"The perfect example of an adult fairytale. Everything about this—the visual set pieces, the mournful musical theme, the mad doctor (!), and the unforgettable sight of Edith Scob in her mask, roaming the gardens and joined by her doves—is horror at its finest."
"A lurid mad-scientist drama—scripted by Boileau and Narcejac, also of Diabolique and Vertigo, and filmed by Georges Franju as a mix of surgical surrealism, hyper-graphic horror, raincoated French policier and Cocteau-ish magical romance. Edith Scob drifts through corridors in a blank white mask and a nightgown, and Alida Valli stalks her prey in a Citroën 2CV, accompanied by Maurice Jarre’s shuddery score."
