REPULSION — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

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Roman Polanski's second feature film (behind "Knife In The Water") is a psychological thriller that uncoils like a primordial poisonous snake disguised by an unfathomable beauty that conceals its deadly feminine bite. 

Catherine Deneuve was not yet a star when Polanski cast her in the challenging role of Carol Ledoux, a lovely but emotionally disturbed 18-year-old Belgian girl living in London with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) while working as a beautician.

When Helen goes away on vacation with her adulterous boyfriend, the virginal Carol becomes a shut-in after murdering her suitor and lapses into a homicidal madness that takes the life of yet another unfortunate bloke who misjudges Carol's grip on sanity.

Co-written by Polanski and Gerard Brach, "Repulsion" follows an escalating dove-tailing story form that Polanski explored in his later "apartment" films "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant."

Several surreal nightmare sequences disclose Carol's troubled subconscious mind in suggestive and shocking ways. The film's visually striking black-and-white atmosphere of Gothic dread is accented with an intensely modulated jazz score by Chico Hamilton, as orchestrated by Gabor Szabo.

Canny camera work further reveals the warped psychological state of our troubled anti-heroine. A quicksilver study in a descent into insanity, "Repulsion" is a horror film steeped in a palpable terror of sexual repression that takes hold of the viewer and never lets go. Expect a cold sweat to come and go in waves. 

Not Rated. 105 mins.