La Rupture (1970) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

• The exposition can be clumsy and boring. At one point, he reveals the entire back-story by having the main character recite it all while riding in a tram with her lawyer. There is no visualization to support the story, just a series of "talking head" shots. This seems to go on and on in real time.
• He commits a cardinal sin in suspense films. He lets politics get in the way of the pacing. The film would move forward at a much better pace if Chabrol would stop being hung up on the corruption and amorality of the wealthy classes, and just stick to the damned story.
• He still allows inconsequential details to creep in and slow the pace. For example, at one point in the hospital, somebody comes up to the main character and says, "are you Mrs. So-and-so?". Neither the questioner nor Mrs. So-and-so are relevant to the plot. She answers in the negative, and the exchange simply has no point at all other than to slow the exposition further. You'd love to ask Chabrol why he didn't cut this.

On the other hand, this film also has Chabrol's positives, and adds some intriguing elements to the mix:

• The film starts out with something happening immediately, in a cold opening before the credits! A woman makes breakfast for her family. Her husband comes out of the bedroom wild-eyed and attacks her and their toddler son. The boy is injured. The woman, protecting herself and her son, grabs a heavy pan, and starts clobbering the guy.
• There is a plot. After the big fight in the opening scene, the filthy rich father of the wild-eyed husband doesn't want his daughter-in-law to take away his grandson. He refuses to admit that his son is nutty as a fruitcake. He hires a sleazeball to discredit his daughter-in-law by hook or by crook, with facts if possible, but doing whatever is necessary if the facts are not sufficient. The sleazeball insinuates himself into the life of the daughter-in-law at her boarding house, wins her trust, and hatches various evil schemes. The plot is based on a story by the awarded mystery writer Charlotte Armstrong (The Balloon Man). More than thirty years later, another of Armstrong's stories (The Chocolate Cobweb) would form the basis of Chabrol's popular 2002 film, Merci pour le chocolat.
• The minor characters and sub-plots are quirky and fascinating. Virtually every character in the film is fun to watch. The sleazeball's girlfriend is a nymphomaniac who never wears clothing. The boarding house is filled with complete loonies. There is an aspiring actor who wears a cape and punctuates his every word and gesture with grand theatrical flourishes, ala Jon Lovitz as Master Thespian. There are three dotty old ladies. The landlord in the boarding house is a drunk, and his daughter is ... well, I don't know what's wrong with her. Let's just say her gate is down, and her lights are flashin', but her train ain't comin'. The evil father-in-law is almost as crazy as his wild-eyed son. The mother-in-law reads children's stories to the wild-eyed son, who appears to be in his thirties. There's even an acid trip!

• The sleazeball is an entertaining predecessor of the over-the-top villains often used in modern films.
• The background music is some seriously weird stuff. Much of it was created on an Ondes Martenot, a bizarre French instrument similar to a Theremin. I'm not sure the score was eerie in all the right places, but the sounds certainly added some unique atmosphere.
• Strangely enough, it actually contains scenes from a 8mm porno film-within-the-film, including some lesbian Satan-worshippers. These scenes show no lower body nudity, but are still oddly frank for a mainstream 1970 thriller.