Diary of a Madman (1963) User Reviews

Vincent Price vs. The Horla

[Space_Mafune · 7/10 · 27 December 2003]

Vincent Price, as Simon Cordier, is possessed by an evil spirit and is forced to kill. Can he overcome the beast that haunts him inside?

Dug this out of my collection and gave it another view. I really like this one and feel it has been underrated by many. The only major problem I have with it is the story would have been better served had the existence of the Horla been left more to question. Still I really enjoyed this, especially Vincent Price in the lead. It's got that old-time 1960s AIP Horror feel to it even though it wasn't made there.

Pretty good if unknown Price movie

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 19 June 2006]

Vincent Price plays Simon Cordier a kind man who is a judge. He is possessed by a Horla (never shown--you only hear its voice) who thrives on evil. It sets Price out to commit evil deeds even though he fights against it. Then he meets sweet Odette (Nancy Kovack) and things go out of control....

Well-made, colorful (some BEAUTIFUL set design here), low-key horror film. The plot is interesting and the acting is good (especially Price and Kovack). There's next to no violence in this one (the one murder scene is badly faked)...it mostly concentrates on Price fighting against the Horla. There's a few very interesting discussions between Price and the demon about good, evil and morality. It all leads up to a great climax. If you're looking for a blood and guts movie this isn't it but it is an intelligent thoughtful horror film. Recommended.

The Horla made me do it

[krorie · 7/10 · 7 June 2006]

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.

surprisingly good Price vehicle

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 18 January 2006]

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.

A work of horror -- and one of Price's better performances

[robeykr · 6/10 · 9 January 2005]

We begin with the end -- the funeral of Magistrate Simon Cordier (Vincent Price). It was his wish that certain individuals gather after the funeral, for the opening of a small chest he had entrusted to Jeanne D'Arville (Elaine Devry). At the D'Arville Gallery, the chest is opened and they learn that he kept a diary of his last days.

Simon Cordier, was a judge who sentenced a murderer to death -- a man who claimed to have been possessed by the HORLA (an evil spirit) that had driven the man to commit murder. The HORLA then holds Cordier responsible for the death of his slave and reveals that he has chosen Cordier to take his place.

The creature constantly taunts Cordier, breaking him under it's will to kill and commit acts that he had always condemned.

Is he mad? Or is the HORLA real? These questions are the core of the story -- and we are left (along with the mourners at the end) to ponder and answer the question ourselves.

This film was written and produced by Robert E. Kent and adapted from the stories of Guy de Maupassant . This film was done with the same level of quality that Roger Corman would exercise with Price in his adaptations of the stories by Edgar Allen Poe.

I have always considered this to be one of Vincent Price's finest performances.

It is a classic.

THE HORLAVA GOOD MOVIE!!!!

[sawyertom · 30 June 2003]

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!

Beware Of The Horla!

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 7/10 · 9 April 2008]

Vincent Price is one of my all-time favorite actors, and it is undeniable that most of his greatest work comes from the the 60s. Even though not nearly as memorable as the masterpieces Price was in in the the early 60s (such as Roger Corman's brilliant Poe-cycle, or "The Last Man On Earth"), Reginald Le Borg's "Diary Of A Madman" is a moody and spooky little Horror tale that my fellow Price fans can not afford to miss.

Price stars as Simon Cordier, a widowed magistrate, and spare-time sculptor. When Cordier visits a convicted murderer in his cell, the convict keeps swearing that he was forced to murder by an evil spirit. After a subsequent fight, in which Cordier accidentally kills the murderer in self-defense, he soon has to find out that the murderer's claims were not the foul excuses he thought they were, as he suddenly begins to hear the voice of evil himself. It is the voice of a 'Horla', a bizarre entity that feeds on evil, able to take control over people once it has possessed them... The film is based on the story "The Horla" by Guy de Monparnass, a French author whose writings reportedly served as a major inspiration to H.P. Lovecraft. Vincent Price is, as always, great. Pice always played madmen like no other, and the particular role as a possessed man who is still trying to fight the evil spirit possessing him fits him like a glove. It should be a joy for any fan of classic Horror to watch Vincent Price try to fight off evil and turn into a mindless executor of the Horla's will. The Horla is never seen, only heard, but the voice is eerie enough. The film is well-shot on cool settings and in nice colors and Nancy Kovack makes a nice female lead. The rest of the performances are not particularly memorably, but Vincent Price alone is more than enough.

