüleri ile ünlüdür.Pierre Boileau, Paris’te doğdu ve genç…

[culturevsnews-blog]

Diabolique [Combo Blu-Ray + DVD] Sharon Stone (Acteur), Isabelle Adjani (Acteur), Jeremiah S. Chechik (Réalisateur)

Achat : https://amzn.to/3Sf5hW5 Adaptation du film d’Henri-Georges Clouzot qui a lui-même adapté le roman de Pierre Boileau et Thomas Narcejac, “Celle qui n’était plus”. “Diabolique” raconte à travers la manipulation, le mensonge et le meurtre, les relations entre deux femmes. Chronique : “Diabolique” est un thriller psychologique captivant et une adaptation du classique de Henri-Georges…

[adscinema]

Les Yeux sans visage - Georges Franju (1960)

Poster

[c86]

Boileau & Narcejac - The Evil Eye, 1961

Artwork by Josh Kirby

[mariocki]

Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face, 1960)

"You're more beautiful than ever. There's something angelic about you now."

"Angelic? I'm not so sure about that. Whenever I look in the mirror, it's as if I'm looking at someone who resembles me... but who seems very distant... very distant."