Critics score:
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Suffocatingly corrosive and misanthropic. Read more
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Polished, impersonal work, it puts forward little more than a spirit of free-floating misanthropy. Read more
Time Out: This expose of a malicious small town in France must be one of the most depressed films to emerge from the period of the German Occupation. Read more
J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Clouzot, often called the French Hitchcock, is not just a master of suspense but is also most adroit at implicating his audience. Read more