As mentioned above, "Diary Of A Madman" is not nearly as memorable as many other contemporary films with Price. Price starred in quite a bunch of brilliant flicks around that time, however, (one of his greatest films, "The Haunted Palace" was made in the same year as this one) and this is still a highly entertaining, eerie and nicely made film that none of his fans should miss. More than once, this film resembles older Vincent Price Classics, but, as far as I am considered, this is legitimate. Overall "Diary Of A Madman" is great, spooky fun that should not be missed by any of my fellow Price-enthusiasts! Highly recommended!

Not up to Price's usually high standard

[The_Void · 6/10 · 6 October 2006]

I'm a big fan of Vincent Price and all of his films are a must see for me. Normally, this endeavour leads me to see some of the finest horror films of the fifties, sixties and seventies; but every now and again, it will turn up a lesser entry in the great man's filmography, and unfortunately - this is the case here. Based on stories by Guy de Maupassant, Diary of a Madman is a film without much to differentiate it from a number of similar films, and so to someone like me who has seen a great many horror movies; this one does fall a bit flat. Other bad elements include a rather long running time, which ensures that the flimsy plot always feel far too drawn out. The plot follows judge/sculptor Simon Cordier, a man who goes to visit a man put to death in his cell. He was put to death for various murders that he committed, and which he claims were under the influence of evil spirit Horla. However, after the death of the murderer; the evil spirit has nowhere to go, and so decides to take up residence inside the judge...

It's a seriously good job that this film stars Vincent Price, as with almost anyone else in the lead role it would have been a complete dead loss. Price doesn't excel himself here; but even an average Price performance is great to watch, and the great thespian continually saves the film from tedium. Price is the only real star of the film, and that's not a problem in a way as he has more than enough to carry a film on his own; a film like this could really do with a few more distractions. The locations look nice, however, and the Technicolor cinematography excellently captures them. There's not a great deal of actual horror in the film; sequences that see Vincent Price's mirror reflection disappear, and a few where he has green eyes are about as horrific as it gets. The idea of an evil demon possessing someone isn't exactly original, but the basics of the story get good handling here; so it's a shame that the rest of the film wasn't better. Overall, this has it's moments I suppose; but aside from Price's performance, there isn't much to recommend it for. Interesting fact, though; a quote towards the start of the film was used by Rob Zombie in his song "The Return of the Phantom Stranger"!

good yet very loose adaptation of Maupassant's story

[r-c-s · 7/10 · 7 March 2007]

If one has read "LE HORLA" in French, this movie has little to do with it, only in name. In the book story, the character IMAGINES that a supernatural being has come from Latin America, where there are epidemics of madness. The character sinks into the mire of his insanity, but the only murder in the story are his servants, unadvertently killed while he sets his house on fire to hopefully kill the horla (=out there) he never meets or speaks to, tough. Then the character announces he'll commit suicide.

This movie is a very loose/distorted adaptation, but it isn't bad per se. Price delivers fine acting, yet the story at times is too predictable, eg Price's trance when the horla controls his will. As well, it looks like in the end they were in a hurry to end the movie, so the horla's accurate plan failed to take into account that the servants were a card in the game, having seen the greedy Odette pose for him. Too simple, i say; they could have come out with a better storyline at that. For example, a letter could have come announcing the "mysterious" death of the servants in a accident in Switzerland; or the servants could have been away while Odette was in the house. Supporting characters aren't worth of much mention. A good movie for one time, but not one i'd watch twice, unlike eg PREMATURE BURIAL.

