Mort un dimanche de pluie (1986) - film review

Elaine Briand lives with her husband David in a futuristic house in the country which he, a distinguished architect, designed.  Missing city life, Elaine readily accepts the offer of a job managing a recording studio for a friend Christian.  Coincidentally, at this time a strange couple arrive on their doorstep looking for work.  Cappy Bronsky, partly disabled after losing his arm in an building site accident, persuades David to employ him as his gardener, whilst his wife, Hazel, offers her services as a babysitter, looking after the Briand’s young daughter Cric whilst they are at work.   Elaine becomes uneasy about the arrangement, particularly when she notices that Hazel is maltreating Cric.  Finally, David tells her the reason why he is employing the Bronskys.  Cappy’s injuries were caused when a building that David designed collapsed.  It soon becomes clear that the Bronskys are out for revenge.  But how far are they planning to go…?

Psycho meets Friday the 13th in this tense and rather gory revenge thriller. This kind of film is pretty rare in French cinema and those that are made, like this one, tend to be more or less direct re-workings of contemporary American horror-thrillers.  You do get a horrible sense of déja-vu watching this film, but it is well made, with some respectable acting and a remarkably effective set.  Where the film excels over its American counterparts is in its characterisation; clearly, we will feel more for the characters in the film if they are portrayed convincingly and sympathetically – and this is where the film is strongest.  Some of the scenes are viscerally shocking and the last fifteen minutes of the film are extraordinarily suspenseful, even if some of the death scenes have a slightly comical Grand Guignol edge to them.  Dominique Lavanant’s utterly creepy performance gives the drama a touch of surreal menace, reminiscent of that seen in a similar kind of film from Claude Chabrol, La Cérémonie (1995).

© James Travers 2004

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