Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton
Runtime: 69 minutes (nice)
Unrated
Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray and digital September 21 from Vestron Video

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

Coming just three years after Psycho, Francis Ford Coppola’s first “legitimate” turn as director was a deliberate cash-in by famed producer Roger Corman. Becoming well-versed in the auteur white male directors of the 1970s and 80s–which includes everyone from Jonathan Demme to James Cameron–frequently leads to Corman. Dementia 13 was made in a very on-brand way for Corman: it is a film that only exists because The Young Racers, Corman’s charming Formula 1 movie, came $20,000 under budget. Corman turned the extra over to Coppola after the young aspiring director wrote a script overnight, and the rest is history.

Well, almost. Once the film was done, Coppola and Corman had some disagreements, so the producer added some extra material and made some minor changes. But now, thanks to this new restored Blu-Ray and digital release, Coppola’s original cut is widely available. Shot in black and white (and in nine days or so), the picture looks as good as you’d expect from a modern transfer. Clean and clear throughout, there is a sharpness that may defy expectations about how a low budget indie that is almost 60 years old should look. 

Corman had instructed Coppola to crib Psycho, and the influence is clear beyond the black and white photography. Luana Anders plays Louise, a blonde with a penchant for scheming, who finds herself in over her head in a strange family situation. The gruesome axe murders echo Hitchcock’s knife, but in true indie fashion, it acts as a bold weapon hacking away at its victims rather than the phallic urgency of Norman Bates’ weapon of choice. 

Dementia 13 also presages the next wave of studio horror in its feel and setting. Like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, it explores some supernatural ground along the bourgeois. A ritual remembrance at an Irish mansion provides a backdrop for a tragic story event happening to the very well off, which also keeps some of the terror removed. Like it’s contemporaries, it feels as inspired by pulp novels as much as EC Comics and the like, looking at a psychological explanation, underlining the real threat being the human mind. 

Coppola’s eye for camera placement (especially in the underwater sequence) feels purposeful and provides additional thrills that the plot does not. Not to mention there’s a moment where you discover that Tom Petty lifted the opening lines of “American Girl” from this film! At just over an hour, Dementia 13 remains what it was always intended to be, a fun B-picture. This new release is a good excuse to add it to your horror season watchlist this year.