For his first English-language film, Roman Polanski chose Repulsion, a film he co-wrote with Gerard Brach.  The film was well-received critically at the time and has since become one of the great achievements in horror, considered by many to be the most terrifying film made on the subject of madness.  Rather than tell you the film is good (it is), or that it is an important film for horror (it’s that, too), let’s take a look at the why of it.  Why is this film so significant?  Why does it still resonate with fans and deserve to be seen by horror aficionados everywhere?

There are many people who simply refuse to watch a black and white film.  The thought boggles my mind, as it closes off entire decades of excellent cinema, but, if you choose to live a life that excludes films based on color, there’s nothing I can do for you.  Move along.  That said, Repulsion suffers from a bit of dating.  The music, in particular, fits the mood of the work, but it is clearly the music of a bygone time.  The jazz used in some of the street shots can be jarring when listened with 21st century ears.  Aside from that minor quibble, Repulsion is a work of absolute beauty and horror.

Catherine Deneuve plays Carol, a quiet employee of a beauty salon, living with her more outgoing sister, Helen (Yvonne Furneaux).  The sisters are behind on rent, and Carol is charged with delivering the rent to the landlord after Helen departs with her English boyfriend, Michael (Ian Hendry) for a holiday.  Michael is married, a fact that upsets Carol almost as much as his habit of leaving his toothbrush in her drinking glass in the bathroom.  Meanwhile, Colin (John Fraser) is in pursuit of Carol, and seems like a decent enough guy, albeit confused by the behavior of his would-be girlfriend.

the landlord after Helen departs with her English boyfriend, Michael (Ian Hendry) for a holiday.  Michael is married, a fact that upsets Carol almost as much as his habit of leaving his toothbrush in her drinking glass in the bathroom.  Meanwhile, Colin (John Fraser) is in pursuit of Carol, and seems like a decent enough guy, albeit confused by the behavior of his would-be girlfriend.

Not surprising, considering Carol’s problems.  She’s overwhelmed by the outside world, prone to locking herself away when possible and avoiding the whole of humanity.  As her mind begins to tailspin into madness, Polanski mirrors the decay of her surroundings.  Cracks appear in the walls, a rabbit, skinned and ready for cooking, is left out, slowly decomposing over the holiday.  At work, Carol is distracted, resulting in an injury to a particularly unpleasant older lady.  When a coworker tries to cheer her up, she gets a rabbit head in her purse for her troubles.  This is a film that details, in painstaking measures, how deep the rabbit hole goes.  Carol is a mental sinking ship, and nowhere is this more evident than in the fantasies which haunt her at night.

Polanski’s handling of Carol’s fantasy life is brilliant, soundlessly displaying Carol in bed when a mysterious attacker appears from nowhere, forcing himself upon her.  In a later scene, Carol walks along the apartment hallway, hands stretching from the walls grasping at her, clutching at her, fondling her.  Despite the implication that Carol remains a virgin, her dream-life is riddled with aggressive sexuality and faceless caresses.  Sex is tied closely to control, to acts of random violence, but when the reality intrudes upon the fantasy, Carol reacts with further, and final, violence.

haunt her at night.

Polanski’s handling of Carol’s fantasy life is brilliant, soundlessly displaying Carol in bed when a mysterious attacker appears from nowhere, forcing himself upon her.  In a later scene, Carol walks along the apartment hallway, hands stretching from the walls grasping at her, clutching at her, fondling her.  Despite the implication that Carol remains a virgin, her dream-life is riddled with aggressive sexuality and faceless caresses.  Sex is tied closely to control, to acts of random violence, but when the reality intrudes upon the fantasy, Carol reacts with further, and final, violence.

More so even than Psycho, Repulsion links sex and madness and violence together, but it’s the intrusion of the real world on Carol’s dreamscape that precipitates real, bloody murder.  As those who barge into the decaying world of the apartment find, Carol is desperate to defend her solitude.  The actual sexual assault which occurs ends with predictably homicidal results.  With visual and sound cues, not to mention a sublime performance by Deneuve, Polanski paints a cinematic portrait of the madness of a young, sexually repressed and aggressive girl with a devastatingly methodical approach.  Repulsion simply stands as the greatest exploration of madness put to film.  As Carol retreats, finally, into a catatonic madness, the viewer is left wondering if the same fantasies and delusions which propelled her through the narrative have now come to stay, leaving behind the husk of a beautiful, psychically damaged girl.  Polanski’s lingering shots, deliberate pacing and fascination with fantasy vs. reality make this a landmark for later filmmakers to imitate, with lesser degrees of success.  This is a film you must see before making any claim to a comprehensive knowledge of horror cinema.

which occurs ends with predictably homicidal results.  With visual and sound cues, not to mention a sublime performance by Deneuve, Polanski paints a cinematic portrait of the madness of a young, sexually repressed and aggressive girl with a devastatingly methodical approach.  Repulsion simply stands as the greatest exploration of madness put to film.  As Carol retreats, finally, into a catatonic madness, the viewer is left wondering if the same fantasies and delusions which propelled her through the narrative have now come to stay, leaving behind the husk of a beautiful, psychically damaged girl.  Polanski’s lingering shots, deliberate pacing and fascination with fantasy vs. reality make this a landmark for later filmmakers to imitate, with lesser degrees of success.  This is a film you must see before making any claim to a comprehensive knowledge of horror cinema.