Horror Film Review: Dementia 13 (dir by Francis Ford Coppola)

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, imagine that the year is 1963 and you are the legendary producer/director Roger Corman. You’ve just finished shooting your latest film and it turns out that you didn’t spend all of the money that you had allocated to make it! You’ve got an Irish castle at your disposal and some extra cash. Why not assign your ambitious assistant to make a quick little movie that’s specifically designed to cash-in on the success of Psycho and it’s numerous imitators?

And that, of course, is how Francis Ford Coppola came to direct his first film. Today, of course, Coppola is best known for directing three of the best American films of all time, The Godfather, The Conversation, and The Godfather Part II. (Some people would include Apocalypse Now in that list, as well.) In 1963, he was just another aspiring filmmaker making his debut under the watchful eye of Roger Corman.

Coppola both wrote and directed Dementia 13. The film’s a pretty nifty little horror/mystery. Of course, the plot doesn’t make much sense if you give it too much thought but any fan of the Roger Corman-style of film making should be used to that by now.

Luana Anders plays Louise Haloran, the film’s greedy femme fatale. When we first meet her, she’s calmly watching her husband drop dead of a heart attack. After learning that she’s not going to be receiving any sort of inheritance because her husband died before his mother, Louise decides to invite herself to the Haloran family castle, where her mother-in-law, Lady Haloran (Eithne Dunne), is about to take part in an annual ceremony that is meant to pay tribute to Haloran’s dead daughter, Kathleen. Looking for a way to try to trick Lady Haloran into making Louise her heir, Louise tries to fool Lady Haloran into believing that Kathleen is trying to contact her from beyond the grave.

Got all that? Because I’m not going to try to type it out again.

Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the rest of the plot but let’s just say that it all leads to a midnight swim and a shocking axe murder. Who could be the killer be? Could it be one of Louise’s two brother-in-laws, Richard (William Campell) and Billy (Bart Patton)? Could it be the local doctor, Justin Caleb (Patrick Magee?) Or how about Richard’s fiancee, the oddly named Kane (Mary Mitchell?” Or how about Simon (Karl Schnazer), the local poacher? Or maybe Kathleen really has risen from the dead? Or how about….

Well, look, it could be a lot of people. Dementia 13 has a labyrinth plot and it’s got a few twists that you probably shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about. It’s very much a young director’s film but, at the same time, that’s also the film’s greatest strength. Coppola reportedly got in trouble when the film went overbudget (which is something that had never previously happened on a Corman film) but the end result is a film that features several spooky visuals, an ominous atmosphere, and one very shocking murder. You wouldn’t necessarily watch a film like Dementia 13 and think that the director would go on to make something as great as The Godfather. But Coppola’s talent, even if it’s a bit unformed, is still very much noticeable while watching his directorial debut.

Speaking of watching the film, it’s in the public domain so it’s very easy to watch! Pick up a Mill Creek 50-DVD box set and there’s a good chance you’ll find Dementia 13 included within. Or, you can just go over to YouTube and watch it for free!

Enjoy!

Horror On The Lens: Gammera The Invincible (dir by Noriaki Yuasu and Sandy Howard)

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that 1966’s Gammera The Invincible is not really a horror film. Maybe there was a time when people found the idea of a giant, fire-breathing turtle to be scary but I kind of doubt it.

But let’s think about this! What better time is there to watch a movie about giant, fire-breathing turtle than in October?

Seriously, this is a fun movie and if you’ve got some time to kill this morning, I guarantee this movie will make you smile.

As I wrote in my 2014 review of this film, Gammera is one hell of a turtle.

Enjoy!

3 Days Til Halloween

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Dazzling Erin

by Erin Nicole

“O little one,
My little one,
Come with me,
Your life is done.

Forget the future,
Forget the past.
Life is over:
Breathe your last.”

Abarat (Clive Barker)

Artwork of the Day: Trauma (Artist Unknown)

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Dazzling Erin

Button up your shirt. Pull up your dress. And don’t touch that knife!

This is from 1976.

Music Video of the Day: Dangerous Type by The Cars (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 116 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

The 94th video to premiere on MTV was this performance clip for The Cars’s Dangerous Type. Dangerous Type was never officially released as a single but that didn’t keep it from becoming one of the band’s most popular song.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

Horror on TV: Friday the 13th: The Series 2.19 “The Butcher” (dir by Francis Delia)

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, for our horror on the lens, we have the nineteenth episode of the 2nd season of Friday the 13th: The Series!

