It isn't a Friday, but it sure didn't start out that way anyhow! Today's Film is Dementia 13, a Film I've been holding on to for, like, forever. I had a simple plan: review the Film on the 13th of the Month. It took a few Months to do it right, but here we are now! Hey look- my first Francis Ford Coppola Film on the site! Is that good or sad? The Film is the man's earliest work as a Director, coming off of working in a smaller role on another Corman Film. As per usual, Roger finished early, so this Film was born. The reason why it is notable for today? The Film was all set to be released when they realized that there already was a Dementia. What was a Producer to do? Just add the number '13' to the Title- duh! Years before Jason and his momma went around killing folks, Corman did the 13 thing first. The Plot involves a greedy woman, a crazy family and a mysterious killer. To find out more about this Public Domain Regular, read on...
In a Cold Open, this dick takes his lady out in a boat and brags about how she will be poor if he dies.
Right on cue, he dies of a heart attack! Time for a swim...
The desperate (and greedy) woman covers up his death and goes to his family Estate in Ireland to get his cash.
Unfortunately, she is in a Thriller, so her schemes don't exactly work out for her...
With her dead, we learn that there is some twisted stuff going on with this family. The Sister died young in a mysterious accident, the Mom has gone crazy and the kids have something to hide.
Seriously, they have something to hide! Like...wow.
It turns out that someone has been holding on to the dead Sister's body! Who is the culprit?
As it turns out, one of the Brothers has been repressing the memory of accidentally-drowning said Sister and has gone crazy.
Don't worry- his Therapist is there to treat him...and by treat him, I mean shoot him to death. The End.
What an interesting mess. This one holds up pretty well overall, The problem is that Film was somewhat altered by committee. Supposedly Corman took a heavy hand to the finished product. He thought that the Film wasn't long enough, so he added a Prologue designed to only be a Promo for Theaters. On the plus side, most Versions- like mine- don't have this pointless filler. On the negative side, the run-time of the Film here is a lie (accounting for said filler). The Soundtrack is also a bit heavy-handed and plays with the sense of immersion. That said, the Film has an interesting, eerie tone. It shows what Coppola would be able to do later with an actual Budget- this was made for $42,000!- and a real Schedule- as opposed to shooting around another Corman Film. There are some neat little touches that speak to what the man could do, like the bit with the Radio being tossed into the Lake while it plays. That said, it is still hard to imagine that this is from the same guy who holds the record of having all 3 Films in a Trilogy be nominated for Best Picture though. This one isn't a disappointment, but isn't quite the hidden gem that it could be. On the plus side, I found the Dad of Obviously-Fake Mustache Cop from Sleepaway Camp...
Next up, the original update planned. For a Director who has glorified torture, this one is anything but! Stay tuned...
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