Dementia 13 (1963)

Genre: Horror, Psychological

Source: My Own Collection

Grade: C

First off before I start this review I would like to explain my long absence from this blog. This whole month I have been off visiting family out of state and didn't really have access to a computer I felt like using for blogging plus I was so busy all the time I didn't have time to write a good quality review. But never the less I am back and I got a whole bunch of reviews lined up for you beginning with today's Francis Ford Coppola movie Dementia 13.

To be honest I think the three reasons this movie is as popular as it is, is because one it was Francis Ford Coppola`s directional debut. Which as you know he`s gone on to be quite popular directing such movies as The Godfather and Bram Stokers Dracula. Second reason it was produced by the great Roger Corman as well as having Jack Hill serve as this movie`s second unit writer and director. Finally third reason this movie`s poster is so bad ass!!

  Which sadly other than that is about all this movie has. The acting is not bad at all in this film, but none of the performances really stood out for me either. The plot also starts to lag a little bit as the movie progresses making it very slow to watch. But I do feel the effort put in by Coppola was a truly very worthy effort, which I will give him credit for. Anyway`s the whole focus of the horror used in the movie is psychological terror aspects and human nature. So no monsters,vampires, or guys with chainsaws no it is all straight forward with a heavy influence towards realism.
  Coppola`s direction I would have to say was pretty well done especially for an amateur. I mean there are some genuine moments of suspense, as well as a couple shocker scares. Also he really did succeed in creating   the right atmosphere. Everyone's mood was really uneasy and sinister. But the set`s they used were not very creepy and kind of ordinary looking which unfortunately took away a bit of the atmosphere of it all. Infact what they did was they used the left over sets from the movie Meet The Halorans. Which is nothing unusually at all for a Corman production. Its not that the sets were bad, but I just didnt feel they were sinister enough to really convey the setting they were hoping for.

   Another thing I did appreciate about this movie was the mystery that was incorporated into it. It`s really what kept me interested in seeing how this movie would finish even during its slow and boring parts. Which when it ended and everything was revealed left me a little surprised. Sadly though all these plus`s didn't redeem this movie for me from its averageness. There just isn`t anything in it that really makes it stand out as some incredible movie, but nor is there anything in it that makes it stand out as some awful movie. Its just sort of stuck there in the middle.

  Bottom line anyway`s is 1963`s Dementia 13 is a worthy effort on the part of a than new director Francis Ford Coppola. Unfortunately though the movie is uable to compensate for its slow pace, and lack of things that were able to engage me as much as i`d like to have been. But other than that it`s  a so-so Physiological horror film that if your interested in  Francis Ford Coppola`s early work is something you will need to check out, but other than that I can`t really reccomend this movie unless your genuinely curious about it.