The Diabolical

The Diabolical

Starring Ali Larter, Arjun Gupta, Max Rose, Chloe Perrin

Directed by Alistair Legrand

The Story:
Single mother Madison (Ali Larter) and her children Jacob (Max Rose) and Haley (Chloe Perrin) are haunted in their home by an eerie entity that manifests after a flash of light.  Each time, the figure is different, and more frightening.  Soon a mysterious illness overtakes the children, which makes it impossible for them to leave the house.  Madison and her scientist boyfriend Nikolai (Arjun Gupta) turn to the world of quantum physics to discover what this entity is, and how to stop it.

The Synopsis:
There's a series called "A Haunting" that chronicles real-life hauntings, and which were the inspirations for "The Haunting in Connecticut" and the oddly titled "The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia."  There was an episode called "The Diabolical," and I thought this was the movie version of that story.

Wrong.

Instead, it's part ghost story, part sci-fi tale, and wholly unremarkable.  First-time director Alistair Legrand must have attended the school of Shyamalan, because he tried to incorporate one of his famous "twist" endings, but instead ended with him looking more like a twit.

So what's the story with this film?  Well, for most of the film it seems like it's a classic ghost story.  From the very first scene, the ghost appears and haunts the family, but as the film develops it turns towards the world of science fiction with time travel, quantum physics, and parallel universes.  All within this one house.  Because, science.

Not only does the story not make sense, but the actors perform so hollowly (is that a word?  I guess so, it didn't come up in spell check) that you couldn't care two coins what happens to them.  This is sad, because it headlines "Heroes" and "Final Destination" actress Ali Larter, who is clearly phoning in her performance here.

As I am doing with this review.  Phoning it in.  Because you should never see this film.  I can think of more productive things to do with your time:
Chew a match
Draw faces
Stare at drywall
Count to a million backwards

The Summary:
Waste...of...time.

The Score: D