Diary of a Madman

"The vulture has eaten the pigeon; the wolf has eaten the lamb; the lion has devoured the sharp-tongued buffalo; man has killed the lion with an arrow, with spear, with gun-powder; but the *"Horla"* will make of man what man has made of the horse and of the ox; His chattel, His slave, and His food, but the mere power of His will. Woe to us!"

- Guy de Maupassant

Diary of a Madman is a 1963 psycho-thriller directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Vincent Price. The film is based on the 1887 short story Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant.

Plot
Funeral services are held for a French magistrate and amateur sculptor named Simon Cordier. The service is small, with only a paltry gathering of people attending. Simon Cordier was not very well liked, but he did leave behind a small wooden chest with instructions to open it directly following his funeral. Art magnate Andre D'arville calls the party together at his art gallery to open the box and inspect the Cordier will.

Among the people gathered are D'arville himself, his daughter Jeanne, Father Raymonde and Captain Robert Rennedon. They open the chest and find a diary dated September, 1886 (a few days ago). Andre begins reading the diary. The remainder of the movie is told in flashback from Simon Cordier's point of view.

Magistrate Cordier has recently sentenced a young man named Louis Girot to death for the murder of four people. He is slated to be executed by way of guillotine in less than three days. Cordier cannot make any sense of Girot's crime and when the latter asks to speak with him, he agrees to meet (in the hopes of obtaining a confession). Louis Girot maintains his innocence and states that something took control of him and made him kill those four people. Magistrate Cordier doesn't believe Girot's story and all but accuses him of lying. As the two converse within Girot's cell, a strange blue light emanates from Louis' eyes and he flies into a wild rage. Simon is forced to beat him down and he knocks him into the stone wall, accidentally killing him.

Simon Cordier returns home. As he enters his study, he finds that an old portrait of his wife and son has been placed upon the wall. This rankles Simon because he initially had the portrait removed when his wife and child died more than twelve years ago. He inquires with his butler Pierre about it, but Pierre claims to know nothing. Disturbed, Simon takes the portrait down and returns it to the attic. Simon's attic also doubles as his art studio. He has a clay bust of his dead wife sitting on a pedestal. Simon is startled when he sees the words "Hatred is Evil" drawn in the dust on the pedestal. He tries to show it to Pierre, but Pierre is very old, so he can't really see anything. Simon looks again, and this time the words have disappeared.

The next day, Simon goes to work and is astonished to find the Louis Girot crime file sitting on his desk. Someone didn't file it away like they should have. He asks his court clerk Martin about the file, but Martin doesn't know anything about it. Returning to his office, he witnesses an unseen hand knocking an inkwell over, spilling ink all over the Girot file. He then begins hearing a haunting voice in his head that begins laughing at him and taunting him. This is the Horla. As described later, a Horla is a disembodied spirit that can maintain a tangible albeit invisible form. It can likewise possess people causing them to do things that they would not otherwise do. Cordier is sick with exhaustion from the affair and cannot even sit in at court that day. He doesn't believe that any such creature exists, but he does grow concerned over his own sanity. The Horla however, is determined to convince Simon that he is a force to be reckoned with. He takes control of Simon's body and a strange, blue glow filters across his eyes. Simon then kills his pet parakeet, Kiki. Realizing that killing pets is kind of bizarre, Simon decides to go see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist's efforts prove fruitless, but Simon pays him anyway and is no better off now than he was before.

Walking home, he wanders past the D'arville art gallery. Here he meets Odette Mallotte. Odette is a model working for Paul DuClasse whose work is on display at the D'arville gallery (Odette is actually married to Paul, but Simon doesn't know this). Simon decides to invite her over to his place for some "modeling". As Odette is modeling for him, Simon recites words from a poem and uses the ingellect expected of one of his station to charm Odette. He then begins to sculpt her face.

After Odette leaves, the Horla makes his presence known in Simon's attic. He transforms the smiling image of the sculpture into one of bitterness, exclaiming that this is the real Odette Mallotte. A short time later, Simon is standing in front of a mirror, but he cannot see his reflection because the Horla is standing before him. The Horla then throws up the lid to a wooden chest and drags out the picture of Mrs. Cordier and their dead son. The Horla blames Simon for his wife's death, intimating that he drove her to suicide after their child fell dead from an illness. Simon has an emotional break-down and tries to drive the Horla away. The Horla leaves, but only because of his own desire to do so. He mentions that he can control Simon any time he wants and that he will have him kill for him.

