''The Hatter's Ghost'' (french: "Les fantômes du chapelier") is a 1982 film directed by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

. It is based on the 1947 story ''Le Petit Tailleur et le Chapelier'' by

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

. It takes place in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

and was shot in the towns of Concarneau and

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography The ...

Plot

Labbé, a hatter in a French provincial town, appears to lead the life of a respectable citizen but is in fact a serial murderer. The only person to suspect this is his neighbour, Kachoudas, an Armenian tailor. After Labbé kills his own wife, he kills six of her friends to stop them from visiting her and prepares to murder a seventh, who dies naturally. As a substitute, he murders the maid. Labbé soon confesses his crime to the dying Kachoudas. After getting drunk, he visits his favourite prostitute, Berthe, and kills her; he is found at the scene of the crime in the morning by police.

Principal cast

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' rated the film with 2 1/2 out of 5 stars and commented: From ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'':

References

External links

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Scene from Youtube
1982 films 1980s psychological thriller films Films directed by Claude Chabrol Films based on Belgian novels Films set in the 1960s French psychological thriller films French serial killer films Films based on works by Georges Simenon 1980s French-language films 1980s French films {{1980s-France-film-stub