Diary of a Madman (MGM Limited Edition DVD-R)

[trimbolicelia · 7/10 · 19 February 2018]

Not bad early 60's Vincent Price horror film. Price plays a French magistrate (a judge?) who slowly becomes possessed by an evil spirit called a Horla. Usually a respectable, decent man, he starts an affair with a married artist's model (who's a tramp) and eventually murders her. When the model's husband is accused of the killing, the magistrate, still under the influence of the jeering Horla does his utmost to make things right. Not Price's best but watchable. Joseph Ruskin's marvelous voice plays the unseen Horla. The DVD-R is excellent quality. The only extra is the trailer. Recommended for horror movie fans

Price -- the brightest star of all!

[sc8031 · 5/10 · 6 October 2008]

This is a Vincent Price vehicle that is loosely based on a Guy De Maupassant short story. The setup is eerie, speaking of how dark spiritual beings exist in our world, unseen by human eyes. "The Horla" is one such unseen supernatural being, one which has power over the minds of men and the natural world. Unfortunately, the film's pacing becomes quite grating by the end (was it really only 97 minutes?) and ends with some fairly predictable '50s/'60s cheesy horror.

In this tale, Price plays Simon Cordier, a magistrate in a French court in the late 19th century. When the magistrate has one final conversation with a prisoner convicted of multiple murders, the man tells Cordier that he did not commit the murders, but was compelled to by some unspeakable evil entity (the Horla) which took control of his mind and body. Then, for some reason or another, the Horla begins to stalk Cordier (it's rather clumsily presented, but it works). Fearing for his sanity, Cordier takes a vacation from his work and takes up his old hobby of sculpting, which leads him to encounter the model and enchanting muse, Odette (Nancy Kovak). And it is here that the Horla begins to work his magic on Simon Cordier. The Horla plays the devil's advocate, blackmailing Cordier into following his weakest urges.

A lot of Vincent Price films operated within a spectrum of horror-comedy, which is not to say that they were exactly funny, but had such an offbeat attitude it made them simultaneously amusing and creepy. Some of those vibes can be found here, and a number of Price's lines and expressions are totally charming (such as when he's smooth-talking Odette for the first time). And the way some of the "philosophical" ideas were presented -- they were so blunt it was comedic. I don't know if that much was intentional, but it did give the movie some color.

But at the same time the plot, characters and story are all too simple for how long the film runs. And the villain or mysterious antagonist, the "Horla", becomes pretty lame by the end. He gets reduced to the sort of unimaginative pseudo-science-fiction horror that filled out B-movies in the '50s and '60s. The typical spiritual/philosophical elements which litter "mystical horror" stories are here either cliché (the crucifix is able to ward off evil... again!) or just boring (the conversations with the Police Chief about whether or not criminals are born evil). And my other main criticism is that the film would be pretty terrible without Vincent Price in the lead role. Only Price carries the film by the end.

"Diary of a Madman" was a decent distraction for a lazy afternoon, but not a film that I'd watch again. Vincent Price has done some really excellent stuff, but this isn't one of his necessary works.

Suprinsingly great.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 31 January 2008]

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

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Films Of Vincent Price: Diary Of A Madman

[FloatingOpera7 · 7/10 · 20 April 2007]

Diary Of A Madman (1963): Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, Chris Warfield, Ian Wolfe, Stephen Roberts, Elaine Devry, Lewis Martin, Edward Colmans, Mary Adams, Nelson Olmsted, Dick Wilson, Harvey Stephens, Gloria Clark, Wayne Collier, Joseph Del Nostro Jr, Don Brodie, Joseph Ruskin, Sayre Dearing, Stuart Holmes....Director Reginald Le Borg, Screenplay Robert E. Kent.

