The Diabolical (2015)
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Writers: Alistar Legrand, Luke Harvis
Cast: Ali Larter (Madison), Max Rose (Jacob), Chloe Perrin (Haley), Wilmer Calderon (Miguel), Kurt Carley (The Prisoner), Merrin Dungey (Mrs. Wallace), Joe Egender (Carl), and Patrick Fischler as Austin.
The film review will be out on the 16th of January, and like many of my reviews has a story behind it. My family and i were looking for a movie to watch on pay per view, i wanted Ant-Man, but the consensus was horror. After looking at Netflix, Cable premium channels, the hands on the clock tics, my patients diminishes, because my kid decides to read every movie synopsis in the spot where it reads movie info. My family have somewhat a tradition now, my daughter will have to read everything in the info box before we hit the preview button, which by the way took a long time, by then, looking at the clock it was almost nine at night, and we started this little venture about seven in the evening. The two hour event was kinda funny, because my kid always uses a deep voice while reading the synopsis, and mind you if she messes up, she'll try again. The search was over and we ended up paying six bucks on a pay per view, which ended up being the Diabolical. I was in my good vs evil, superhero mood, and my family wanted to see another horror movie. My target was Ant-Man but that was put to rest from the start.
Do you know that when we look for films, Comedy,Action, Drama, it's never to good, because somehow it's almost always a horror film, or at least something very close to it. Anyway, i just wanted to clear my thoughts here a bit, before i hunker down and review the 2015, horror film called the Diabolical. My daughter just to tick me off a bit, started to act out, loudly, in a goofy kinda way. Laughs out loud just before we hit the play button, so by 9:30 the film finaly played and my daughter is still laughing, this happens every time we watch anything. The Knight Family tradition of movie watching always starts with lots of laughter, especially when she messes up reading, and we continue to laugh before, and sometimes while watching the film. By the end of the film i have a splitting headache. My wife and i have gotten used to the laughter, before each film, i wouldn't trade that for anything in the world; Even though it might tick me off, it still brings on laughter, and at the end of the whole thing, she falls into a deep sleep on the couch.
The movie actors are not many but just enough to make this "B," yes movie what it is, a low budget film, and a good one at that. The film has wonderful sequences that make it pretty good for what it is, and before i go into the film, lets look at the actors, especially the kids in the film, because to me a bad kid actor, can kill your film, and the case for the Diabolical the boy who played Jacob and young girl who played Haley both did well in their parts, the performances were enough to deliver great moments on film, especially it being a horror film. The main reason for going this route is because children, young adults can make or break your film, look at what happened to Phantom Menace, back in the day. The kid was so bad as an actor, not his fault, but the fault of the big producers that thought this kid could be a something more. The actor Jake Lloyd did what he did with the script, but seeing him on film, and the way he was supposed to go, killed the film. Decent child actors is important to your quality, because if the child actors do not do the job then it dismisses everything that you, may have wanted to convey.
The timing of films is very important because, it's the cuts, from scene to scene that matters, if not done right, the story overall will fail. It's a form of storytelling, imagine reading a comic book. The pages are turned, try and guess where to go, which box to look at, the flow of the story catches you and your able to continue to the next box without hesitation.Timing, along with the story is the key, and your little picture perfect film will survive the competition. Put your hum drum film out when the competition is slow at best, or get some balls and challenge the bigger, budget films. Box office numbers are just a reminder of how good or bad your film will do. Audiences are unpredictable, so the only real hope is rolling the dice, that's pretty much the movie industry, it's the gamble you take to make your little film a blockbuster.
The Diabolical film had some good plot sequences that impressed me, my jaw dropped, the filmmakers took a chance here, and the story turned, they had the nerve to move the story and take it almost in the direction of a SCI-thriller. I really don't want to get into spoilers so forgive me, so from this point on i will reveal some of the film's major plot points. The entity manifested, more than once, it became almost like clock work, Madison knew something was off, especially when her boyfriend, recorded the manifestations. The entity was looking like some kind of prisoner, and that's when the story takes a turn, it shocked me. Impressed at the way the story was told, in fact it was fascinating the way it progressed. The films lack of strength, was the only problem i had with it, it's special effects were weak, despite it's budget was lacking, the ghost, entity manifestations were horrible, but understanding the plot was the key, and the number one point to me. So the lack of effects did not bother me so much. I would've enjoyed more of the investigation process before we find out the secret behind all those manifestations. Like i said, my problem with the film is very small, but it had a limited budget, understanding that, the film was still good.
Horror films today are not like the horror films of the past, they have higher standards, a good example of this would be Crimson Peak which was a good film, but it tanked in the box office. The audiences wanted something more, there standards are high, so if the film doesn't give, the audience will not as well, the empty seats that the movies will have established only failure, a filmmakers worst nightmare. Remember the filmmakers main flaw is the ability to think they have a film targeted to be the block buster. The horror film must be out at the right time, in order to soar. Batman Vs Superman comes out in March, meanwhile Deadpool will have the box office in February while Captain America Civil War awaits patiently in May. So as a movie guy, do not put your super scary horror film between or even close to those dates, because it will fail, these films are to huge for a horror film. The Conjuring 2 will be at the silver screens on June 10, 2016, right after Marvel comics Captain America film, but before Independence Day: Resurgence which will open June 24, 2016. Even the Conjuring will have some problems with soaring in the box office, folks will be at the theaters but, audiences are very unpredictable and choose what they want to see. All in all horror films get the bad rap when it comes to box office numbers, back then there weren't enough CGI, special effects to feed your theaters like we do today. You could almost choose your mood, what you like, and either be impressed, or hate it, but there are so many films to choose from, if one fails for you then the other will most likely not. Because that's the age we live in, choices, from Comedy, Horror, Drama, Action, anything that can or will entertain you.Back in the 80s films were out, but Comedies came and went, action movies were almost out every Friday. The movie prices were low so you could see more, back in the day more was good but the quality was almost "B" movie like. The films today are longer, special effects are incredible, so the time at the movies are longer, and prices are heavy on the pocket book, with that being said, what will it take for a good horror film to soar in the box office, not an easy answer to that question, because the essence to the movie may be the story but if audiences pick that superhero film over your little horror film, the numbers may not be as good as you first thought, because when everything is said and done, numbers are numbers but what really matters is you. The Diabolical may not be a five star film, but it has some really good story telling, and to me that's more important than your huge blockbuster.
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