Le démoniaque

A thriller set in Cannes,during the festival ,which allows us to spot a lot of celebrities :Gina Lollobrigida,Sophia Loren, Ursula Andress,Jean-Paul Belmondo ,Jean Marais ,and more ....

But none of them is featured in René Gainville's offbeat psycho killer story ,with shades of a Gothic past (the killer' s beloved mom , whose memory is only skimmed over ,on a photograph). The young principal's career was short-lived ,as his director's was ;his playing is minimal ,but it inspires its bizarre attitude ; he rarely takes off his sunglasses to show his piercing eyes .The stepmom ,on the other hand ,is played by seasoned actress Anne Vernon , who worked with Jacques Demy and Jacques Becker; in a part unworthy of her talent,she's always undertaken by events , a puppet in stepsonny's hands ;the rest of the cast is odd : Jess Hahn ,an American who never played in his native land ,as the absent papa ,Alice Sapricht as a blackmailer and Genevieve Grad ,who was De Funès's daughter in the "gendarme de Saint-Tropez " franchise.

Though directing looks amateurish ,and the lack of means is glaring ,the screenplay ,based on a Hadley Chase novel ,is not devoid of interest : the photographs with the revealing clock ,it's a good trick ;on the other hand ,the visit to the actor on the dole ,so as to make him out to be the criminal does not bring anything to the plot.

Very different from the average French thriller of the era;if it were only for that ,it would be worth a watch.