DEMENTIA
13 (1963)Director: Francis Ford Coppola
The Roan Group
DEMENTIA
13 (1963)Shot in Ireland for a reported $40,000, this Roger Corman-produced quickie was director Coppola's last exploitation excursion before gliding into a mainstream Hollywood of fruitless comedies and musicals that would make way for that memorable mob masterpiece. Obviously influenced by the success of PSYCHO, Coppola's initial foray into horror (often known to be his first feature--it's not) is a flawed but effective black & white chiller from that great era that gave us CARNIVAL OF SOULS, HOMICIDAL and NIGHT TIDE.
After her husband has a heart attack on a rowboat, Louise Haloran (Luana Anders) intentionally dumps the body and proceeds to an Irish castle to visit her husband's family. Unfortunately for her, she has not yet been accepted into the family, yet she wants to ensure herself a piece of her husband's fortune. Forging a letter, Louise gets the family to believe that her husband is still alive and has gone away on a business trip. Once at the castle, Louise learns of her husband's sister, Kathleen, a little girl who drowned six years earlier.
The surviving family consists of a mother (Ethne Dunn), her two sons (Bart Patton, William Campbell) and Campbell's fiancée (Mary Mitchel). To get on the mother's good side, the scheming Louise dupes her into believing that she can contact the ghost of the late daughter, whose well-preserved corpse pops up virtually everywhere. A number of bloody murders ensue, and it's up to pub-frequenting policeman (Patrick Magee) to resolve them.
Aided by authentic Irish locales, savory black & white cinematography, an eerie score by AIP regular Ronald Stein, and hearty acting by Campbell, Magee and especially Anders (who died of cancer in 1996, shortly after this disc's commentary was recorded), DEMENTIA 13 rises above its minuscule budget and boasts some very gory (for the time) murders, including a graphic ax hacking and a decapitation that was filmed by Jack Hill after Corman decided that some tampering was required to better market the film.
On the down side, we get some less than professional acting by the locales (Campbell proclaims he was the only actor who actually got paid!), a number of puzzling plot holes, drawn-out dialog, and some technical flubs (a boom mike's ample shadow is painfully visible in one shot). But these are just the things that make low budget films interesting, and its good points out-weigh the bad.
Roan's DVD of DEMENTIA 13 is culled from the same transfer used for their 1996 laserdisc release. The film is slightly letterboxed, and the black & white film elements are in very good shape, with minimal blemishes. The blacks are very deep, and overall, this is the best the film has ever looked. DEMENTIA 13--like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD--is a public domain film that has been done on video and DVD many times over. The other DVDs of DEMENTIA 13 look like crap. Do yourself a favor and stick with the Roan disc--the definitive DVD of this classic title.
The best extra is a well-spirited commentary by star William Campbell. Originally recorded in 1996 for the laserdisc release, Campbell gives his heartfelt reminisces about working on a low budget Corman film in his native land. He also shares some nice anecdotes about his co-stars and the film industry in general, and even though he often slows down the pace to adequately fill the 70+ minute space allotted, he gives a thoughtful and enjoyable overview of the production.
Other extras include the original AIP trailer that commences with Dr. William Joseph Brian, Jr. (blatantly reading from an idiot card) informing the audience about his "D-13" test, a quiz that was devised to determine an individual's ability to withstand shock. This test (reproduced from the exploitive pressbook) is also included on the disc, as are some informative production notes. (George R. Reis)