Repulsion (1965)

Hard to believe polanski ever got another job after the aptly named repulsion. Managed to fail in several genres simultaneously.

I completed disagree with the other reviews. I found it to be a painful tedious watch. Who wants to sit there watching a young woman sinking into the depths of mental illness. I found it to be depressing and I struggled with it. It certainly is not a classic. You don't see it in too many 'best of lists'.

Another from my 'always wanted to see list' and it was worth the wait. Catherine Deneuve is terrific and the murder quite horrifying.

A painfully shy manicurist has trouble concentrating at work and frequently takes time off for no apparent reason. She is particularly fearful of men who try to be familiar or offer to take her out. When her sister, with whom she shares a flat and who is normally there to boost her confidence, goes away on holiday, she lacks the will to face life and shuts herself in her flat. Loneliness and her own fears pry on her mind and she begins to have delusions; a crack in the wall will open up or an intruder will burst in. These imaginings happen unexpectedly and with stunning effect as Polanski creates an eery atmosphere using the camera to roam stealthily round the flat picking out strange objects, but always returning to the woman to reveal her state of mind. Catherine Deneuve plays the part of the woman with cool detachment, only to blaze into action when seriously threatened. This movie maintains a degree of suspense that has probably never been surpassed.

Well made with, Polanski using the camera to give a unique perspective from the protagonist point of view. Treating her with care Polanski makes all to real her sense of isolation depression and anxiety, highlighting the true terror of mental illness. More than that he shows for the most the wider world is willing to care but can't seem to reach someone who can't explain what's wrong. In contrast to the wider community her immediate caregiver is oblivious leaving her mentally ill sister at home to go on holidays. The final fade out to the young Carols photograph is chilling and rightfully earns the movie classic status.

A brilliant, dark and disturbing psychological portrait film... great photography, performances and direction. This rates in my top 5 films of all time.

I first saw this movie in 1971 and found it quite scarey. I don't know how well the horror aspect works these days. You'll have to ask a first time viewer if they were scared. As a movie classic and as a document of a young woman's descent into psychosis, it is timeless and a must-see!

Roman Polanski's first English language film is a stunner. A mature and realistic depiction of a young womans descent into paranoia and psychosis. Catherine Denevue is great as the girl losing her grip on reality, she is front and centre for the majority of the film and is totally mesmerising. The film is genuinely creepy and unsettling and downright scary in parts.

Gripping!!

Didn't quite work for me. By the end I still didn't know what was 'biting ' the girl, what was her sexual hangup. Good black and white camera work though. Interesting how this good looking girl working in the beauty industry could live in such squallor.

Slow and atmospheric, this is almost like a silent film. Much of the second act is the camera trailing Deneuve in a flat on her own, as she slowly cracks up: no dialogue, no other characters except the fears of her mind. Don't expect a slasher film or anything like most of the horror genre on this site. This is an internal film that maps the developing insanity of a woman in a state of anomie. The closing shot gives some idea as to the genesis of her state of mind.

Laconic to the point of torpor.