6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Simon Cordier is a well-respected magistrate who visits a condemned prisoner, Louis Girot, just before the man's execution. Girot again pleads his innocence insisting that he has been taken over by a spirit that forced him to commit his crimes. Cordier doesn't believe him and the man suddenly dies. Cordier does however note a rapid change in his personality during their short interview. In the following days, Cordier must face a number of strange occurrences in his home. He begins to wonder if he is sleepwalking but is soon hearing voices and begins to wonder about his sanity. It's recommended to him that he take up sculpting, something he once had an interest in. He develops a relationship with Odette, a gold digger married to a struggling artist, but the evil, invisible spirit soon drives him to murder.
Starring: Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, Chris Warfield, Elaine Devry, Ian WolfeHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Given their iconic status in both the Vincent Price and Roger Corman filmographies, it’s perhaps a little surprising to realize that the actor and
writer-director only made eight feature films together. While the two previous Scream Factory sets of Price material, The Vincent Price Collection and The Vincent Price Collection II, have
necessarily reached beyond that vaunted pairing to include other titles starring the legendary thespian, the dwindling supply of available
titles may mean this third “at bat” will be the last. While there is a Price-Corman collaboration on tap here, this set, like its
predecessors, reaches out into Price’s long relationship with American International Pictures (and others) to provide some charming if often
hammy
opportunities for Price.
For reviews of the many films released in the previous Price collections, please click on the following links:
The Vincent Price Collection Blu-ray
review
The Vincent Price Collection II Blu-ray
review
Diary of a Madman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. The transfer is advertised as having been sourced from an IP, and the results are largely quite good. There are still some typical signs of age, though damage is minimal. The biggest issue here is a very slight but noticeable fade along with some minor density issues, two things that keep the film's palette from popping quite as expressively as it might. That said, there is still an engaging robustness to the hues on display throughout this presentation, with lighting effects like the "possession" across Price's eyes looking quite effective (see screenshot 1). The opening sequence is pretty soft looking, with fairly drab color, but things perk up notably afterwards, and in fact colors look more stable and richly suffused later in the film. Grain resolves naturally and there are no major compression issues. My score is 3.75.
Diary of a Madman features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track which encounters some very slight distortion in the midrange, especially when Richard LaSalle's score comes into play. Otherwise, though, dialogue is rendered cleanly, though "The Horla" is intentionally boxy and reverberent sounding, occasionally making what it's saying more opaque than the rest of the dialogue.
Diary of a Madman is a kind of unusual entry in this era of the Price canon, though it certainly utilizes a number of tropes which will be familiar to those who enjoy the actor's horror filmography. A nicely lush physical production supports this tale of possession and uncontrollable murder, and Price is quite convincing as the addled magistrate and sculptor. Technical merits are very good and the supplemental package enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1970
1970
1962
1961
The Fall of the House of Usher
1960
1963
1964
AIP Cut | 60th Anniversary
1963
Remastered | Extended Cut
1964
1968
The Aasphyx
1972
Collector's Edition
1970
1963
2016
Dracula / Warner Archive Collection
1958
1961
Collector's Edition
2023
2017
2017
2016