How referential is this? Let me count the ways. Gene O'Neill would certainly have been on mourning terms with these dysfunctionals measuring out their lives in the old homestead where the angst is as high as a melancholic's eye and if it comes to that Edgar Allan Poe may well have had an architectural hand in the genesis of the Gothic pile. There's a sequence right out of Wuthering Heights, a nod to Jo Von Sternberg and ... oh, well, you get the picture. Somehow Daniele Delorme never really registered with me despite the odd tasty credit such as Voici les temps des assassins which was still six years away when this was made. Paul Meurisse on the other hand has long been a favourite. As another poster has said this is all about atmosphere rather than plot and in that department I have to say dix sur dix.