Rating: NR
Genre:
Thriller
Theatrical Release: 02/27/1970(France),
Release Date: 05/20/2003
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Run Time: 87 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children
Distributor/Studio: Pathfinder Home Ent.
Sexual frustration is the focus of this
Hitchcockian thriller from French director
Claude Chabrol. Schoolteacher Hélène (
Stéphane Audran) comes to a small Périgord village to begin a new job. She is soon romanced by the local butcher, Popaul (
Jean Yanne), but is distracted by her job and memories of a previous ill-fated relationship. A series of brutal murders of young women and a dropped cigarette-lighter raise Hélène's suspicions about her suitor, whose pitiable, depraved compulsions lead to a gruesome conclusion.
Audran, who was
Chabrol's wife at the time, makes an engaging heroine, and
Yanne is simultaneously scary and pathetic as the obsessive butcher.
~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide