Dementia 13

Most of the reviews here center on this being good solely because it was a beginning of sorts for Francis Ford Coppola, well maybe I exaggerate slightly, but the film really should be seen as an entity un to itself. It really is quite good. The story centers on a disfunctional family in a large Irish castle that had tragedy befall them six years ago when the youngest daughter died by drowning, Since then the father has died and the mother has become obsessed with the death of her only daughter Kathleen, and she has her sons and herself attend a mock funeral every year as a kind of memorial. Thrown into the picture are a fortune-hunting daughter-in-law and a strange, cryptic doctor(wonderfully played by the very underrated Patrick Magee). The film has some great scenes and is very high on atmosphere. Despite being made on a shoestring budget(although actually filmed in Ireland and around a real Irish castle), the film transcends its limited resources and becomes a series of atmospheric shocks. The death scenes are well-directed, particularly the two involving Luana Anders. The score by Corman regular Ronald Stein is also first-rate. A great film to watch late at night.

Dementia 13 is Francis Ford Coppola's first flick, his directorial debut. Yeah, that's right. The man that brought you Apocalypse Now and The Godfather worked first in horror. And worked well I might add. Under the producing eye of Roger Corman, this is one of the earlier additions to the slasher genre, and it's not bad. A few flaws keep this one from being a black and white masterpiece. My biggest peeve with the film is the fact that it's not real hard to see who the killer is. They should have done a better job of masking his face. There are a few priceless scenes though. The radio being tossed into the water, and the muffling of the music is quite cool. I love the part where the killer is dragging the girl's body by the wrist, it's rather wicked. It also has perhaps one of the earliest decapitations. Patrick Magee is fabulous as the aristocratic doctor. This hard to find gem is worth looking for, especially for old school horror fans.

1st watched 5/31/2003 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Francis Coppola): Good whodunit/horror flick with twists around every corner and old-style scary movie feel. This is the first effort from Francis "Ford" Coppola with probably a shoestring budget with producer Roger Corman also involved. What is done well in this movie is the storytelling and the use of sound/music to keep you on the edge-of-your-seat. For 1963, this movie probably was rather shocking because of it's realisticly violent scenes but the core of the movie is the good story. Coppola shows here that his career in film will be promising and it has been. Good for collectors and for just people who like good horror/mystery movies.

There are many plot points throughout this film that would make great horror or suspense movies in themselves. The gold-digging wife who plans to change the will of her mother-in-law. The guilt a family feels about the death of their daughter. A haunted Irish castle. An axe murderer loose at a family gathering where a will is being discussed. The trusted family doctor who is, in fact, a puppetmaster, making the family hold onto a tragic past. Unfortunately, none of these intriguing plot points are milked to their fullest advantage. Literally, Coppola has five movies in one...but none of them are finished. When John dies and Louise covers up the death, that's the last we hear about it. This could have been used later. Etc. etc. Instead, we get a mish mash of plot points with bad acting and bad dialogue that are important but never revisited and used to weave a cohesive plot.

A woman's husband dies of a heart attack shortly before they are to visit his family. She dumps his body into a lake and tells the family that he was called away on business, while she schemes to ensure she collects his inheritance. Her scheming is cut short, however, by the appearance of an ax-wielding killer out for blood.

Of note today as being Francis Ford Coppola's feature film debut, or at least his first credited one. Because it's from a director as accomplished as Coppola, there seems to be more thought put into analyzing Dementia 13 than is necessary. It is exactly what it appears to be: an early slasher film made on a shoestring budget and produced by the master of the cheapie, Roger Corman. It's not a bad movie. It's a little slow at times and the script doesn't always make sense, but it's a perfectly serviceable movie of its type. It has some style that one could point to as a sign of Coppola's yet-to-emerge talent. It also provided the line about "an American girl raised on promises" that was cribbed by Tom Petty for his song "American Girl," which I thought was a neat bit of trivia.