Juste Avant Le Nuit - 1971 * * * *

One of Chabrol's best known films 'Just before Night Fall' stars (yet again!) Stephane Audran whose husband Charles, played by Michel Bouquet (who was also her husband in 'La Femme Infidele') is having an affair with his best friend's wife. When a sex game goes terribly wrong, Charles realises that he has accidently killed the wife. Plagued by guilt he can't decide whether to confess all or try and cover it up. You'll never guess what happens next. This film has all the makings of a Chabrol, elegent, classy and thoroughly unpredictable, just like a 70s thriller should be.

Le Biches - 1968 * * * 1/2

One of the things that I'm really liking about Chabrol is how he uses most of the same people in his films. I feel like I have become quite a good judge of spotting people from his other movies and it's quite fun as well. Stephane Audran this time plays a beautiful but bored woman who picks up a lonely girl that she is attracted to in Paris and whisks her off to her holiday home for some romance and fun. Once there however, the girl ( nicknamed 'Why' by the people living on the house) has an affair with a man that Audran is interested in, then all hell breaks loose. Not a brilliant film but strangely eerie in that Chabrol way with some excellent acting of course from Audran who is fast becoming one of my favourite French stars. The mandatory twist in the ending is also typically bizarre.

The Last Kiss - 2006 *

The Last Kiss is a prime example of what is wrong with modern films. There is no elegence, a pathetic story and a load of shallow and stupid characters who just care about their sexual needs and NOTHING else. Ok, for anyone who actually cares - Zach Braff ( does he enjoy playing stupid moronic characters or is it his actual character?) is nearly 30 (oooo that's ancient) and his lovely girlfriend has announced she is pregnant. Instead of being over the moon he rushes off to his gormless friends who all seem to know nothing about relationships anyway to moan about how his life is now effectively over and that there will be no more surprises ( ie he won't be able to sleep with anyone else and we all know that's the only thing men care about really). Fastforward a few scenes and oh what a surprise he meets a slutty and dumb college student and starts to get excited at the idea that one female still finds him attractive, it must be worth ruining your perfect relationship for surely! I'm sure you can guess what happens without me telling you so I won't bother, let's just say he treats his girlfriend appallingly, simply because he can't be a responsible adult ( maybe he should of thought of that before having a baby???) and thinks that the choices he makes are justified because 'he is confused about where he is in life' ( oh that makes it totally fine then). A pathetic and head-against-brickall movie that will make you want to stay away from every man out there that has a pulse, it also paints a picture that all men are commitment-phobic and see a serious relationship as some sort of punishment, chaining them to one person until they enjoy the sweet release of death when they could be out there sleeping with 100 women a day. Don't watch this with a boyfriend as you will hate them by the end, in fact just don't watch it at all. I wish I hadn't.

Le Boucher - 1970 * * * 1/2

Still hot on my Claude Chabrol film-fest I decided it was time to see 'Le Boucher'; the only movie of Chabrol's that is present in my 1001 movies to see before you die book. This time we are dealing yet again with Stephane Audran ( who was apparently Chabrol's wife - that might explain the constant use of her) as a lovely but lonely school-teacher who strikes up a friendship/relationship with a butcher at a friend's party. At the same time, a serial killer is loose near the village, killing young girls as he goes along. If you think Chabrol is dated and for people who don't like to be scared then you haven't seen one of the last scenes in this movie which has all the terror and haunting element that a modern thriller would have today (in fact, it's even better, no special effects, just excellent acting). It scared me so much I was thinking about it for hours afterwards. This is a tense thriller with a few genuinely scary moments (another concerns the schoolchildren picniking on the rocks outside the village, very eerie) that should definitely be watched.

