Carnival of Sinners

Gloomy and atmospheric French variation on "Faust" and "The Monkey's Paw", brought to a higher level thanks to the stylish direction of Maurice Tourneur. If that surname rings a bell, you are probably familiar with the work of his more famous - and even more talented - son, Jacques Tourneur. When Tourneur Sr. Released "La Main Du Diable", his son Jacques already directed some of the best horror movies in history, like "Cat People" and "I Walked with a Zombie". Nevertheless, Maurice is a respectable craftsman as well, as made abundantly clear by this effort.

Desperate and unsuccessful painter Roland Brissot buys an extremely cheap talisman - a sealed box - from a sneaky Italian restaurant owner, hoping it'll bring him luck and the love of the beautiful Irene who brutally rejected him. Miraculously, Brissot's left hand (although he's right-handed) suddenly paints the most astounding artworks. Under the pseudonym of Maximus Léo, he becomes an acclaimed artist with Irene by his side as the worshiping wife. Life is like a dream for exactly one year, and then a mysterious little old man in black shows up ...

What I mainly like about "La Main du Diable" is how it resembles those brilliant expressionist horror classics from Germany during the early 1920s. Particularly the narrative structure and the dazzling climax seem to come straight out of his wondrous period. The most powerful (and uncanny) moments from the film come near the end, when Brissot confronts 7 men with terrifying masks at a diner table. They all turn out to be previous "owners" of the talisman, and share their stories. The moral is always the same: be careful what you wish for, and greed will bring any man down.