By 1963, Vincent Price was a recognizable and very familiar name to many movie-goers. Through the 50's, he appeared in several well-made horror films, some of them very successful, others not as successful. He was, one can say, a breed of actor that was well-received during a generation of Alfred Hitchcocks and Rod Serlings, a time when horror, the bizarre, the supernatural, the grotesque and the mysterious was in vogue in film. Price would have fared well as a director but he remained first and foremost an actor, appearing in films through the 70's and 80's, his last film being "Edward Scissorhands" around 1991. Here, Vincent Price portrays the protagonist of 19th century French author Guy De Maupassant's obscure and little-known story - Simon Cordier, a court judge from Paris who sentences a psychopathic killer to death and is subsequently the victim of the same killer's possession, that is, the killer's spirit has taken over him and drives him to murderous acts. This film, however, does not do follow the Maupassant story faithfully and it's strictly Hollywood material. It's yet another vehicle for Vincent Price to flex his muscle as a skilled actor in this type of film. The film co-stars Nancy Kovack and Chris Warfield, a couple whose lives are affected by Simon's murderousness. Odette Duclasse (Nancy Kovack) is a model who poses for art and fashion magazines or tableaux vivants, and becomes the object of Simon's obsession. At first, Simon experiences a subtle change and begins to kill small animals like a pet canary. But gradually the spirit of the killer leads him to murder Odette. If this film works, it's because there is a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" influence and through the fine performance by Vincent Price, who never failed to step up to challenge of every role he undertook. Another element that makes this film pretty good is the revenge theme. Revenge has long been a preferred subject in historical fiction (The Count of Monte Cristo being the greatest sample) but the supernatural slant of the film makes this particular revenge story most engaging - a killer who's been sentenced to death dies and then gets back at the Judge by possessing his body and driving him to brutality and violence. Still, don't expect the same amount of gore and violence one finds in modern horror films. This film, however, makes use of fine special effects for 1963, these done by Norman Breedlove and include animation-within-a-live-film. The scene in which the killer's spirit breaks loose is evidence of this. The art direction and production design, which featured sculpture and artwork, are very evocative of 19th century Paris at the time of Maupassant and the costumes by Marjorie Corso are authentic, if a bit 1950's version of 19th century. The original music by Richard La Salle, a French composer, is a lovely touch. All in all, this is not a bad film but it lacks something other Vincent Price films have - some edge. Vincent Price has done better roles and this film is rather strange and dull. Therefore this film is mostly catering to Price fans.

Can the tale told in the diary be believed?

[edeighton · 5/10 · 11 October 2018]

Diary of a Madman (warning spoilers)

Okay, confession time. I love this YT Horror Movie Discussion Group and really have grown to enjoy the early 1980's slasher films that we typically review. But, largely that is because most of these films are new to me. I must admit that my tastes in horror have traditionally run more towards the classic Universal Studios' Monsters of the 1930s-1950s. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Creature of the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, ect. I also really dig the British Hammer Horror films from the 1950's up to the early 1970s. As a young kid and early adult, I never really got into the slasher type films that we watch in this group, but I have now developed an appreciation for them.

So this 1963 Vincent Price film was a real treat for me to watch and review for our group. While Brian was understandably put-off by the fake "Hollywood" sets, I appreciated their beauty and to me the artificial quality of these sets helped me to accept that this film was set in the distant past more so than if natural settings were filmed. I especially enjoyed the rich colors and incredible costumes that Marjorie Corso utilized. Vincent Price looked regal in his deep red judicial robes and very dapper in his impeccably tailored suits. I defy anybody to find a more delightfully garbed actress than Nancy Kovack in this film. It seems like Ms. Kovack wore twenty different dresses in this film, each more colorful than the last and each seemingly accurate for the setting of this movie, France in the late 1890s. Some might complain that this movie was over lighted and therefore lacked the necessary shadows and darkness needed to create fear. But, I enjoyed the lighting effects, as unnatural as they were, because they enabled the sets and costumes to be lit as if to display a work of art. Richard La Salle, the French Composer, adds a lot to this movie with his original score that carries each scene to the next and unmistakably sets the exact mood desired by the director for each scene.

Unfortunately, the acting in this movie was a little hard to swallow though. Nobody even tried to affect a French accent. At least Vincent Price did not mangle the pronunciation of some of the French names as poorly as some of the other actors did. The best acting in this movie by far was between Nancy Kovack (Odette Mallotte) and Vincent Price (Magistrate Simon Cordier), especially the modelling and sculpting scenes.