La Femme Infidele - 1969 * * * *

La Femme Infidele, otherwise known as 'The Unfaithful Wife' is the first Claude Chabrol film I have ever seen. I was aware that Chabrol was known as 'the French Hitchcock' which made me want to watch one of his movies even more. There has also been a more recent adaptation of this film copied almost identically which I am sure most viewers will prefer to this one. However not me. I found the modern one sterile and unfeeling whilst this one was exciting, very well acted and far more classy. The story sort of does what it says on the tin, centring round a beautiful but bored housewife who starts becoming very friendly with another man when her husband is slaving away at the office. Before long however the husband starts to think that all is not well and gets a private investigator to follow his wife's movements during the day. When his fears are confirmed he doesn't fly into a rage with his wife, in fact he doesn't even tell her that he knows,having his own course of revenge planned out, and what happens next is brilliant to the extreme. The film is amazingly alike to Hitchcock, same mood, same style, but just a bit more passionate and chic which could only be possible from the films being filmed in France. Stephane Audran is obviously Chabrol's leading lady just as Grace Kelly or Tippi Hedren are Hitchcock's and I will be interested to see more of her work.

Orphan - 2009 * * * 1/2

The posters for this movie claim that you will never guess her secret. That is for sure. I didn't, and I've seen a lot of horror films. However there are many parts of this film that leave you speechless because they are SO unlikely. A couple who lose their baby decide to adopt a 9 year old called named Esther. Esther is perfectly nice but also very mysterious, wearing out-dated clothes and knows far more about sex than a girl of her age should. Naturally the mother becomes suspicious, but the father is not having any of it seemingly totally enthralled by the girl. One thing is for sure, bad things happen around Esther, people get hurt, and there are even rumours that children in the orphanage she used to live in became involved in accidents when she was present.

Go on, watch this film and try and guess her secret, you never will.

PS This is the second horror film where the husband is a total b****ard ( first was Farmhouse)

Farmhouse - 2009 * * * *

I was NOT expecting the ending to Farmhouse. And to be perfectly honest it spoilt the whole film, or did it save it?I still can't decide. It certainly irritated me. Sometimes you just want to watch a gorey, disgusting movie for no reason other than to be freaked out and thank god your at home all cosy. That was what I was hoping would happen with this one when I watched it last week. The film focuses on a couple who, after losing their baby decided to start a new life in another part of America ( I think it's Seattle but that's not really important.) The husband refuses to stop and rest on their trip and ends up crashing the car in the middle of nowhere ( the husband's pretty much an idiot and a wimp in this film anyway so you realise how much you dislike him from the very beginning of the film). The couple come across a farmhouse inhabited by a really friendly couple who offer them accommodation for the night, it's kind of obvious what happens next... The middle part of the film is gruesome, I'm not going to deny that, but I actually found it really exciting ( one scene in particular involving a cheese-grater will disturb you for days afterwards) and throughout the film you realise that the friendly couple are really not who they seem to be at all. The film is all about wrong judgements and how your impressions of the characters are not necessarily the way they actually are. However as mentioned before, the ending sort of spoils the movie, trying to make it something it's not. One I may watch again ( and that's very rare for a horror movie).

The Killing of Sister George - 1968 * * *

Forgive me for being naive but I had no idea that this was the first breakthrough lesbian film to ever make it out on general release! The plot seemed a bit muddled to me but I still decided it was worth while seeing. Beryl Reid is brilliant as June, the man hating and alcoholic sadistic who portrays the loveable Sister George on screen and who lives in a London flat with her lover 'Childie' ( what a disturbing name for a partner) played excellently by Susannha York. June's real character is disgusting, unable to let Childie have a life or have any male aquaintances without flinging drunken accusations at her. Her overbearing paranoia and disgusting behaviour soon drive Childie away, into the arms of another woman, who just happens to be George's TV producer. Except for one graphic scene towards the end (which I'm sure is the reason that this film is papered over nowadays as seemingly unappropriate for 60s film) there isn't a huge amount happening here that could construe a truly shocking film. The relationship between Childie and June is hardly outwardly lesbian and therefore if you were coming in as a stranger to see this without knowing the background you wouldn't understand all the hype.

Worth a watch to say you've seen it, but not sure if my copy will not be better in a charity shop.