Customer Reviews

Diary of a Madman [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Vincent Price was really amazing. He could be a villain. He could do comedy. He could do camp and he could do serious. He also showed a talent for playing a sympathetic victim. Judge Simon Cordier has been possessed by a horla, a kind of evil spirit and it makes him do terrible things. Simon is a moderate, kind, sensitive and artistic man and seeing the horla destroy both his life and reputation is really touching. His love for the doomed Odette wins the audiences heart and when the horla goes after her it's a shock. There's not a whole lot of gore in this movie. A family of adults and teens could watch it without any embarrasment but it has genuine chilling power.

Vincent Price plays Simon Cordier, who is haunted by a malicious spirit. No one can see this invisible spirit, and it acts only when Cordier is alone.

When Maupassant wrote the original story, he was going insane, dying of syphillis. No one really knows if he was simply writing a story, or writing what he thought was happening to him...

This is an interesting story of a worldly pernicious spirit called the Horla. The Horla uses mortal men as hosts to commit acts of mayhem and murder. Based on the story "La Horla" by Guy de Maupassant Vincent Price plays magistrate Simon Cordier who becomes enchanted by the evil specter. Price is excellent as a man who is poised in his official capacity, shows almost juvenile affection for Odette (Nancy Kovack) an artist's model he falls in love with and gains sympathy as he gradually loses all dignity under the spell of the Horla. The pace of this film is slow and methodical but it is the performance of Price and his predicament that keeps it interesting. The direction by Reginald LeBorg is rather pedestrian but the art designs by Daniel Haller and colorful cinematography by Ellis W. Carter are very good.

Even many of Price's fans are ignorant of this one - and literature students who should know better have forgotten the Guy de Maupassant classic short story, "The Horla," on which it is based. Which is a pity, because they're both great.

Price plays a French magistrate who passes a death sentence on a convicted murderer, who insists he was driven to the act by an invisible obsessing/possessing spirit. After the criminal's demise, Price finds himself suffering amnesiac missing time episodes exactly like those claimed by the executed killer, during which - or so it would seem - he performs a number of progressively more dire crimes. Eventually, he ends up beheading a woman...at which point he finds a way to force the demonic evil spirit out into the open, for a fight to the death.

This is a gorgeous film, beautifully scripted, acted and photographed, with stunning period sets and costumes, and it's amazing it isn't better known than it is. Price is less camp and hammy than usual, playing it straight as an intense supernatural crime melodrama. If you're a horror fan - and a fan of Price's, especially - you won't want to miss this movie. The "invisible" effects are quite good - and the scene in which Price discovers the missing head of the slain Nancy Kovack is especially gruesome and memorable, worth the price of admission alone.

Diary of a madman is one of Vincent Prices best
performances! The picture is written and directed
wonderful. The other actors you probably have seen
in other movies [the cheating wife is in Elvis's
Frankie and Johnny] and as stunning as ever. The
story is a mix of haunted demon/horror. It has
the feel of a hammer movie if you like those. I
especially like the voice of the demon as he is
a character actor on many 70's tv shows such as
Starsky and Hutch! He makes the demon come alive.
There is not a flaw in this movie and should be
seen more on classic movie tv channels so all
could enjoy this truly great film.

In a perfect world they would go back to the original film elements and make new transfers for these DVD-R MGM Limited Edition titles. That has apparently not happened with this title, though what's here isn't bad. The color fidelity is good, as is the contrast. There is noise in the picture, but I have seen worse. This is a decent looking, middle of the road, transfer. Don't expect a lot and you'll be pleased.

This dvd-r is mastered from a decent print in the 1:66 to 1 screen ratio, with anamorphic enhancement. The Technicolor is fairly saturated but warmer (reddish) in tone than a more-accurate looking trailer, with is presented letterboxed at 1:85 to 1. The trailer is the only extra.
The film itself has some sloppy pacing and a yammering screenplay, albeit one that Price can dig into with his particular brand of literate histrionics. The story tends to get sillier as it progress, and becomes downright silly as it closes, but it doesn't detract from the B-movie charms of this minor thriller. This should definitely please Price fans, and collectors should be satisfied with the presentation.

I love this movie! It has a strange atmosphere and a unique twist on demonic possesion. Of course its always a pleasure to watch a performance of Vincent Price.

I'd never watched this movie until a few nights ago, but the description sounded interesting and I'll watch just about anything with Vincent Price in it, so I gave it a shot.
My favorite parts in the movie were (1) the scene where he pulls the clay away from the sculpted head (very nice); and (2) the Horla's disembodied voice, performed admirably by Joseph Ruskin. And Price was in fine form, as usual.
I was very disappointed when the magistrate was about to kill, only to be thwarted by - a reflection on the knife? Come on, that was ridiculous. Even with the story problems and somewhat cheesy effects, it is definitely worth watching. I will give it an extra star for Vincent Price's performance; otherwise, it would get 3 stars.

This was filmed on an obviously very low budget and the special effects are not all that special but, with the "monster" being a demon, they could get away with it. Frankly, this film is not up to the standards of the films Vincent Price did for Roger Corman. Vincent Price gives a good performance as a good man driven to evil by the horla (the demon that possesses him) and Nancy Kovak is beautiful and pretty good too as his love interest. As for scary qualities, it will offer some suspense to Vincent Price fans, others looking to be terrified are likely to be disappointed. The promo line on the box about this being "the most terrifying motion picture ever created" is a long way from the truth, still it's a fun movie for Vincent Price fans.