Devil's Diary (2007 TV Movie) User Reviews

Above Average Made-For-TV Paranormal Teen Scream...

[vnssyndrome89 · 5/10 · 4 August 2023]

DEVIL'S DIARY (TV MOVIE 2007)

BASIC PLOT: On a strange night, in an abandoned cemetery, two teenage girls, Dominique (Alexz Johnson) and Ursula (Magda Apanowicz), see a grave get hit by lightening. When they approach it, they see it's a minister's grave, and on top of it, still smoking, is a strange book. It appears unharmed by the lightening strike, and is full of blank pages. Dominique is unfazed by this odd occurrence, but Ursula is intrigued. There's an inscription inside the book's cover. It reads, "Who shall ever freely give thy soul in these pages, shall be requited with a power. The word is thy bond." Ursula feels a strange pull coming from the book, and when she returns home, she begins pouring out every negative and hateful feeling she has ever had, onto it's pages. Most of her thoughts are on the "popular bullies," the cheerleaders, the jocks, all of which have made her life a living hell. The next day, the head cheerleader, Heather (Miriam McDonald), has her legs crushed in a freak accident. The day after, Heather's boyfriend is burned in chemistry class. Ursula's behavior is becoming increasingly bizarre. Dominique knows she has to get help, and soon. A strange title appeared on the cover of the book, after Ursula began writing in it. When translated from Latin, it reads, "Devil's Diary." Dominique's only hope is Father Mulligan (Brian Krause). Can the two of them discover what's happening in time to save Ursula's immortal soul?

WHAT WORKS: *This is a great atmospheric! The location management team (Jamie Lake -location manager and Kimberly Lozinski -location scout) deserve real accolades for finding these creepy locations. The cemetery, the old church, even Dominique's house, all give this film a disturbing vibe.

*John Benjamin Martin does a great job writing believable characters. Anyone who's ever been to high school will recognize these people. It's a much better effort than his later work, I'd recommend you avoid Summer House (2008), one of the worst movies I've ever seen. But here he shines, giving a dark interpretation of a supernatural teen scream.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *Why doesn't Father Mulligan (Brian Krause) come to Dominique's aid at the end of the movie? He would be able to help her formulate a story, so she wouldn't be trapped in the nut hut. His character in general, is not needed, and never materializes to anything.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of supernatural teen screams. It is a bit dark, but a worthwhile effort, especially for a made-for-tv movie.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

OMG! You Totally Got Punked!!!

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 6/10 · 11 March 2021]

So two high school girls find an evil demonic book in a graveyard while performing rituals in the graveyard like normal high school girls do. Much hilarity ensues.

And really, it did not exactly go how I figured it would. I wish it would have had some TA or some great lines, but overall watching it certainly didn't make me miserable. 6/10

TV movie had potential

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 23 September 2013]

Best friends Dominique (Alexz Johnson) and Ursula (Magda Apanowicz) find a mysterious book in the cemetery. It's full of empty pages. Ursula uses it as a diary. She writes a wish for the mean cheerleader Heather (Miriam McDonald) to break her legs and it happens the next day.

This is a TV movie and it looks it. That's one of its weakest. It needs bigger production value and better people to create a more compelling style. The horror parts were just weak. It has a pretty good concept, and Magda Apanowicz is great as the bullied Ursula who turns evil. She's the best thing in the movie. Killing her off midway thru is the worst mistake they make. After that Alexz Johnson just couldn't hold the whole movie together. The gang to get the book back just doesn't have the Scooby Doo vibe. The movie just falls apart after Ursula.

Surprisingly Good

[wsmith-26 · 7/10 · 24 September 2007]

I expected a cheesy Lifetime movie, and instead found myself fully engrossed in this unusually good horror movie. The acting was excellent, and the sets were outstanding. Combining the revenge motif with the supernatural book theme works here.

The movie begins with an atmospheric graveyard scene where one girl is "punked" by her friend. A lightning strike leads them to a grave site and an empty book. One girl is drawn to the book, and takes it home. The inscription on the inside cover tells her that if she believes in the book, the things she writes in it will come true. She tries it, and it works. She then exacts revenge on the "cool" cheerleaders in school who mistreat her and her friends. The revenge scenes are unusual and compelling. The other girl seeks help from her priest which turns out to be a bad idea. At her priest's urging, another priest arrives who knows something about this book - it turns out he knows too much and craves the book. In the meantime, the cheerleader group has figured out that the book is involved and manages to steal it. Again, one of the group is drawn to the book and begins to use it for evil purposes.

The ending is a bit sketchy, as there is the predictable graveyard priest showdown with the evil priest beseeching the pure girl to join him and the book in evil. Beyond that, this movie has a lot to recommend it. So, I would definitely recommend this movie to all horror fans. You won't be disappointed.

