The Gothique Film Society in London has been hosting screenings for connoisseur's of the macabre since 1966 and its new season kicks off tonight with 1963's Diary of a Madman and the late-Universal low-budget horror whodunit Night Monster starring Bela Lugosi.
Diary of a Madman was directed by the workman-like Reginald Le Borg, best known for helming The Black Sleep and Voodoo Woman, and loosely based on the The Horla by Guy De Maupassant. Price plays a French magistrate and part-time sculptor who comes under the influence of an invisible evil which tries to turn Price into the thing he fears most - a killer.
The indie feature was not well received on its release, with Variety observing 'Price, that master of the wickedly arched eyebrow, handles his role with the ease acquired through a career of myriad villainous personifications, although there are times when he seems like a man more in need of an aspirin than a psychiatrist'. The Monthly Film Bulletin, however, praised the actor by noting that 'Vincent Price does nobly by intractable material'.
For me, it's a period piece that has stood the test of time and belongs in the same company as Price's Corman films.
The Diary of a Madman and Night Monster screen from 6.50pm (19 October 2012) at The Gothique Film Society, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, WC1
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