THE DIABOLICAL (review)

Review by Joshua Gravel

Madison (Ali Larter) is a single mother of two who are all stuck living in a house with some unknown entity.

Not only is Madison financially unable to move her family, but her son Jacob begins to suffer physical ailments once he leaves their home. The family are terrorized by deformed figures whom appear and disappear out of nowhere, while strange poltergeist-like activity takes place. A pair of paranormal investigators are brought in to research the scene, and flee. With the help of a friend they begin to put together the facts of what they are dealing with and what if anything can be done to stop it.

The Diabolical is a really interesting take on the haunted house story that pushes itself into interesting and unique territories.

Unlike many genre films, the events that occur in the house are not limited to nighttime activity; it’s refreshing and works to great effect when the main characters are being menaced during the day. The acting from the cast all around is very good while the main characters are quite believable in their reactions to the events happening in their home. First time feature director Alistair Legrand definitely has a future in telling a good story and I really look forward to whatever he goes on to next.

As for the films visuals I think everything was competent, but honestly it’s hard for me to say because the quality of the online screener was so poor that the entire video file looked as if someone ran it through Photoshop’s Mosaic filter. I know some may think it unprofessional that I have begun to critique the actual screeners along with the films but in reality the distributors shouldn’t be giving me a reason to do so. They will just have to face the facts that online screeners are not very efficient and if I can’t make out what’s going on in dark scenes because the picture is marred in pixelization then it’s my duty to be up front about that in my review. I wish I could adequately comment on the cinematography and the quality of the visual effects but it just wouldn’t be an honest assessment.

In the end I do recommend you check out The Diabolical just on story alone and I really hope that the special effects work with visual clarity because I think they were creepy looking.