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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Dementia 13 (1963)

Starring William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchel, Patrick Magee
Directed by Francis Coppola
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After her husband dies of a heart attack, a greedy woman conceals his death and schemes to convince his mother to write her into her will, while an axe murderer is getting ready to strike.

Francis (Ford) Coppola makes his debut as writer and director on this distinctive horror film, courtesy of producer Roger Corman, who shepherded a number of similar talents into future Hollywood players.  Set in Ireland and filmed there, this dark film doesn't really take advantage of the beautiful scenery, but it's certainly grim and suspenseful with an eerie score from Ronald Stein.  Luana Anders has a memorable part as the scheming widow in one of her best and most unique showcases.  I don't think Coppola is successful enough in keeping the killer's identity a mystery until the climax, but the movie is an efficient low-budget thriller that has some haunting images, particularly in the opening credit sequence.

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