The Diabolical - Das Böse ist zeitlos

If you like Ali Larter you won't mind what I or anyone else for that matter will be writing about this movie. If you do care about story, you may find that there are better horror movies out there of course too. But you can't deny the movie that it does create a really nice (scary) atmosphere with some fine scares scattered along the way for the viewer to enjoy and be scared by.

Ali Larter may not have the meatiest role to play with, but she does the best she can with a situation that is anything but ideal (pun intended). Her character has a lot to go through and while there may be some easier solutions to some of the issues she's facing, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the movie nevertheless

Diabolical is insanely dull. It portrays so many haunting stereotypes in alarmingly uninteresting ways. The focus on drama is appreciated, although it dawdles needlessly for half the runtime, and even then it falters with lackluster attempt in horror and poor design for the creature. At the end it tries to pull off a nifty twist, but unfortunately audience would already be disenchanted by the clumsy execution.

An entity binds a single mother and her two children to a particular house. What follows is average haunting gimmick which other movies have done better. It often stays too long on certain scene or abruptly changes tone with several supporting characters, either ways it doesn't pay off in the slightest.

Ali Larter as the mother does a decent job on creating some family drama, however the tired theme of single mother struggling grows old too fast. She faces mortgage issue, visits from social services and even bullied by strange entities. It becomes mundane later on, not to mention the other characters seem like extras without much personality and the things they do sometimes defy logic as they wander aimlessly.

All of those flaws can be forgiven, as most horror tend to skimp on narrative, but The Diabolical is simply not frightening. Practical effect is poorly done and the special effect looks awfully fake. The design for creature might be decent for the first or second time it appears, but this is the case of not showing too much can be more effective, which doesn't help much since the movie can't set up any suspense regardless.

The effort to create drama is decent, but it soon becomes repetitive and tedious, especially when the movie can't deliver any horror, thrill or even the slightest tension.

The middle is where it get's interesting. You find yourself with a "Feeling" about what is going on. There are small clues that begin to tie in and if you are a cerebral movie goer then by 3/4 of the way you have everything figured out.

I liked where it was going. I predicted who was who and expected the proverbial catch-22.

Then the movie went south. In the last 45 seconds the movie undid all that it had built up. Interesting writing, good acting and then a plot that fell flat on it's own face.

It's hard to give a movie a good rating, even if 76% was done well. We all remember the bad things about people before the good and a movie is not much different.

I am unsure if the writer just ran out of ideas or did not like how limp it would have been if ended 3 minutes earlier. Sure it would have been a bit of a "Yawn" but it would have been a 5. No, let's add that final scene and drag it down to a 4 or 3.

So, be warned. What you think is the end, is not. What is left as a "Ah, that is why" comes up as a well.....they can't do that now moment.

Do not do anything until this is out on netflix or Amazon. Seriously, the ending was so flat in what is closed then opened then changed that you will be mad if you even find it at Redbox and pay .99 :)

First of all, there is nothing diabolical about this movie, so I am not sure why this title is chosen to be put as a representation of this movie!

It is maybe diabolically empty and meaningless film.

If I am not giving one star rating or two is because I think the boy actor is good. The scientist / lover is cute. The woman is interesting. But all this just if viewed for themselves.

My main problem is ... the movie starts with this creature coming after the woman and she is repeating: It is not real, it is not real ... and the creature disappears. And if I understood correctly that is what happened some time after the movie really begins. Because why she is running away and does what she does if she knows that is not real?!

And plus, if a little girl knows who is the 'diabolic' and later the woman too knows... why she is doing all those meaningless things like fighting the creature, doing tests, calling help and so on ?!

Really don't know what to think about all. I believe the story ( which is kinda explained in the last 5 minutes of the film) is interesting but the film itself is poorly done and does not hold your attention. I would not say it is boring, but completely flat and not interesting.

3 from me. Though 2 may be more correct.

If the movie didn't work out as it was expected to, it's only because it has nothing to do with the amount of """scary""" movies we're watching for years. But when it comes to this movie, it's a total different thing.

At first, it starts like a more intelligent horror movie because the characters show smartness, are interesting and even if you feel like you can predict what's happening next, it won't change the fact that there is a feeling that it ain't any ordinary horror film.

Then, searching for explanations, we finally manage to make our own idea of what's going on and it might be on of the most interesting strength here : it's open to suggestion.

Whether you might not like the movie because it's too different in some way and not surprising enough during most of the film, i felt like i was thrilled to watch a movie way more original and creative than most of those i watch.

If you haven't watch it yet, start it with the idea that it won't be casual horror. And then you might enjoy the surprise the movie is.