Ephemeris Diaboli

[lavatch · 7/10 · 24 September 2019]

In a graveyard, a couple of high school students are playing a prank in which one of them gets "punked" when a jack-in-a-box like devil appears on a grave stone. But the two friends inadvertently discover an old book during a thunderstorm. The book entitled Ephemeris Diaboli (Devil's Diary), and it contains magical evil powers for anyone writing on a sheaf of the diary. One of the friends, Ursula (Urs), is instantly drawn to the book. The other, Dominique (Nicki) is repelled by it. This film tells the story of the bipolar reaction to evil.

The style of "Devil's Diary" was that of high camp with a series of over-the-top dastardly deeds perpetrated by Urs against her rivals in high school. The book then passes into more ambitious hands as the film proceeds, culminating in a standoff outside a church where Father Sanchez gets his hands on the book. Will the priest be able to finally put an end to the evil possibilities of the diary? Or, will he be attracted to the power?

The most interesting character in the film is Nicki. We see the action from her perspective and admire her resilience in resolutely avoiding the lure of the diary. She uses it on one occasion against her predator step-father, but her motivation is survival, not the acquisition of power.

Because of the strength of character of Nicki, it went against the grain of the film's narrative to have her placed in a mental asylum at the end. There could have been a stronger denouement to demonstrate how, in the battle for human souls, the work of the devil may be thwarted by those who have the strength to walk away, as opposed to succumbing to its temporal allure.

A lot of fun with plenty of great points about it

[slayrrr666 · 9/10 · 18 July 2008]

"Devil's Diary" is a lot more fun than what would be expected.

**SPOILERS**

Being picked on as outsiders, Ursula Wilson, (Magda Apanowicz) and Dominique, (Alexz Johnson) grow tired of fellow students Heather Grey, (Miriam McDonald) Lisa, (Laura Konechny) Georgia, (Deanna Casaluce) Kyle Henderson, (Aleks Holtz) and Joey Abama, (Moses Tang) thinking they are better than everyone else. When they start to realize that the group is succumbing to very weird accidents, she reveals that they're coming true after she wrote them in a magical book she found in a graveyard. Becoming consumed with it to the point of excluding everything else, some of them discover what's going on and steal the book to use on them. Determining the true Satanic power of the book, they all race to stop it before they succumb to it's power.

The Good News: This is a lot better than expected and has a lot of good parts to it. The fact that it feels like it's always got something to do is great and really appreciative. It's got a lot of really good confrontations and accidents spread throughout the film due to the writings that go in the book. It's really nice to be able to count on it having a lot of them to keep the film from being boring. The opening one, where a series of weird accidents lead to a car crushing a student's legs, one of the better ones, the slow-build to the chemical blow-out is sheer genius and there's also the really nice fight at the pool-hall, which has the one victim knocking out their eyes with a pool-cue. It's quite fun for these points, but the real fun comes from it's body count scenes. They've all got great set-ups, from the tense with the one backstage of the auditorium to the freaky with the vomiting in the bathroom and the thrilling with the schoolyard confrontation and more in between the film's really great kills. There's a pair of scissors stabbed in the throat, a stage-light dropped onto a neck, being strangled with a long cord, a strangling and another set on fire, which are all really great as well as the other ones in here. The last part that works is the incredibly fun opening to this, with the cemetery opening being really great and plenty of fun. The setting is awesome, the action is good and there's even a cheap scare thrown in. These here work for the film.

The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. The main thing with this one is that it throws in the morality angle into the film at the very end. It had been going along nicely with the story of a demonic diary and the race to stop it's destructive effects rather than anything involving the morality lesson, which really halts the story in it's tracks since it comes in with absolutely no warning or reason for the change. The other thing wrong is the really irritating tactic of switching to a shaking camera whenever something was happening, usually in the form of a shaking camera but a few other tricks were tried. By being there during all the good moments, it really ruins the film's best scenes. These here are the film's biggest flaws.

The Final Verdict: A lot more enjoyable than it should be, this was a nicely surprising entry with a lot going for it and very little to stop it. Give it a shot if you're into this kind of genre, a fan of the creative cast or find this one interesting, while those who aren't that big on the style should heed caution.

Rated R: Violence and Language

Great Halloween Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 1 November 2008]

This is a great film which will keep you glued to your chair and you will enjoy the story which deals with young sexy teenage gals who are in a class by themselves and the other teenage girls who do not have the looks and act like wall flowers at a dance. There is one girl who is always picked on by the other gals and she finds a very mysterious book which looks like a diary only with blank pages. This gal begins to write in this book about things she wants it to do for her against another gal and certain things do occur. There are other girls who obtain this so called diary and it starts to change their lives and causes many problems. This is a film you should not miss, it is very interesting and entertaining. Enjoy.

worth sitting through, genuinely tense

[marymorrissey · 14 July 2008]

maybe I'm a lightweight anyway these days since I am not interested in some really extreme horror these days but this film in spite of I would say not great acting and the story having some really weak points and going in directions that made no sense at all sometimes, with some situations just getting sorted out way too easily and in spite of the dialog not being too good still it was plotted in a way that made it lots of fun and it was very nerve wracking to wait for these bad things to happen. one thing that was odd was that the evil stepfather was really so good looking that, if you have to have a bad stepfather, it could be a lot worse than with that guy...and he gives mountain climbing tours in Vancouver I see go-ogling him. quite the fox.