Robert E. Kent's screenplay is a mixed bag. Kent blatantly lifted the majority of his ideas from two separate short stories by the French horror author, Guy de Maupassant: "Diary of a Madman" (1885) and "The Horla" (1887). Both of these stories are very short and both are written in the form of diary or journal entries. The scenes in which Magistrate Cordier burns down his house; can't see his reflection in the mirror; and, struggles to resist the Horla are all cribbed from "The Horla". The scenes were Magistrate Cordier kills his bird; condemns a man to death for a murder he commits; and, has his diary discovered after his death are all cribbed from "Diary of a Madman". The love triangle/square between Magistrate Cordier, Odette and Paul Duclasse and Jeanne D'Arville is 100% Robert E. Kent's work as no such scenes are in either of Guy de Maupassant's short stories. However, the interesting debate between Police Captain Robert Rennedon and Magistrate Cordier as to the nature of evil actions is very much in the spirit of the internal musings of the evil madman in the short story "Diary of a Madman".

One interesting thing about this film is that it is a story within a story. That means the viewer can really only trust the opening scene in the cemetery and the closing scene in the art gallery as 100% cannon. Every other scene in this movie is a depiction of Magistrate Simon Cordier's narration from his diary. Sure some of the scenes can be corroborated by the other characters, but some can't and should therefore not be blindly trusted. For example, Police Captain Robert Rennedon who appears at the funeral scene and again in the closing scene in the art gallery can verify that he invited Magistrate Cordier to meet with the condemned Louis Girot in prison, but we have only Magistrate Cordier's journal to explain how Louis Girot died in that cell. Further, Magistrate Cordier would have us believe that Odette Mallotte willingly left her husband for him, perhaps because she was a gold digger. But what really transpired between Magistrate Cordier and Odette is largely documented only by Cordier's journal. Was Odette maliciously stalked by Cordier and then murdered in a fit of jealous rage or was there really an invisible "Horla" that possessed Cordier and forced him to kill Odette? The original source material, Maupassant's short stories, are very clear that it is madness that causes the main characters in those works to kill. In fact the "Horla" in French is a combination of words that loosely means the other or outsider and is indicative of saying "someone or something else is responsible". So just like in the short stories, the tale told by Magistrate Cordier in his journal should be looked at skeptically by the viewer when watching this film as Cordier may only be trying to protect his reputation by blaming some supernatural force for his evil acts.

Okay, though somewhat stretched out

[Wizard-8 · 18 February 2017]

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.

Well made with a great Price, if far-fetched

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 19 September 2012]

Diary of a Madman did seem interesting to me, although reading much of a story that has been told many times before any Vincent Price film is worth the viewing at least once. And Diary of a Madman is no exception. It is not perfect however, some of the effects while none are terrible are on the clumsy side, the murder scene especially looked fake, and while the story has a creepy atmosphere and a great climax, it is also rather thin for the running time(nearly an hour and forty minutes) and rather standard and far-fetched even in places. However, the never seen Horla still cuts a menacing psychological presence, and Diary of a Madman is beautifully made, the costumes and sets are really gorgeous to watch and the photography shows a lot of skill. The music has some nice haunting touches, and the writing manages to be intelligent and thoughtful with some tension too. Vincent Price is really wonderful in another of those roles that is made for him, while Nancy Kovack supports him touchingly. All in all, far-fetched at times but I loved the look and Price doesn't disappoint either. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A solid, entertaining Price classic

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 27 September 2022]

Vincent Price is without a doubt one of the most iconic actors of the horror genre, and even of cinema at large. Not all his films are equal, but it's a fair wager that any one work from his oeuvre is going to be more worthwhile than not, if not altogether outstanding. Within a short time after 'Diary of a madman' begins it impresses upon us reliably strong production design and art direction, if perhaps not so luscious and fetching as with other movies Price was involved with. This rather characterizes the picture as a whole: it doesn't stand as absolutely tall as some of its contemporaries, or some of the actor's others, but is nonetheless capably entertaining, and deserving on its own merits.

