Starring: Ali Larter, Max Rose, Chloe Perrin, Arjun Gupta, Patrick Fischler, Merrin Dungey, Kurt Carley
Director: Alistair Legrand
Writer: Luke Harvis, Alistair Legrand
Running time: 86 minutes
Rated: None (for adult language, sexual situations, violence, scenes of terror)
Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Society
The Diabolical is in Theaters, VOD and iTunes Today, October 16th from XLrator Media!
When I was a kid, I loved Scooby Doo cartoons, but I always felt cheated at the end when I wanted there to be real monsters, only to find out they were bad guys in masks and costumes. The same goes for some horror films when I want the monsters to be real and they turn out to have some sort of rational explanation, I get upset, I’m a horror fan and I want the real stuff. The new horror film The Diabolical is the same way. Viewers go into the film thinking one thing and then find out it’s something else entirely, and not in a good way.
In the film we follow Madison (Ali Larter), a single mom of two children, Jacob (Max Rose) and his younger sister Haley (Chloe Perrin). Madison’s husband left her and his children and she’s struggling to keep their house out of foreclosure, and her son Jacob is constantly in trouble for fighting because of his temper. Even worse than all that, the family has been visited almost on a nightly basis by a diabolically violent entity that seems to want something from Madison and her children. Even paranormal researchers are too afraid to help her.
Fearing for the safety of her children, Madison enlists the help of her scientist boyfriend Nikolai (Arjun Gupta) to try to get to the bottom of the assumed hauntings. As the visitations escalate in violence and frequency Madison and Nikolai must save her family and find answers before it’s too late.
First, let me say The Diabolical is a beautifully shot film and looks gorgeous. The film’s DP did a wonderful job of setting up the shots and using lighting to his advantage. The acting in the film is very well done. Ali Larter is a wonderful actress and everyone else does a great job in their roles as well.
The Diabolical has a lot of problems, too much in fact to make it a good film. The writers can’t seem to settle on what type of film they want The Diabolical to be. The first half of the film is a solid horror yearn but as we get into the second half, it shifts into a science fiction thriller and moves away from the horror. I’m fine with a film that’s a mixture of horror and sci-fi, but those films are normally horror with sci-fi elements or vice versa. The Diabolical seems to waiver on what it’s striving to be and while some may not have a problem with this, I do.
Also in the film there are many questions that are never answered or explained. In the film we have apparitions, gross slimy crawling monsters, and time travel. I always have a hard time wrapping my head around time travel elements and I need things spelled out for me, which is never done in the film, leaving the viewer to wonder what just happened.
The film had a lot of potential – a great cast, some truly frightening images and scenes but with a muddled story, it never comes together to live up to that potential. The special makeup effects are well done. As I mentioned, there are some truly spine chilling sequences in the film that are reminiscent of Hellraiser, so the quality is there, but even that can’t save this one from its story.
I was really hoping this was going to be a great film, I love Ali Larter in everything she does, but even she can’t pull this one up from the depths. The film really tries to be good; I have to give it credit for that but ultimately fails in the end. The Diabolical is mildly worth checking out, but I didn’t find it satisfying enough to push it over into the must-see category, just another missed opportunity.
2 ½ out of 5 Pentagrams!
Watch the trailer here,
