Diabólico

This is the first review I'm writing since EVER because I really have to rectify all these bad ratings and reviews for this movie. First of all, the title is super misleading. This is not a ghost movie. It's more of a mix between horror and science fiction. This movie is nothing like the traditional ghost story, probably why most people are so disappointed.

I've seen people reviewing this movie who turned it off after only half an hour screen time: BIG MISTAKE! The story starts to take shape after 45 minutes and it gets really interesting from there. Small details reveal the plot and even though not all is clear at the end, I understand that some people might not get it at all and just sign it off with a low rating.

I have to admit that the plot feels a bit messy, you get dropped off in the middle of the story with creepy entities appearing and not knowing what has happened to the family beforehand. But give it a chance. You might be surprised. It is obviously not the best movie ever, but I appreciate that the makers tried something different. It's just a shame that the big audience will never like 'different' kind of movies. Many of my favorite movies have bad ratings on IMDb. Honestly, this movie is better than some blockbuster movies who appeared in the cinema. But I guess there is no arguing about matters of taste.

And to people who say that the house is too expensive for a single mom: you probably mean 'too expensive for a unemployed single mom'. Because if not, you're being really sexist.

Allow me to dissect "The Diabolical". Don't be distracted by the definite article "the" in the title as though the movie is about a diabolical being or entity exclusive to all other diabolicals. You might be disappointed if you don't find THE Diabolical.

The movie is about a single mom and her two kids experiencing some strange poltergeist type phenomena at their home. The boy, Jacob (Max Rose) has the very practical and logical idea of moving (it was quite refreshing to hear someone say, "Let's get the bleep outta here"). When the mom, Madison (Ali Larter), decides that her son may actually be on to something it is too late.

With all haunting movies there is always the "why" that must be unearthed. In the midst of finding out the "why" we are to be treated with some delectable scares and some spooky stuff along the way. "The Diabolical" is not a true poltergeist movie although it flows like one. Delightfully it breaks the mold just a wee bit and gives us something more than just a frolicking angry ghost.

I guess I agree with most here (well, except the obvious 10 Star review where their summary is 'NOT THAT BAD, REALLY'... HUH...??!

Anyway, the first thing FWIW that struck me was that the Blu-ray has a REALLY Lame@ss look to it. Man, for a new film it is honestly one of THE most drab and unattractive Blu-rays that I've ever seen.

Next, the film... well... I really can't say it any better or add much more than most others here. Just not very good at all. What's odd though is that you almost really WANT it to work, I don't know, maybe because of the Old-School vibe or something. I WILL say that I friggn' LOVED the old, Art-Deco fan that they showed in the beginning! Awesome! But, that was about it.

Usually in Horror films like this that aren't very good, it's almost invariably ALWAYS the acting that is the culprit. But, at least I have to admit that it wasn't really the acting, per se, that bothered me. NORMALLY it irritates the living $hit outta me, but here that wasn't really what was wrong. I guess it was just the director's approach. It's like things were just too 'Pat' or something. For example, the boy is walking down the stairs at night, and OOH, ahead of him visible only to the audience, the kitchen light flickers... Again, OOH...

So, really not much to recommend here. Like I said, I am actually VERY surprised that for ONCE out of all these really lame modern Horror movies, that it truly was not horrendous and torturous acting that put me off. I actually lasted about 25 minutes (one reviewer above made it to about 30 minutes) There just wasn't enough there that I was remotely interested in.

Others are commenting on some 'Time Traveling' element. With the bland start of this film, I think I actually would have REALLY welcomed some Time Travel, because at least that might have given it some MUCH needed substance or interest for the audience to grab onto.

As it was, not really...

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.

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