Back to trending
Diary of a Madman

Diary of a Madman

Horror · 1963

Simon Cordier, a French magistrate and amateur sculptor comes into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible - yet corporeal - being, called a "horla" is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.

Movie details

Diary of a Madman

“The most terrifying motion picture ever!”

1963 Horror 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

Simon Cordier, a French magistrate and amateur sculptor comes into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible - yet corporeal - being, called a "horla" is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Diary of a Madman?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Island of Terror

Island of Terror

Horror · 1966

When a small island community becomes overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters that liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures, the community struggles to fight back.

Silver Bullet

Silver Bullet

Horror · 1985

The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's one boy who's still outside…

Phase IV

Phase IV

Horror · 1974

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

Mark of the Vampire

Mark of the Vampire

Mystery · 1935

Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampire assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body, are certain that the vampire is the mysterious Count Mora or his daughter. Receiving little help from the law, Professor Zelen, an expert in the occult, is called in to assist with their investigation.

Circle

Circle

Horror · 2015

In a massive, mysterious chamber, fifty strangers awaken to find themselves trapped with no memory of how they got there. Organized in an inward-facing circle and unable to move, they quickly learn that every two minutes, one of them must die…executed by a strange device in the center of the room.

Night Watch

Night Watch

Mystery · 1973

A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.

House on Haunted Hill

House on Haunted Hill

Horror · 1959

Frederick Loren invites five strangers to the party of a lifetime and offers each of them $10,000 if they can stay the night in the reportedly haunted house. Armed with a gun for protection, each guest arrives in a hearse and will either leave in it much richer…Or dead.

Extraordinary Tales

Extraordinary Tales

Horror · 2015

Five tales by Edgar Allan Poe come to life thanks to a pictorical style animation, five tales that exude madness, pestilence, murder and torture.

The Raven

The Raven

Horror · 1935

A brilliant but deranged neurosurgeon becomes obsessively fixated on a judge's daughter. With the help of an escaped criminal whose face he has surgically deformed, the mad man lures her, her father, and her fiancé to his isolated, castle-like home.

The Apology

The Apology

Thriller · 2022

Twenty years after the disappearance of her daughter, a recovering alcoholic is preparing to host her family's Christmas celebration when her estranged ex-brother-in-law arrives unannounced, bearing nostalgic gifts and a heavy secret.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Reginald Le Borg

Written by

Robert E. Kent

Vincent Price

Vincent Price

Simon Cordier

Nancy Kovack

Nancy Kovack

Odette Mallotte

Chris Warfield

Chris Warfield

Paul Duclasse

Elaine Devry

Elaine Devry

Jeanne D'Arville

Ian Wolfe

Ian Wolfe

Pierre

S

Stephen Roberts

Captain Robert Rennedon

Lewis Martin

Lewis Martin

Father Raymonde

Court is in session

Put Diary of a Madman on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.