The book from hell at a high school in the Great Northwest

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 27 August 2023]

Two outcast teen girls find a mysterious book with blank pages. As one of them (Magda Apanowicz) uses the 'diary' to get revenge on adversaries at school, the other (Alexz Johnson) starts to see negative changes in her friend. As they say, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

"Devil's Diary" (2007) is high school horror in the mold of "Christine" in which a persecuted misfit gains an advantage from some dubious source and proceeds to wreak vengeance on his or her harassers. "The Rage: Carrie 2" and "The Unhealer" are other examples of this subgenre.

While this one isn't as good as those three films, it thankfully breaks from formula 40 minutes in, which places it in the ballpark of TV occult horror flicks like "Bay Coven" and "Satan's School for Girls" (2000). Although it's not as good as the former, it's superior to the latter (the 1973 version as well). As a television production, there's a simplicity and comic book air to the proceedings. Don't look for cinematic artistry.

So, whereas the set-up is too brisk and by-the-numbers prosaic, "Devil's Diary" should be respected for trying something different and adding to the hackneyed recipe. In addition, Deanna Casaluce is a highlight on the feminine front (Georgia) while statuesque Laura Carswell is worth a mention (Lisa).

If you liked "Bad Girls From Valley High" or "Disturbing Behavior" you'll probably appreciate this one, although it's a notch or two lower on the production level.

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.

GRADE: B-

Good Death Note Mock Buster, lots of fun.

[lennieh · 9/10 · 1 March 2021]

Take the basic premise of Death Note, gender swap it, race swap it and replace Ryuk with Satan and you have the premise of Devil's Diary. Then throw in the Director of Lawn mower man 2 and the director of Wish master 4 and you have a very watchable Schlock horror fun fest. Just when you think you have a handle on this film it kills off another character and launches in a new direction, but the story and the secrets unfold at a satisfying rate keeping your interest as each subsequent owner descends in to evil and madness. The cursed book is the main character of the film populated by abominable characters none of who you would not be more than happy to see dead.

It's an Occult movie

[rmcshugs · 8/10 · 21 March 2020]

I wasn't going to write, but when I saw the low score, I had to add my two cents. I found it an interesting occult movie. There are several movies that are similar. The general plot is a Devil's book is found and used to kill or hurt anyone that hurts the writer/holder/owner of the book. I kind of suspected the end but not until the end of the movie I could say 'I told you so' moment. I wish there was more gore and more images of the injuries sustained. I actually enjoyed it & recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good occult movie.

EXCELLENT!!!

[HarrySmooth · 8/10 · 27 March 2021]

I didn't have real high hopes for this movie, even though it had some pretty high ratings, I never go buy these couch critics ratings because they're usually so far off I can't even believe they wrote them!

The acting was superb in this movie, The actress that played Dominique is a brilliant young actress, and I have a feeling we're going to see much more of her in the future... This movie was evil incarnate, not huge on a effects, just pure Evil! GREAT Premise! And GOOD Acting! Everything Evil the bearer writes in the book comes true, and some of these little teenage girls have got some very evil Imaginations running around in their little heads LOL so give this movie a try I think you'll like it! I enjoyed the hell out of it (Pun intended)

The writers of Death Note and Final Destination walk into a bar..

[Parexus · 10/10 · 3 July 2014]

A film like this shouldn't be hidden away from the world, it needs to be shown everywhere in film classes, shown to ANYONE who watches movies or has any aspirations whatsoever to be involved with the process, and as an aspiring film maker this movie will help in every reason.

This movie is pretty much a guide to film making, but rather showing you the do's and don'ts, it just shows you the don'ts. Taking away all the saturation, leaving ugly colours in order to show that the movie has a more serious tone to it, adding a god awful soundtrack along with HORRID writing, and ugly red transitions, this movie is what NOT to do and what NOT to like. You will appreciate films way more after viewing this movie, and although it may be a hard task despite its run time of ninety minutes, every minute of this soul breaking torture is worthwhile to aid you in the future. I would like to thank everybody involved with the making of this, for teaching me everything. Thank you.

10 out of 10.

More than worth a watch

[nikkiinwanderlust · 9/10 · 12 March 2021]

This made for tv film was a favorite of mine as a preteen, and after watching it again as an adult I still hold the same love for it. Honestly better than a lot of horror/thrillers that make it to theaters, keeps you interested and is fun all together.