Like some other genre features of the same timeframe, 'Diary of a madman' mostly carries itself with more restrained airs as a simmering mystery thriller, and any sense of horror is almost more thematic than it is actualized. As the horla is unseen, itself represented only as a disembodied voice, early scenes in which its presence is announced come off as a tad hokey. That same feeling is reinforced with moments of light character drama or levity (such as the introduction of Odette and following scenes) and the accompanying musical themes. Intended as a calm before the storm, there's a certain heavy-handed imbalance in the contrast that the most robust airs of horror don't completely compensate for, just as the sometimes stilted simplicity of special effects are a little too obvious. All this is to say: 'Diary of a madman' is definitely more "fun-scary" than "scary-scary," and measures of kitsch are a big deciding factor.

Still, if you can get past the weaknesses, there's much to enjoy here. The concept of the horla feels amorphous and somewhat ill-defined - one part supernatural entity, one part parasite, one part manifestation of innermost turmoil and darkest desires. That shapelessness, however, is an enigma which makes the film more curious and therefore more enticing. 'Diary of a madman' is very deliberately paced with minimal violence for much of its length, but as it partially adopts airs as psychological horror in tracing the magistrate's troubles, a fine foundation is laid for bloodshed to follow and the superb climax. Great themes and story ideas abound, and one or two inclusions are especial devious fun. Though not the most immediately, wholly compelling example of horror, the screenplay is solid from top to bottom - as is the cast, and Reginald Le Borg's direction.

At length the construction of the film places particular limits on the thrills and chills it has to offer. It's a sound, enjoyable genre flick, just not utterly spellbinding or essential. Yet it fits neatly within the swell company of Vincent Price's long list of credits, and remains an excellent testament to the horror sensibilities that lie somewhere on the spectrum between more low-key titles of the 40s, and the more visceral fare that American International Pictures or Hammer Films would become known for. You don't need to go out of your way for 'Diary of a madman,' but if you have the chance to watch it, these are 96 minutes well spent.

Low-key, but nonetheless gripping

[Milk_Tray_Guy · 7/10 · 8 April 2022]

One of Vincent Price's lesser-known horrors, based on a story by Guy de Maupassant (makes a change from Edgar Allan Poe!), and directed by Reginald Le Borg (The Mummy's Ghost, Voodoo Island). Price is faultless, here supported by the stunning Nancy Kovack, with Chris Warfield, and Elaine Devry. Beautiful cinematography by Ellis W. Carter (the opening funeral scene is gorgeous). Not much blood, but plenty of suspense. Nice to see Price playing a sympathetic, even - in his own way - heroic, character. Slightly marred today by some primitive visual effects, but otherwise well worth a look. 7/10.

"I think the only profound thing is the guillotine."

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 1 June 2017]

Vincent Price is in very fine form as he portrays a 19th century French magistrate named Simon Cordier. After a fateful discussion with a condemned man (Harvey Stephens), Cordier becomes susceptible to the machinations of an evil spirit which is called a Horla. The Horla (voiced by Joseph Ruskin) very much forces itself on Cordier, compelling him to kill.

Based on the writings of Guy de Maupassant, and scripted by producer Robert E. Kent, "Diary of a Madman" gets its title due to the fact that the doomed Cordier takes the time to set down his thoughts. The balance of the film deals with the battle of wills between the magistrate and the spirit. Effectively given voice by Ruskin, the Horla is quite the sardonic and contemptuous entity.

But don't go into this one expecting a lot of horror elements, or anything resembling a "body count" sort of affair. "Diary of a Madman" is rather light on horror; indeed, it even spends a fair amount of time detailing the evolving relationship between Cordier and the young lady Odette Mallotte (gorgeous Nancy Kovack), who serves as a model when a psychiatrist (Nelson Olmsted) advises Cordier to return to his old hobby of sculpting.

Special effects are kept to a minimum, keeping this from turning into cheese. The lighting effect on Prices' eyes is amusing, and there's one show stopping moment of clay animation, as the facial expression on a sculpture changes. Art director Daniel Haller and cinematographer Ellis W. Carter certainly give the production an exquisite look, and the music by Richard LaSalle is full of foreboding.

