PIC of the Week – Dementia 13
Article Series by Ray Schillaci
Vestron Video has been around since the days of VHS tapes. I remember having my friends over and gathering around my 19” TV set as I inserted any number of titles from the company: Venom (’81), Slaughter High, The Gate and Dementia 13. It may not have been the greatest quality, but I was thrilled to own these titles. Especially Dementia 13 since my mentor co-starred in it and had his character meet his demise by beheading. The film gave me nightmares when I was a little kid. Now global content leader Lionsgate presents the “definitive version” of Dementia 13 via Vestron Video on Blu and Digital 4K.
Francis Ford Coppola, best known for The Godfather and Apocalypse Now had hopes high when he announced he was doing Bram Stoker’s Dracula. At the time, many thought the idea of the legendary director dipping into gothic horror was something to get excited over. But, it was not his first foray into that realm. In fact, Coppola dipped into gothic horror in his very first film, Dementia 13, that he did for Roger Corman, known as King of the Bs (referring to “B” pictures).
Alas, this was not his first feature film. Coppola started with two nudie features that he would probably want to forget, The Bellboy and the Playgirls and Tonight for Sure, the latter starring my mentor, Karl Schanzer, who also had a co-starring role in Dementia 13. Those who worked for Corman (Coppola, Cameron, Scorsese, to name a few) were very grateful for him giving them a shot at the director’s chair. But, those times also lead to frustration with the new talent never getting everything they had hoped to accomplish. It was rumored that James Cameron actually broke in and reedited his Piranha 2 without Corman knowing it.
Coppola finally gets his say so with his new “director’s cut” of Dementia 13 and there is a noticeable difference in pace. The picture and story are much tighter. Unfortunately for me, my mentor’s part has been edited out, still having him listed in the credits. Intact is all the creepiness accentuated by the eerie music score that still gives me the shivers.
As the story of the making of D13 goes, Corman had money left over from a film called The Young Racers that Coppola worked on as a sound technician. They were still in Ireland with a castle as a location when Corman expressed interest in making a gothic horror film with vicious killings along the line of William Castle’s successful Homicidal which was a lift from Hitchcock’s Psycho. This is the way Corman worked and he would give crew members a chance to express themselves if they came up with something that he deemed profitable.
Coppola whipped out a screenplay with everything Corman had asked for. The novice writer/director was given complete artistic control until after production. During the editing process Corman and Coppola were at odds with each other. The producer strongly felt Coppola’s cut was “unreleasable.” To add insult to injury, Corman brought in Jack Hill, his long time collaborator, famous for a series of exploitation movies: Spider Baby, The Big Doll House, Foxy Brown, The Swinging Cheerleaders. Films that were later praised by Quentin Tarantino. Corman got what he wanted, a brutal exploitive horror show that had less emphasis on story than it did shocks and scares.
To be honest, at the time I thought the movie was very effective unaware that another (uncredited) director got his hands on it. Of course, Coppola was unhappy with the original version for years. He felt strong enough about it to right the wrongs and after many years has now delivered his definitive version.
This nifty little shocker takes place in an Irish castle where a crafty widow, Louise, sets up a plan to get her husband’s inheritance. What she does not know is that there is an axe wielding murderer sneaking around the grounds. But, this is not the only bit of creepiness going on.
Her brother-in-laws and mother-in-law are a strange lot as well. They participate in a ritual every year to mourn over their departed younger sister/daughter who had mysteriously passed away in a drowning accident in the family lake. Louise decides to take advantage of this and pose as part psychic and convinces her mother-in-law that her dear departed daughter is trying to communicate with her.
The whole sham leads to ghostly happenings while the axe murderer is chop, chop, chopping away. The whole affair is shot in black & white lending to the eeriness of it all accompanied by Ronald Stein’s brilliant haunting score. As mentioned before, Coppola’s cut appears much tighter and the film has a less exploitive feel.
This is a dark film that has never looked as good as Vestron’s version. The picture is sharp except for just a few technical issues behind the camera. The image displayed in the extreme close-ups are uncanny for a film of this age. It’s not reference quality, but it does capture a young Coppola’s marvelous up and coming technique.There is the occasional dust or scratches but they are far and few to the point it does not take away from the presentation.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is a big plus for those fans of the film’s score. It is highlighted in the rear channels and delivers the proper chills. But, if you’re looking for some great surround, forget it. Most of the action takes place in the front channels. Dialogue does appear clear, but purists may want to stick to the Mono DTS-HD Master Audio Track that is offered.
Sadly, Vestron does not offer much in the way of special features. What we do get that has never been offered before is a fun “prologue” consisting of the Dementia 13 test. This was something straight out of the school of William Castle who would have an ambulance at his openings and blood pressure tests. There is a quick introduction by Coppola and an audio commentary. That’s it. No outtakes, trailers or nifty stories from others who were involved.
There were four “B” movies that scarred me when I was very impressionable, and I will forever remember them: Terror in the Haunted House, The Beast With Five Fingers, Night of the Living Dead and Dementia 13. All were in black & white and had a great gothic moodiness to them. Francis Ford Coppola’s director’s cut of Dementia 13 is not a cash grab. It is the version we were supposed to be treated too from the director emulating both the styles of Hitchcock and giallo cinema while delivering chills and thrills. Lionsgate and Vestron Video is to be congratulated for releasing and improving this treasure of horror.
Lowest Price – $11.99 – Best Buy
Visit Ray’s blog at themonsterinmyhead.com
