Diary of a Madman (film)

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Diary of a Madman
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Reginald Le Borg
Produced by	Robert Kent Edward Small
Written by	Robert Kent
Starring	Vincent Price Nancy Kovack Lewis Martin
Music by	Richard LaSalle
Cinematography	Ellis W. Carter
Editing by	Grant Whytock
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	March 6, 1963 July 12 August 26
Running time	96 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Diary of a Madman is a 1963 horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Vincent Price as Simon Cordier, a French magistrate and amateur sculptor who comes into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible - yet corporeal - being, called a "horla" is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control. Cordier first interacts with the horla when he meets a prisoner who the horla drove to commit murder. The horla possesses the inmate and attempts to kill Cordier, who in self-defense accidentally kills the man. The magistrate inherits the prisoner's troubles as the horla turns its hauntings toward him. As the horla begins to destroy Cordier's life, he fears he is going mad and seeks help from a psychologist, who effectively suggests a hobby. Cordier chooses to pick up his old interest in art, meeting a model along the way. The horla insists the model is not the charming jewel that Cordier sees, but instead a conniving gold digger, and compels Cordier to treat her as such. This sets up a conflict in Cordier, that he might not be the astute judge of character that his title indicates. As his and others' lives are put in jeopardy, he becomes convinced of the horla's existence and decides drastic measures are needed to end the horla's curse.

The screenplay, written by producer Robert Kent, is an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story "Le Horla" ("The Horla"), written in 1887. Kent's rendition is notably divergent from the source material, especially in relation to the religious and moral themes of the film, which contradict not only those of the short story, but Maupassant's as well. Additionally, Kent borrowed the the title of the film from a completely different story authored by de Maupassant entitled "The Diary of a Madman".