Price is again a perfect picture of elegance as a bedeviled antagonist, and the scenes of him and Ruskin interacting are compelling. The supporting cast is superb: Chris Warfield as Odettes' painter husband, Elaine Devry as his friend, Edward Colmans as her father, Ian Wolfe and Mary Adams as the magistrates' staff, Stephen Roberts as a police captain, Lewis Martin as a priest, and Dick Wilson as an employee in Cordiers' office.

As directed by Reginald Le Borg, this isn't a great story & film, but it is reasonably entertaining, and definitely worth a look for any Vincent Price fan.

Six out of 10.

Beware of the Horla! It'll make your eyes green and your mind murderous!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 10 August 2011]

Since he's my favorite actor of all times, I just owe it to myself to track down and watch every single movie, TV-episode, cartoon and narrated documentary the almighty Vincent Price has ever been involved in. This has been going on for several years now, so naturally I have seen the most widely acclaimed and easily available ones numerous times already, and the ones I still occasionally discover are often obscure and practically forgotten for a reason. "Diary of a Madman", for example, certainly isn't a highlight in Price's career and understandably got pushed to the background when it came out in between much bigger crowd-pleasers like "The Raven", "The Haunted Palace", "Last Man on Earth" and "The Masque of Red Death". But seriously, even a mediocre Vincent Price film is still very much worth checking out, and "Diary of a Madman" is actually quite underrated and very entertaining.

Simon Cordier has always been known as wealthy and highly respected magistrate, but nevertheless he was an emotionally tormented soul ever since he lost his first wife and child. The movie opens with Cordier's funeral service and a bizarrely horrific confession through his carefully updated diary. Whilst visiting a condemned man in jail, Cordier "inherits" his possession with an evil spirit called "The Horla". The next few days, Simon Cordier undergoes a mental metamorphosis and become restless and aggressive. He decides to take up his old hobby of sculpting again, and by doing so he meets and falls in love with a beautiful model named Odette. But The Horla homing inside Cordier is stronger and forces him to murder the girl and even abuse his magistrate position to have her ex-husband charged for it.

Perhaps the main reason why "Diary of a Madman" isn't that great or memorable – not to me, at least – lies with the type of evil good old Vincent struggles with here. "The Horla", spawn from the mind of French novelist Guy De Maupassant, is sort of like a variant on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" without the physical transformations. The evil spirit talks aloud (and way too much) to his host and behaves itself quite pompous and superior. Whenever Simon Cordier feels its presence, his eyes are covered in flashy green light and the widows blow open. But even worse than its attitude is the fact that the Horla doesn't specifically wants or needs anything. It gains absolutely nothing from possessing Cordier and even less from murdering the poor girl. Fans of obscure and almost- forgotten 60's horror will surely still enjoy "Diary of a Madman" is spite some of the defaults. The dialogs, choreography, camera-work and acting performances are splendid. Reginald Le Borg's direction is a bit absent occasionally. The murder sequence is quite gruesome and sadist for its time and the scenario touches some fairly progressive themes, like adultery.

Diary Of A Madman?

[IPreferEvidence · 6/10 · 7 June 2011]

Interestingly enough this is not based on Nikolai Gogol's short story Diary Of A Madman but on a short story by Guy de Maupassant called The Horla.

The film is very different from the short story and takes a totally different direction with the plot while expanding on some things already established in the short story.

The acting is decent(and of course there is Vincent Price who is awesome as always). The cinematography is pretty bland and there are some nice yet sparingly used special effects. The Horla is one of my favorite short stories so I just had to look this up but instead of being a study of a very deluded mind this adaptation was a cheesy 60s supernatural horror film with Vincent Price.

Not terribly and not even that bad but it just could and should have been a lot better.

Nancy Kovack was Pretty

[whpratt1 · 5/10 · 21 June 2006]

This is the type of films that Vincent Price started to appear in when his acting career made a new change and the interest in horror films was a big hit in the 1960's after an all time low. Boris Karloff also had a revival in his career during this period of time. Director, Roger Corman even brought back to the screen Peter Lorre in Edgar Allen Poe's stories. Vincent Price( Simon Cordier) is a kind and fair judge in his local town and meets up with a man who is sentenced to death and this prisoner passes on an evil gift to Simon. Simon even becomes very interested in a model, Nancy Kovack,(Odelle Mallote DuClasse) who poses for Simon. Odelle is a married woman and Simon still hits on her and even wants to marry her. There is a "Horla" involved in this film and sometimes when the actors mentioned this name, it sounded like they were saying whore! This is definitely not one of the greatest horror films, but it is a Classic Price film.

