Diary of a Madman (1963)

Don't believe the aggrandizement on the poster, it’s not the ‘most terrifying’ anything ever created, but it’s a decent film provided you’re a Vincent Price fan, for it’s he that carries the whole thing. Most of the supporting cast are stiff and when Price isn't onscreen the ass drops out of the much-needed atmosphere. The key events, which are based on Guy de Maupassant’s writings, are a kind of flashback giving life to words immortalised in a letter, meaning they're from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. Is he insane, or does his questioning of his own sanity refute such claims?
The cheapo special effects give it a kind of science fiction feel; they're laughable, I admit, but I actually really liked them.

2½ one-sided meetings out of 5