Mort un dimanche de pluie (1986)
Directed by Joël Santoni

Film Review

Psycho meets Friday the 13th in this tense and gory revenge thriller, one of the first films of its kind to make it into French cinema after the slasher movie had gained a foothold in American and British cinema. Before he crossed over to television in the late 1980s, where he then devoted the bulk of his career, Joël Santoni directed five films for the cinema, of which this is probably the worthiest, although he is best known for his previous hit comedy Les Oeufs brouillés (1976).

With its fiendish plot twists, Mort un dimanche de pluie probably owes as much to French thrillers of the past - notably H.G. Clouzot's Les Diaboliques (1955) - as it does to contemporary American thrillers. Although the film is in fact based on a novel by the English writer Joan Aiken its plot looks as if it might well have been conceived by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. It's certainly a more substantial piece that your average slasher movie, offering not only a tense, well-constructed narrative with plenty of surprises but also a set of convincing, well-drawn characters that we can easily engage with. Even if the horror is taken a little too far in places, veering towards Grand Guignol silliness in places, the film is gripping from start to finish, the suspense building to a suitably shocking climax. There are strong performances from all of the four principals but Dominique Lavanant is deserving of special mention as she almost steals the film with the creepiest role of her career - she's scarier than Norman Bates's mum brought back to life. The other star of the film is the fantastic glass-walled edifice in which most of the action takes place (somehow the word 'house' feels inappropriate). It really is a home to die for - literally in the case of its owners Jean-Pierre Bacri and Nicole Garcia...

Film Synopsis

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…?