Scared the @!#$% out of me as a child...

[yortsnave · 8/10 · 18 July 2000]

I saw this movie on late-night television when I was about 10 years old, just before my bedtime. I couldn't get to sleep! Even through tightly-closed eyelids, I kept seeing images from the movie, floating in the dark. There were several horrific scenes that really stuck with me. After all these years, I still think this is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend this movie, if you want to spend half the night awake after seeing it!

Fairly Enjoyable Vincent Price Flick

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 23 March 2011]

Simon Cordier (Vincent Price) is a well-respected magistrate who visits a condemned prisoner, Louis Girot (Harvey Stephens), just before the man's execution... and finds him to be possessed by a demon!

The film's plot goes in directions one might not expect. The inmate has a very small role, and Price's character is shown to be dead at the beginning -- how far in the future is this? He spends much the time courting a woman and sculpting her bust. None of this is really in any way related to the demon-possessed prisoner.

When the demon is free of a body, it may be less murderous, but no less influential, and I find that a nice twist. The demon is a "horla", whatever that is. The original story has been cited as an inspiration for Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu", which also features an extraterrestrial being who influences minds and who is destined to conquer humanity. If this film is important to horror history in any way, it may be seen as an offshoot of Lovecraft.

Mike Mayo calls the film "one of Vincent Price's best but least remembered efforts." While I consider Price's greatest but least known role to be "The Mad Magician", Mayo's point is still true. Going into this one with no expectations (having not heard of it), I was fairly impressed. It ranks much higher on my list than others would rank it on theirs, I think.

On Scream Factory's excellent disc (part of the Vincent Price Collection, Volume 3) we have another Steve Haberman audio commentary. We must talk about Haberman's style. Rather than discuss anything happening on screen, Haberman goes on a long, passionless tangent about the story's author... but he does make up for this a bit by offering an amusing abbreviated history of Vincent Price's cinematic wives. Haberman is a person who is very smart, does very good research, but has not mastered the way to present it -- he essentially writes bios of people in the film's he is reviewing and reads their biographies. This is very dry and often does not offer much more than Wikipedia could, unfortunately.

A lesser Price vehicle.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 21 July 2022]

I'm a big Vincent Price fan and will watch anything starring the great man, but I do think that other IMDb reviewers are being far too kind to this film. Price is fine, as always, but the plot, which is loosely based on a story by Guy De Maupassant, isn't really strong enough to sustain an entire movie.

The opening scene doesn't bode well: a funeral that takes place on a wholly unconvincing studio set. It's like they couldn't be arsed. The burial is that of magistrate Simon Cordier (Price), who has requested that his diary be read after his interment. In a flashback, Cordier visits murderer Louis Girot (Harvey Stephens) on death row, who claims that he is under the influence of an evil force. When Girot attacks Simon, the magistrate accidentally kills the prisoner in self defense and becomes possessed by the evil force, which later reveals itself to be a Horla, a malevolent being from another plane of existence.

Cordier turns to art to try and focus his mind but, controlled by the Horla, he eventually murders his model, gold-digger Odette Mallotte (Nancy Kovack), the blame being pinned on her husband Paul Duclasse (Chris Warfield). In the none-too-thrilling finale, Cordier fights back against the Horla, but dies in the process.

Listless direction and dreary pacing make the ninety-six minutes really drag, and with the Horla manifesting as a disembodied voice and a green light that illuminates its host's eyes, there isn't much to see here either. The highlight of the film is the discovery of Odette's severed head hidden inside Cordier's clay bust of the woman: with a bit more of the macabre like this, Diary of a Madman would have been much more memorable, but as it stands, it is for Price completists only.