Diario segreto di un pazzo

Most horror movies made between the '50's and '70's weren't very much psychological once and featured for instance monsters, gore and tons of blood. In that regard "Diary of a Madman" is a quite refreshing movie. It lies its emphasis on the psychological aspects of the movie and uses it for its tension, mystery and just overall horror, even though the movie still features a 'supernatural' horror theme.

The movie has a well build up and constructed story, that only gets better and better as it heads toward the ending. The movie begins quite typical but soon becomes very intriguing when it becomes obvious that just is not just another average standard '60's horror flick, with Vincent Price in the lead role. The movie shows how the highly respected magistrate/sculptor slowly looses his mind when he is being possessed by a strange mysterious spirit called an Horla. Of course no one believes him at first when he starts to hear and see things. He starts to question his own sanity, until the Horla has him in his almost complete control. Good old Vincent Price however decides to fight back and we already at the start sort of know what has happened, since the movie is told in the past time, when people read his diary in which he described the strange events that had happened.

So you don't really have to expect an horror movie with monster, gore and scare effects. This movie is mostly about its build-up and overall atmosphere. It's a psychological movie, though visually the movie is also a good one.

The movie features quite some early and variating special effects and other cinematic tricks. It's quite clumsy looking all of course but at least you can say that they really tried and put some effort in it to making something new.

Vincent Price of course always had been at his best in roles such as these, so this movie forms no exception to that. He is highly convincing as the respected magistrate but also as the 'madman'. Two of course total opposite elements, which Price perfectly knows to handle, without ever making anything look ridicules or totally unbelievable.

It's a real surprisingly good and quite different '60's horror flick, that deserves to be seen and known better, starring genre-legend Vincent Price!

8/10

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During the 1960s, Vincent Price became super famous as a horror actor--starring in countless low budget horror flicks. Many of them were very cheap and rather forgettable but he also did a few dandies that were quite watchable. In that latter category I would place this film. It's very enjoyable and despite the plot being awfully far-fetched, it is carried off well. Price plays a nice judge who visits a madman about to be executed. At this meeting, the evil spirit controlling the maniac jumps into Price's body and as a result, he goes from a saintly life of a life of evil and depravity. The acting and writing are good, but I must admit this sort of fare isn't going to be for everyone--deep intellectual stuff this isn't! But, if you like a good scare, give the film a viewing.

The late and great comedian Flip Wilson had a sketch he did on his popular TV show in which, when confronted by tell-tale evidence, he would look into the camera and exclaim, "The Devil made me do it." In "Diary of a Madman," Simon Cordier (Vincent Price) attempts to exonerate himself from murder in flashback fashion with the excuse, "The Horla made me do it." In Cordier's tale, the evil force manifests itself to its victims and takes control of their minds. When under the Horla's powers, the victim's eyes emit a strange light indicative of possession. The special effects are not bad for 1963 except for this light which now looks cheap, almost humorous, in execution.

Cordier is a well-respected judge who wants to understand what drives humans to cold-blooded murder. His police friend, Captain Robert Rennedon (Stephen Roberts), has a more pessimistic view of human nature, believing killers are born that way, sort of a bad seed type outlook. When Cordier visits a murderer that he has sentenced to die, the condemned man tells Cordier of the Horla, physically attacks Cordier and in the scuffle the man dies. The Horla leaves the man's body and takes up residence in Cordier. Cordier is advised by his doctor to renew his old hobby of sculpturing to rid himself of his anxiety (caused by the Horla). In the process of obtaining a model for his new endeavor, a beautiful yet crafty and greedy woman, Odette Mallotte DuClasse (Nancy Kovack), enters his life. He falls in love with her not knowing that she is already married to a young artist, Paul (Chris Warfield), who finds it difficult to satisfy her pecuniary needs. The Horla intervenes with other plans for Odette and her husband.

Price, already an established actor for over twenty years, turned more and more to horror films following his success in the 1953 3-D thriller, "House of Wax." Price was no stranger to the genre. One of his first lead roles was in "The Invisible Man Returns" in 1940. Price was such a versatile actor that he did comedy as expertly as he did drama. Most of his exercises in the macabre were played with a tongue-in-cheek rascality that movie goers loved. He became associated with Roger Corman and later with Michael Jackson for his "Thriller" masterpiece.

"Diary of a Madman," loosely based on a story by Guy de Maupassant, is a typical Vincent Price flick from the 1960's with lots to recommend for the lovers of this type horror show. If you are, like me, an avid fan of Vincent Price, it is a must-see.

DIARY OF A MADMAN opens with the burial of Magistrate Simon Cordier (Vincent Price), who has left behind a diary. The reading of the diary tells the story. Cordier, a respected man of the law, is called upon to visit an infamous, doomed prisoner, and discovers the truth behind the man's murderous rampage. He's told of something called "The Horla", a demon of sorts. Cordier soon finds himself possessed by the same dark force that drove this man to commit his crimes.

Price is terrific in this movie, going from affable man, to homicidal madman with ease. For its time, it's fairly gory, including a stabbing and -implied- decapitation. Nancy Novack co-stars as the conniving Odette. The voice of the Horla is provided with wicked glee by Joseph Ruskin. This movie belongs on every Vincent Price fan's watchlist...

Although I am a fan of Vincent Price, I only caught this particular effort of his today. Watching it, I think I know why it slipped past my attention for all of these years. Don't get me wrong - it is not a terrible or bad effort. Price is in top form as always, the low tech special effects are actually pretty good, and the script's basic idea is an intriguing (if a little familiar) one. However, the actual execution of this idea by the director and the screenwriter is kind of lacking. The main problem with the movie is that at 96 minutes it seems quite long and stretched out. It would have worked better at a much shorter pace; in fact, I think the story would fit very well as an episode of the television show "The Twilight Zone" than as a feature film. If you are a Vincent Price fan, the movie is adequate, though it doesn't match up to some of his other movies of this particular era like the Poe films directed by Roger Corman. For all other viewers, it passes the time painlessly, but that's about all.