Dear Dead Delilah

I thought the acting in this movie was great. Much better than your normal B-horror movies. Moorehead had a full sculpted character with perfect facial expressions, southern accent and dry, humorless yet honest remarks. I couldn't decide if I liked her or hated her, which is probably what she was trying to do.

The character of Luddy was unique, as well. She had an eerie presence to her, probably because of all the eye makeup she was in. Her character gave the movie more intrigue because you don't really understand what her purpose is. The young Luddy was interesting looking with her bad eye. I wonder why they didn't incorporate the bad eye into the older Luddy..??

I even liked Buffy and her line, "That's a big incompatibility between us because I could NEVER imagine drinking a martini without an olive!!" This is the angriest we see her, and it does a great job showing her optimistic, happy-go-lucky spirit amongst the white, spoiled, snobby people she's with. The disgusted glare she gets from Delilah when she puffs on a cigar was one of my favorite parts.

Even the characters of Grace and Marshall were well acted and unique. And Robert Gentry is pretty hot!

The acting and interesting characters make this movie more of drama than a horror. HOWEVER, these immensely gory scenes seem to come out of nowhere just to shake you up. I like this style! It's like a classy AND campy horror movie. Not that pure white-bred, rich, plantation owners in the south are really classy, but it gives you that illusion, anyway.

Rent this if you want to see a horror movie that strays from the usual b-horror path.

Luddy Dublin (Patricia Carmichael) is released from prison after 30 years for dismembering her mum with an axe. Now homeless, Luddy is taken in by Ellen (Elizabeth Eis), who lives in a mansion with her rich Aunt Delilah (Agnes Moorehead).

Luddy is soon employed to push Delilah around in her wheelchair.

Enter Delilah's other family members, who are a dubious collection of characters with not-so-hidden agendas. When Delilah announces her plan to give her house and land to the state, it doesn't sit well with these greedy relations. When Delilah also tells them about a hidden treasure in the house, all bets are off!

Obviously, we're supposed to be waiting to see if / when Luddy cracks and goes berserk. However, she's not the only one to worry about!

DEAR DEAD DELILAH is a true southern-fried gothic, filled to the rafters with avarice, multiple murders, and madness. Ms. Moorehead is her usual impeccable self, as is Will Geer...

Story of a heavily dysfunctional Southern family. They've all gathered at the mansion of the head of the family Delilah (Agnes Moorehead). She's dying and has hidden a large amount of money somewhere on the estate but won't say where. Someone starts killing off family members with an axe. Who's doing it and where is the money?

Pretty good movie. It's very low budget and was only previously available in edited prints in lousy shape. It's just been remastered and looks great. The script is interesting and the acting is very good--especially by Moorehead in her last theatrical film. As for blood and gore--there's not much but what is there is pretty strong. So--a good drive-in movie from the 1970s. It's great to see it uncut and remastered.

Dear Dead Delilah (1972)

** (out of 4)

Delilah Charles (Agnes Moorehead) has her family over to her estate when she informs them that she is dying. She isn't too fond of anyone in her family so she also announces that she will be giving the estate over to the state. One catch is that there's a large sum of money on the property somewhere and those who are getting nothing have a shot at finding it. Before long an axe murderer is killing people off.

This horror film also belongs to the "hag" sub-genre, which of course started with movies like WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE, which this film owes a lot to. John Farris would make his directorial debut with this film and it would also be his last. He would eventually become better known for his screenplay for the Brian De Palma film THE FURY. With all of that being said, there are some very memorable moments in DEAR DEAD DELILAH but at the same time there are a lot of bland ones as well.

There are a few highlights scattered throughout the film and that includes the violence. The effects aren't ground-breaking as they were all done with a low-budget but there are some bloody deaths here, which pre-date the whole slasher craze. There is a decapitation that looks pretty good and there's also a shotgun blast to the face, which comes out of nowhere and really works thanks to the editing. I'd also argue that Moorehead was quite good in the lead role as was Patricia Carmichael who plays one of the many suspects.

The issues with the film? Well, the 97-minute running time certainly doesn't help and that's even more true because the film has a lot of dialogue scenes that just get dragged out to the point where you don't even care about what's happening. With so many of these scenes the running time feels twice as long, which really hurts the picture. Some of the direction was a bit stiff to say the least and many of the supporting performances were rather bad too.

DEAR DEAD DELILAH is still worth watching thanks to the violence, which was quite strong for its day.

1972's "Dear Dead Delilah" was a popular title during the television rounds of the late 70's, a regular on both Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater and Cleveland's Hoolihan and Big Chuck. Remembered chiefly as Agnes Moorehead's last feature film (though she had some TV roles plus a voice in 1973's "Charlotte's Web"), the former co-star of Bette Davis in 1964's "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" gets her own starring vehicle in a similar vein, but on a lower budget. Whereas the death of Bruce Dern in that film was shocking for its time, the violence in this 1972 follow up is far bloodier and more disturbing, a fitting finale for a decade of aging actresses in modern horrors. Like the Bette Davis characters in both "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte," the Agnes Moorehead character, Delilah Charles, has lived her entire life in the service of her late father, in this case running a plantation in Tennessee called South Hall (shot on location by legendary Nashville songwriter Jack Clement, who never produced another feature). The eldest in a family of four siblings, Delilah has seemingly been at death's door for some time, and has gathered the rest of the clan for a reading of her will. Will Geer plays cousin Ray Jurroe, who almost married Delilah years before, Michael Ansara plays brother Morgan, a gambler about to be imprisoned on a $40,000 debt, Dennis Patrick plays brother Alonzo, a pathetic doctor who has also fallen on hard times, and Anne Meacham plays alcoholic equestrian sister Grace, who freely carries on with Richard (Robert Gentry) behind the back of his wife Ellen (Elizabeth Eis), Delilah's niece and trusted nurse for the past three years. Richard has been supplying heroin for sadly addicted Alonzo, and is also responsible for bringing in a reformed ax murderess, Luddy Dublin (Patricia Carmichael), who had served 30 years in an asylum after chopping up her abusive mother. While the family objects to Delilah's decision to leave the house and grounds to the state, they are especially mystified by her revelation that Poppa's mythical $600,000 not only exists, but is available for whoever finds it. One by one, the cast is killed off, occasionally in extremely gruesome fashion, and its always Luddy cleaning things up afterward, so no one among the household is even aware that there's a murderer in their midst (manservant Marshall simply disappears from the film). Noted horror author John Farris has very few movie credits, such as "When Michael Calls," a 1972 TV movie, and Brian De Palma's "The Fury," so it's something of a surprise that he would undertake to both write and direct this feature (the only one he ever directed), but his sharp dialogue, expertly delivered by a superb cast, makes the rather talky first half a real joy to watch. Agnes Moorehead delivers a wonderful performance confined to a wheelchair, a real tour de force of regal Southern hospitality, and her bitter confrontations with various family members are laced with sly humor. Dismissed in its time as a cheap Bette David knockoff, and further under appreciated today as just plain boring, the film's reputation is unlikely to improve with today's fast paced audiences. It aired four times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, first on Nov 12 1977 (followed by second feature 1932's "The Mummy"), then solo appearances on Mar 1 1980, Feb 14 1981 (Happy Valentine's Day!), and July 24 1982.