152: Anticipating the Bang

The best thing about suspense films, whether thrillers or horror, is the build up not the payoff. Getting the the edge of your seat doesn't happen at the moment of shock or surprise, it happens on the way there. Les Diaboliques is one of my favorite examples. It's a movie that might be described as the one that got away from Hitchcock.

Different Drummer: Alfred Hitchcock

Spoiler scene from the 1954-55 Clouzot film