Dementia 13 movie review

Dementia 13 from 1963 is Francis Ford Coppola's first mainstream movie that he wrote and directed, and was produced by B-movie legend Roger Corman. Dementia 13 was originally titled, The Haunted and the Hunted. The movie is about a family of three brothers, whose sister died as a child, and who still haunts their family castle in Ireland, where there mother lives. The movie starts out with John Holoran (one of the brothers) and his wife Louise rowing to the middle of a lake, while discussing his rich mother's will, which leaves the family fortune to charity in their sister's name. Louise isn't happy about this and is telling him that he should demand to get a share of the money. He reminds her that if he dies she gets nothing, and well he suddenly dies of a heart attack. So she throws him overboard and tells his family that he's away on business. She and his brothers, all meet up at the family castle in Ireland. Strange things begin to happen and the mother's loose grip on sanity loosens even more as she is haunted by strange occurrences regarding the dead sister. The strange family dr is trying to help the mother out, and all the while people start being murdered. We don't find out who the killer is until the shocking final act, as this becomes an amazing murder mystery story. First off, this movie is very dark, and I mean that in a literal sense, as the lighting is terrible on this movie, scenes are either so dark it is hard to see what is going on, or so bright that the faces seem washed out, which I suppose is to be expected from a b-movie from 1963, but this movie was poorly restored when put on DVD, which sadly the case with many movies who have slipped into the realm of public domain (though that being said you can find this movie on youtube to watch in full, though I recommend getting your own DVD or VHS copy of it). This is a wonderful murder mystery that will truly keep you guessing who the murderer is, as few hints are given. The story is really well done, and the characters are well cast. I have found that this movie holds up to repeat viewings. The setting is nice, dark, and creepy, it was also filmed in Ireland. Over all really a great mystery/horror movie, and it is also a bit historic being Coppola's first mainstream movie, as before this he had only done a few "nudie" films. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely, though I don't think it is everyone's cup o tea. I know that not everyone loves these old black and white horror movies as much as I do, which I feel is a shame, because they have this amazing sense of magic to them. There is a beauty to the darkness of this movie. I encourage everyone to watch it, and to try to appreciate what it would have been like to be alive in 1963 and to go to a midnight viewing of a classic horror movie like this, to feel that fear that the audience would have felt. I love watching a movie and seeing it from that kind of perspective, ti makes it so much more magical. Again, I really do recommend everyone check out this piece of cinematic history, maybe watch it with some friends and make guesses on who you think the killer is!