In tonight’s episode, Jack takes center stage as he finds himself forced to battle and repeatedly kill an evil from his own past. Nigel Bennett plays quite a frightening villain.

This episode originally aired on April 29th, 1989.

Alex Nall’s “Are Comic Books Real?” Answers Its Own Question

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse

Akex Nall is the best children’s cartoonist working today. And by that I don’t mean he’s the best there is at making comics for children — but it should be noted that his work is, in fact, usually appropriate for all ages — I mean that he’s the best there is at making comics about children.

It’s not that he necessarily draws kids better than anyone else — although his art style is eminently agreeable and firmly rooted in knowledge and understanding of classical technique — no, it’s more that he so clearly understands and empathizes with children on the one hand, while having a kind of quiet reverence for the wide-eyed wonder with which they approach life and the world on the other. He respects kids, values them, and in many ways, I think it’s fair to say, he even envies their outlook. They mystify him, amaze him, at…

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Here’s The Trailer For Hellbound

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Just because October is going to end in another few days, that doesn’t mean that the horror has to end with it! Here’s the trailer for Hellbound, which will be dropping on Netflix in November!

The TSL’s Grindhouse: Body Bags (dir by John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper)

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

An odd but mildly likable film, that’s the best description of Body Bags.

Originally, Body Bags wasn’t even meant to be a film. Instead, in 1993, Showtime wanted to do a horror anthology show, one that would mix comedy and chills in the style of HBO’s Tales From The Crypt. Three episodes were filmed. Two were directed by John Carpenter. The other was directed by Tobe Hooper. Robert Carradine, Stacy Keach, and Mark Hamill all agreed to appear on the show. That’s an impressive collection of talent but, for whatever reason, Showtime decided not to pursue Body Bags as a series. So the three episodes were strung together in an anthology film. Linking the stories was a warp-around segment where Carpenter played a coroner and Tobe Hooper and Tom Arnold played morgue attendants!

Now, it must be said that John Carpenter probably made the right decision when he decided to become a director instead of an actor. That said, what Carpenter lacked in acting technique, he made up for with unbridled enthusiasm. Carpenter appears to be having a blast playing an old style horror host. Who can blame him? In fact, I would say one the most appealing things about John Carpenter as a personality is that he always seems to be truly enjoying himself, regardless of all the crap that he’s had to put up with in Hollywood.

As for the segments …. well, they’re uneven. That’s not really a shock. Part of the problem is that, because they weren’t originally envisioned as all airing together, a lot of ideas and story points are repeated from segment to segment. The first segment is about a serial killer. The second segment is about a transplant. The third segment is about both a transplant and a serial killer. It gets a bit repetitive.

Carpenter directed the first two segments, The Gas Station and Hair. The Gas Station is a bit too simple for its own good. Robert Carradine is a serial killer who harasses a woman at a gas station. That’s pretty much it. Carradine gives a good performance ad Halloween fans will get a laugh out of a reference to Haddonfield but there’s not much else going on. Hair is a bit better. Stacy Keach plays a businessman who gets a hair transplant, just to discover that the hair is extraterrestrial in origin. Hair is clever and playful, like an above average episode of The Twilight Zone. Keach plays his role with the right mix of comedic outrage and genuine horror.

The third segment is called Eyes and it was directed by Tobe Hooper. Mark Hamill plays a baseball player who is losing his eyesight as the result of a car accident. He gets an eye transplant. At first, everything seems fine but soon, he’s having visions of himself murdering people! It turns out that the eye once belonged to a serial killer. You can guess where this is going but Mark Hamill really throws himself into the role and Tobe Hooper’s direction is appropriately intense.

Body Bags is a pretty minor entry in the filmographies of two great directors but, at the same time, it’s enjoyable in its own silly way. There’s a likable goofiness to John Carpenter’s wrap-around segment and it lets us know that we shouldn’t take any of this too seriously. Watch it for your own amusement.

Here’s The Trailer For Deadlock!

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Patrick Muldoon and Bruce Wills in the same movie!?

Finally, the ancient prophecy has come true.

Deadlock will be released on December 3rd. It looks like Bruce might actually make more than a five minute appearance in this film. I guess someone here at the Shattered Lens will find out when we force them to watch this movie.

Here’s the trailer!