Personally, this is one of my favorite Vincent Price movies. I think he played what could be construed as a victim of another more diabolical creature. A creature that turned a just, peaceful and artistic gentleman into a mindless killer. I always thought that Price had a great way of playing a suave and sophisticated gentlemen killer and Diary of a Madman is him to perfection. I do not think this is like Jekyll and Hyde for the reason that Dr. Jekyll was experimenting on himself, whereas Price's Judge character was content to do his job and live his life, with only a fascination for how a criminal mind works in relation to his delegating justice. He was a mad who had enough tragedy in his past and wanted to quietly go about his life. The story was excellent and some of the effects weren't too bad either. The cast and the acting were first rate too. Warning spoiler ahead. You didn't need much blood and gore to get the point across in dealing with the murder of Odette DuClass in the story. The point was made by the her head behind the clay.If you weren't a fan of Vincent Price as a sophisticated killer then this movie will help. In spite of being a possessed murderer, you could not help but pull for his character to destroy the Horla.Vincent Price pulled off the role of a good man becoming a possessed killer excellently. This movie shows that you don't need a special effects monsters to have a scary killer.This is one of Price's classic movie roles!
Review of Diary of a Madman
