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Title: Dementia 13 (2004)
Format: DVD
Score:
Starring: William Campbell;Luana Anders
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Rating: Unrated
Runtime: 90
Hits: 63
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Review of Dementia 13

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Comments for Dementia 13

• Posted on 2010-06-25
  It comes painfully close to being a masterpiece of cinema
  
  For all my reviews visit my website
  
  I am NOT reviewing the DVD. Just the movies unless otherwise stated.
  
  Please note that the rating above might not accurately reflect my thoughts, you will see a rating sentence at the end of the review.
  
  
  this is...this is... You know this is in the public domain? WHY! It was made as recently as 1963, and the creators are Roger Corman and the director of The Godfather! People, WHY! This movie is absolutely fantastic. I'd say, this is Frankenstein, Halloween and Psycho blended beautifully. This is complete awesomeness. First off, it's in beautiful Black and White, which does add to the creepy atmosphere. I'd say this is 1963, but Night of the Living Dead was in 1968 and was in Black and White. It also adds to the actors, I feel they are improved by the black and white. It always seems that way doesn't it?
  
  Here, you don't need a monster, and the psycho isn't seen till the second half, and isn't revealed until the very end. Sounds Familiar doesn't it? Extremely awesome. It's not a gore fest, but it has more gore than a lot of movies that were being made at the time. Luckily, it's all black so if it's the color RED that gets you (and is the background of my website,) than you don't haft to worry about it. The story is very intriguing, and, every shot is just beautiful. It's a work of genius. I would say that it is one of the most innovative movies ever made, but since it's in the public domain and these tactics have been used before, I can't say that. If I told you any of the genius shots I'd be giving away some stuff. Lemme just tell you this: this movie has an ABSOLUTELY sweet twist conveyed throughout the entire movie but not realized until the last scene.
  
  Also, the plotline is very well done. It transitions from a girl's husband dying and the girl throwing the dead body in the lake. Then, it goes into a mystery that the girl is solving about Kathleen who died many years ago and drowned in a lake. Then, when something big happens, it transitions to her brother-in-law, trying to figure out what his dreams mean. They are of course, about Kathleen and the killer, but it even adds more to the twist than you can imagine. This movie isn't for the visual and audible effects, it's about the psychological aspects of it. However, as I said this did have a heavy amount of gore for 1963, and it actually has some pretty scary scenes of animals making sudden noises. It's a perfect sit down, so if you go in expecting too much you might find it boring, but believe me it's absolutely awesome.
  
  It's almost a slasher film in some aspects, a psycho is creating a body count. But it's not that big, and frankly, it's not too important to the whole idea of the film. All the actors do their job in good shape, and the execution of the script is done with plenty of effort. Everything else is pretty much masterful. So, I guess with those things in mind, it's not entirely perfect. Dang, I wish I could say it was though.
  
  The Rating? 5.4/5
  
  I, Da Ca$hman signing off.
  
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• Posted on 2009-09-13
  Francis Ford Crapola
  
  Interesting only for being the director's first film. otherwise, objectively viewed, fit fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000. Illustrates the dangers of letting students make films, even gifted students.
  
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• Posted on 2009-05-14
  Not A Bad Little Movie
  
  I'll preface this by saying that I'm a HUGE William Campbell fan. Now that that's out of the way, let me say that this movie is not bad at all. The performances are even, the direction (Francis Ford Coppola's first, made on a shoestring) shows some hints of greatness to come and the editing has a couple of hiccups, but overall, a tight little movie. Filmed in black and white at an Irish castle, it is positively dripping in atmosphere. Maybe too much so. The copies I have seen are very dark, literally, and it is sometimes difficult to see details in some scenes. I don't think, however that the original looked this way; rather, it is probably the result of copying from deteriorated film or tape masters.
  
  Francis Ford Coppola also wrote the screenplay for this horror movie that is more focused on the story and creating suspense, than it is on the gore, which is very tame by today's standards. I was a little disappointed that the story was not developed more. The movie is only 75 minutes and I'll bet that Mr. Coppola did the best he could with what he had. You see, he was the assistand director on a Roger Corman film, The Young Racers, also starring William Campbell. After that film wrapped, he got Corman and the studio to agree to let him remain in Ireland with some of the actors and crew from the previous movie and was allowed to film his movie, Dementia 13. It was the least expensive movie that the studio had every made. When you consider this, the shortcomings in the film don't seem as important. It is what it is: not a bad first effort from a great director that a producer and studio took a chance on.
  
  Finally, for us William Campbell fans, it's a chance to see him as a brooding, tragic figure (a pretty hot one at that), before his career took a turn and he got stuck with smarmy, nasty villian parts.
  
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• Posted on 2009-04-08
  Just okay
  
  I only paid $0.50 for this copy and that's about what it's worth. I am not going to complain too much because I do have a copy for my collection. But, the picture is not very clear and the film skips, no joke. Also, the pictures on the back of the DVD do not match the movie, the pictures are in color and are not actual pictures of the movie. Only get this if you only want to pay $0.50 for it.
  
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• Posted on 2009-03-10
  In Search of the Perfect Dementia
  
  This is for the elusive Roan (Troma) DVD of "Dementia 13" (1963) issued in 2001. The movie itself has fallen into public domain years ago and was said by the producer Roger Corman, that the original elements have been lost. This is not the case but there was bad blood between Corman and Francis Ford Coppola (director) producing this movie that he may have simply swept it under the rug leaving us with a generally shared master that over the years has been well worn. There are tell-tale signs that one original print master was used and others made from it hinted by damages in the same exact spots.
  
  The Roan version is said to be "The Best" out there but it is far from perfect. The compression level is better than all others with blacks being solid. The audio level is low and there is a lot of "screen door" veil over the lighter solid areas. This is the Holy Grail of Roan DVDs and fetches high prices. It has the odd and rare movie trailer along with a couple of lame extras and a so-so commentary. Supposed to be widescreen, you hardly notice due to the odd ratio (supposed to be 1:66 but closer to 1:50). Another version put out by the now defunct Diamond Entertainment is identical but shows some compression yet acceptable unless you view it on a 1080p HD set. Even the Treeline version that comes in the 50-Movie packs (now Mill Creek) has a very good transfer considering but again minor compression artifacting (even viewed in HD). These two can be great alternate choices over the hard to find Roan and a LOT cheaper. Only hardcore buffs should invest in the Roan version.
  
  By chance an eBay seller had one at a descent non-gouging price so I landed on it quickly to add to my collection. It will be my #1 copy right now until an official release (if ever) comes from MGM and you can throw away all the others not mentioned above. I have compared at least 8 different versions and the above three are the best out of the bunch!
  
  Too bad that Roan has gotten out of the 'B' horror movie business restoring the lesser known and nearly forgotten public domain titles from decades past. Many were top notch but again, Roan's "Dementia 13" does fall a bit short which may be one reason it was short lived and now scarce?
  
  Eric S. Huffstutler
  Richmond, VA
  
  
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