
REPULSION starring the incomparable Catherine Deneuve was director Roman Polanski's first movie filmed in English It chronicles the descent into schizophrenia of a sexually confused isolated young woman named Carol who works at a beauty parlor & shares an apartment with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) One day Helen & her boyfriend Michael (Ian Hendry) go off on vacation together & Carol is left alone in the empty apartment where the only sounds are the constant ticking of a clock faucets dripping & the invasive ringing of a telephone Extremely paranoid Carol refuses to let anyone in & never leaves the building herself in effect breaking off all contact with the outside world In this claustrophobic environment she begins to lose her grip on reality suffering from hallucinations of being attacked by a phantom rapist & hands reaching out from the walls to grab her Highly acclaimed & extremely gripping Polanski's disturbing film can be seen as a prelude to his later work in the field of psychological horror ROSEMARY'S BABY & especially THE TENANT