That was the first version of François Ozon's " 8 Femmes" ,about 40 years before;Robert Thomas ' play was transferred to the screen with a little help from Frederic Dard (who mentions in the lines one of his own characters :San Antonio) who is good at creating disturbing atmospheres .Ozon's and Merenda's movies,except for the proper nouns and the main plot are not in the same tone:Ozon's work verges on comedy,adds songs which make his movie look like a musical,a lesbian character (Fanny Ardant),which would have been unthinkable in 1960,pastel color (a Douglas Sirk influence ), plenty of female stars and no male actor ."La Nuit Des Suspectes " has no real star,is filmed in black and white,and has a male character ( a cop) who investigates the house and ,should we believe him,had guessed the truth (who killed the man of the house?)long before he got the evidence.Considering the low budget and the limitations the director was working under ,his thriller can be considered an estimable movie,particularly for fans of Ozon's famous blockbuster.Merenda's movie has a rather pessimistic ending ,although the solution is the same as in the remake.One of the characters seems to have lost her illusions about her family circle (humanity?) and asks the cop (with whom she is not really in love)to take her away with him.