Diary of a Madman is a 1963 horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg. 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 borro...
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Diary of a Madman is a 1963 horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg. 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 title of the film from a completely different story authored by Nikolai Gogol entitled "Diary of a Madman".
The film centers on Simon Cordier (Vincent Price), 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 whom the horla drove to commit murder. The horla possesses the inmate and attempts to kill Cordier, who in...
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