Dementia 13

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Han R Oct 16, 2018 A movie directed by a young Francis (Ford) Coppola and produced by Roger Corman. A genius plot- One night, while out rowing in the middle of a lake, John Haloran, and his young wife Louise, argue about his rich mother's will. Louise is upset that everything is currently designated to go to charity in the name of a mysterious "Kathleen." John tells Louise that, if he dies before his mother, Louise will be entitled to none of the inheritance. He promptly drops dead from a massive heart attack. Thinking quickly, the scheming Louise throws his fresh corpse over the side of the boat, where he comes to rest at the bottom of the lake. Her plan is to pretend that he is still alive to ingratiate her way into the will. She types up a letter to Lady Haloran, inviting herself to the family's Irish castle while her husband is "away on business." But then after this something happens that changes the course of the whole film (I'm not going to ruin the film for potential viewers). This was a brave move a la Psycho and Night of the Living Dead. And it works brilliantly. In fact, everything about this film works amazingly. It's a great film with a great premise, gorgeous cinematography, uniformedly good performances from a cast of unknowns and direction that deftly straddles both drive-in cinema and the Nouvelle Vague. This is part Homicidal (this was made to cash-in on it's success) and part Carnival of Souls but whilst retaining it's own identity. Theres a strong Giallo feel to proceedings- the gloved killer with an ax, the sinister doll symbolism.  The location used deserves a mention. A spawling castle in Ireland with a scene that takes place in a Dublin bar make this film even more special. It feels like part film, part time capsule. The costume design of the film is also something to behold- classic men's suits (think Sean Connery as Bond and Michael Caine in The Italian Job), chic women's miniskirts and the best bleached blonde 60's haircuts seen in any film of the period. Highly recommended.  See more

George G Oct 11, 2018 This eerie slasher set on the castle grounds of an Irish castle is and early Francis Ford Coppola/Roger Corman collaboration. The film opens with a newly-married couple leisurely boating on a lake at nighttime discussing the possibilities for an inheritance from the husband's mother. He suddenly has a massive heart attack so his wife unceremoniously dumps his lifeless body overboard as she realizes she would have no right to the inheritance if she is widowed. She concocts a story of her husband being suddenly called to the US for urgent work and she spends time with the family on their estate as she tries to figure how to get at the money she believes she deserves. Unfortunately for her she is not to the worst member of the family and is soon disposed of when others who seek the fortune catch on to her plot. While definitely shocking for the time, this rather disjointed horror can safely be missed. See more

Kylo R Aug 5, 2018 This early horror cheapie is most famous because it's director went on to catch bigger and better fish. What's looked for are early signs of greatness. Well what's seen is a competent drive-in movie. It's not one of the greats, but it's not a complete washout either, with chills and scares until the big reveal at the end (telegraphed in the first 15 minutes of the film). Coppola's writer and director, and Corman produced. See more

Hagrid S Oct 31, 2017 With a typical Corman budget, this seems more like a made-for-TV production, with with the quality of the camerawork, audio, and editing suffering slightly. But somehow the director got moments of excellent acting from the cast, and the highly interesting script no doubt added to any enthusiasm which spilled into the final production. It's also a joy to see character actor Campbell in another role as a gothic Squire. See more

Rey W Jul 7, 2017 Dementia 13 is a decent film. It is about John Haloran has a heart attack and dies whilst out on a rowboat with his wife Louise. William Campbell and Luana Anders give good performances. The script is a little slow in a places. Francis Ford Coppola did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the thrills and mystery. See more

Hermione S Jun 19, 2015 Beautifully shot and scored, yet so poorly paced and plotted

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Dementia 13

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