The Diabolical is a 2015 horror/sci-fi film directed by Alistair Legrand. Ali Larter stars as Madison, a single mother haunted by mysterious visions in her house, and the lengths she will go to in order to protect her children.
+ I enjoyed Larter as Madison. She really managed to get that “mama bear” attitude across when it came to protecting her children, which made me root for her that much more
+ the apparitions in Madison’s house had an almost ‘Silent Hill‘ quality to them, which only becomes somewhat more disturbing as the plot progresses
+ the plot itself is interesting, with a pleasantly surprising twist near the end. Ideally a few more questions would have been answered, but enough is given an explanation to not leave you feeling cheated
– both of the children actors, Max Rose (Jacob) and Chloe Perrin (Haley) were more nuisance than anything. Obviously, it is unfair to judge their acting chops when they are so young, but I found both of them to detract from the film more than they added to it
– some of the CGI effects were simply laughably bad. I’m not sure how they managed to get through post-production or screenings
Should you see this film: Overall, this was a very solid B-movie. Larter almost deserves a watch herself, and a few scares may get your heart racing, but don’t expect this to set the benchmark for horror movies to come.
MoshFish Reviews 