L'étrange histoire du juge Cordier

Badly titled but very entertaining Price horror film.

For a while I had seen this movie floating around but since the title reveals zero about what the movie is about - I never bothered with it! Just had my first viewing. Better late than never!

Despite being too studiobound and needing about 20 minutes of dull footage cut out, Diary of a Madman is a knockout movie. And frankly, a very odd one, but odd in a good way.

We are missing the wonderfully campy Price dialogue we got in House of Wax and House on Haunted Hill, but instead we get a deadly serious Price who is very pleasing.

Having no location filming gives it a television movie look but the rich Richard LaSalle score makes the whole thing seem rather grand.

If you think you have heard some of the LaSalle cues before, you have, in TV's Lost In Space (1965) and Land of the Giants (1968).

Despite some mild flaws, an outstanding and wonderfully oddball flick.