A few days later, Simon comes up with another plan to seduce Odette. He buys one of Paul DuClasse's paintings that Odette modeled for and hangs it in his living room. The house servants, Pierre and his wife Louise, are a'flutter because they know their boss is falling in love. Odette comes over and Simon shows her the painting. He then gives her a necklace that once belonged to his dead wife. The two decide to get married. Odette neglects to mention that she is already married.

Paul on the other hand, has learned that his wife has been spending too much time with the magistrate. He goes over to Cordier's place to confront him. They argue about Odette, but Simon tells him that Odette is old enough to decide for herself which man she prefers to be with. Paul tries to blackmail Simon by publicly revealing the affair, but Simon doesn't fall for it. As Paul turns to leave, a heavy vase that had been resting upon a high pedestal fall over and nearly hits him. Paul blames this on Simon even though it was actually the Horla that caused the vase to fall.

Paul and Odette are now living in separate apartments. Paul goes over to Odette's place and gets into an argument with her. He calls her on her behavior and accuses her of being a greedy opportunist.

Meanwhile, the Horla takes possession of Simon Cordier. He forces him to take up a knife and stalk down the streets until he gets to Odette's place. Paul has long gone at this point and the only other person around is a nosy housekeeper. Simon breaks into Odette's room and stabs her repeatedly with the knife. He then cuts off her head and takes it back to the studio-attic of his house. Somehow, he manages to hide the head inside the sculpted bust he had made of Odette a few days ago. When Simon awakens from the Horla's possession, he has no memory of what has occurred. He is devastated to read the news headlines concerning the discovery of Odette's headless body. The Horla informs him that he is the one who committed the murder and even shows him Odette's head hidden within the bust. The Horla then forces Simon to burn DuClasse's painting of Odette, an act that will soon bear consequences.

Odette's housekeeper meanwhile informs the police of the argument she had heard Paul and Odette having earlier in the evening. Paul is picked up and charged with Odette's murder. Paul is brought in to the magistrate's office and tries to convince Cordier that he did not kill Odette. Simon pretends that he has never even heard of either Paul or Odette. Paul is devastated because he knows that Simon is willing to let him hang for the sake of protecting the affair.

Jeanne D'arville, the daughter of the gallery owner, visits Paul in prison. Paul is emotionally conflicted, but the two appear to be attracted to one another. He reveals all he knows to Jeanne and she in turn pledges to visit the magistrate at his house. Arriving at Simon's place, she wants to know why he won't try and help Paul. She likewise demands to speak with the servants as they can certainly attest to seeing Simon together with Odette. Simon tells her that the servants are presently in Switzerland and cannot be reached.

As Jeanne storms off in a huff, the Horla speaks in Simon's ear and orders him to kill her. Simon tries to resist the creature's influence but finds that he cannot. He begins stalking her through the streets until a strange thing happens. He is just getting ready to kill her, when his eyes catch the image of a cross that had been set inside a storefront window reflecting on the surface of the knife in his hand. The reflection is so bright and stark that it causes the Horla to lose hold on Simon's consciousness.

Simon returns home and attempts to end the monster's rage by shooting himself in the head with a gun, but the Horla causes a storm of activity in Cordier's study and knocks the gun from his hand. Simon runs out and writes his journal. He seals it in a box and gives it to a priest named Father Raymonde. He returns home once again, but now he has a plan of action. He recalls how the Horla agonized so much when he commanded Simon to burn the painting of Odette. He theorizes that fire may be the only thing that can actually damage the creature. He douses the room with gas and waits for the Horla to mystically arrive and then locks all the doors and windows. He sets the room on fire and the Horla begins howling in pain. A slight image of the creature's shape develops into a blue glow just as it dies in the flames. Simon tries to get himself out of the room, but he can't because the door key is too hot from the flames. He begins falling over from smoke inhalation and the ceiling collapses, killing him. The entire house goes up in flames. The only ones to emerge from the conflagration are the servants, Pierre and Louise.

That concludes everything from Simon's journal entry. Andre D'arville closes the journal and the group determines that Simon was obviously insane. Since he is posthumously being accused of killing Odette Mallotte, they decide that Paul DuClasse is innocent and will be freed from prison.

Notes & Trivia

 * First genre film for actress Nancy Kovack.


 * Released on July 12th, 1963 in Finland and on August 26th, 1963 in Sweden.


 * Diary of a Madman was also the album name and title track of the 1981 heavy metal album by Ozzy Osbourne.