The legend behind DEMENTIA 13 is well known among movie and
horror film fans. Roger Corman tells Francis Ford Coppola, who was working for
him at the time, that if he can make a movie in a week’s time with funds left
from his latest film and the location where another of his films was shooting
(the week due to the contract with that location ending) he would give him a
shot. Coppola jumps at the chance, makes this movie and the two have an
argument of it being not quite what Corman wanted. Corman brings in Jack Hill
for a few additional sequences and the end result is the movie, Coppola’s first
credited “legitimate” movie.
The movie went on to play the drive-in circuit under several
titles and later become a staple of horror host shows across the country, even
more so when it became a public domain title. With their hold on most of their
titles it’s odd that AIP (American International Pictures) didn’t hold on to
this title as well. Because of this it has turned into another of those movies
found in countless horror DVD packages using an almost always low quality
print. That all changes with the release from The Film Detective of the movie
on blu-ray. As with several titles I’ve now watched from the company they’ve
done a great job of finding the optimal print and transferring it with loving
care to offer perhaps the best edition of the film available.
If you’ve never seen the film it begins with a gold digging
wife named Louise whose husband John dies while rowing a boat near the family
estate in Ireland. Rather than reveal his death and losing out on any chance of
the family inheritance she dumps the body and rows ashore. She joins the family
and tells them her husband had to go back to New York on business and thus
begins a weekend that is unusual to say the least.
Mother, Lady Haloran, is a patriarch who rules the roost.
Each year she gathers together the other family members in a remembrance of the
loss of her only daughter some years ago. Still grieving Kathleen her three
sons all return and they repeat the funeral process always ending in her
collapsing at graveside. This year things are a bit different though.
To being with there is Louise, the wife with the intent of
doing all she can to get in her mother-in-law’s good graces and lay claim to
her share of the inheritance to come. There is the youngest brother Billy,
tormented by something that happened in the past that we aren’t made privy to
at first. Richard (William Campbell) is the oldest of the brothers, an artist
with a fiery temper. And there is Kane, the young American fiancé of Richard
who loves him with all her heart and is adapting to the ways of this less than
normal family.
As Louise sets about a plot to convince Lady Haloran that
Kathleen is trying to contact her from the grave the rest of the family just
tries to get through the weekend. When Lady Haloran collapses after thinking
she’s seen proof of Kathleen local doctor Justin Caleb (Patrick Magee) is
called in to care for her. Justin has his suspicions that something is amiss
but he’s not quite sure what and stays the weekend as well. The film takes a
Hitchcockian twist when our main protagonist is murdered by an axe wielding
maniac, something Corman was going for when he handed Coppola the reigns on the
picture. We’re left to discover just who the killer is as another victim falls
to the axe. Is it a brother, the fiancé, the doctor or the mother?
For the budget being as low as it was this is a great horror
flick with a ton of atmosphere. The use of black and white photography actually
adds to the feeling here rather than damage it. The use of the pond where many
of the strange occurrences take place is also well done with select images that
will stick with you long after the film ends. I know some of these have
remained with me from the time I was a child and saw the film one late night as
shown by my local horror host of the time. While it may seem quaint to younger
viewers today it was quite chilling at the time.
As I stated earlier The Film Detective has done a great job
with this release. Keeping in mind the vast number of prints of this film in
circulation it is great to see a comprehensive edition made of the best quality
prints possible and on blu-ray. Once more the company is less about extras and
more about the actual film itself and for me that works fine. The best part is
that we now have access to a decent edition of the film to be watched over and
over again, preferably with the lights out.
Click here to order.
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