- Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (Yep! That guy!)
- September 25, 1963
A scheming widow hatches a plot to steal on her husband’s inheritance unaware that she is the target of an axe wielding killer.
This is most definitely a Roger Corman produced a movie. It is cheap. It is trashy. And it is a rip off. No one ever said the man was entirely original in what he directed or what he produced. It is my understanding the intention behind this film was to be as close to Psycho as possible. Interestingly the more salacious elements (at least for the era in which Psycho came out) that should have been in Corman’s wheelhouse are not present in the story.
Roger Corman gave plenty of people their start in one way or another. Ron Howard directed his first film Grand Theft Auto for Corman. James Horner, John Sayles, and James Cameron all got their start in one way or another working for Roger Corman on something or several somethings as the case might have been and here we have none other than Francis Ford Coppola in his legitimate directorial debut. Prior to this he done some rather trashy stuff which has never been touted on his résumé.
Much like Psycho this starts off with a central female character committing a crime who is quickly offed. Louise (Luana Anders) has plans of getting a portion if not the entirety of her mother-in-law’s (Eithne Dunne) fortune, but things get complicated for her when her husband John (Peter Read) suffers a heart attack while they are both out on a boat and she rolls him over the edge and into the water. Intentional or not, bodies of water play a large part in this film.
You see every year the family gathers together to mourn the passing of the youngest daughter who reportedly drowned in a pond on the family’s estate in Ireland. This gold-digging wife Louise has to think fast and explains away her missing husband in a way that allows for her presents at the family’s annual get together.
Louise plots drive her mother-in-law over the edge and to alter her will. As she is about to embark on her scheme, she gets killed by an individual we only see backlit. It was a rather surprising kill. Kudos to Coppola for eschewing the predictable route and pulling the switcheroo on us.
William Campbell, at the point he did this movie was a well-known B movie actor who was a veteran of several Corman films, shows up as Richard Haloran. At this current point in entertainment history though Campbell is probably best known for his guest starring roles in the Star Trek universe where he played the mischievous Trelane in the episode “The Squire of Gothos” and as the Klingon Captain Koloth in the original series episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” and on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Blood Oath.”
Patrick Magee plays the family doctor Dr. Justin Caleb who rather easily figures it all out. Magee had a weird delivery throughout the film that made his character appear sinister. Bart Patton is Haloran son Billy. Patton conveyed emotional damage in his part and was more like a lost soul than anything else.
As mentioned earlier, Dementia 13 tries to be a Psycho knockoff on a low budget, but it just is not. It is just bad acting and cheap thrills. And somehow that makes it enjoyable enough. It is one of those films that transcends the bad to become a satisfying one off watch. Not great but good.
The most notable thing about this film though is that Francis Ford Coppola directed it. Honestly Dementia 13 comes off as an extended episode of The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents and not necessarily a Francis Ford Coppola theatrical release. How did this movie get its title? What is “Dementia 13”? It is a psychological diagnosis and an unlucky number slapped together. That is probably the only reason those two things coexist in the title.
The story is okay but really is elevated by the performance of William Campbell. His skill set was in making the bad better. I will give Bart Patton props two for his performance as well. Together they carried the show here.
The shots are a little static. Coppola has a strong rep as a director, but his stationary camera is a clear sign he did not know what to do with it here. The music helps smooth the rough edges of this film. It’s just weird enough that it makes it all go down a little easier.
Dementia 13 is not a great film. It is an okay piece of trashy cinema that is worth watching to see how Francis Ford Coppola really got his start. I will give this an if you want.
