Le Scandale (aka The Champagne Murders) (1967)

Taking a prostitute to a park, a man (Maurice Ronet) is brutally attacked by unknown assailants causing severe head injuries and the prostitute is strangled. After shock treatment therapy in an institution, he is released. But he begins having blackouts and waking up to find his female companions strangled. Is he a killer or is he himself a victim? Directed by Claude Chabrol (LE BOUCHER), this is one of several Hitchcockian thrillers directed by Chabrol who was a great admirer of Hitchcock. The viewer may think he knows in what direction Chabrol is going but he has several twists and turns which catch us off guard (at least, it did me). With Anthony Perkins, the star of Hitchcock's PSYCHO playing Ronet's best friend, the Hitchcock connection is solidified. It may be case of style over substance but what style! The film's "ending" is incomplete in that we really don't know how it ends but it's ambiguous enough that an alternate "explanation" is possible. There's an excellent score by Pierre Jansen. With Yvonne Furneaux, Stephane Audran, Henry Jones, Suzanne Lloyd (very good) and Christa Lang (Mrs. Sam Fuller).