Review of Dementia 13 (1963) by Paul Z — 04 Nov 2012

The inauspicious directorial debut of auteur filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (not including his nudist camp film). There are definitely glimpses of the director he would become with flashes of style in some creative shot composition or stylish editing.

However, if not for the films Coppola would later make later in his career, this tale of an ax murderer would likely have been lumped into the many cheap though entertaining Roger Corman productions. Coppola was actually working as a second unit director on a Corman film at the time when Corman gave him permission to make his own film using the same actors and sets at the film Corman was directing.

For a no-budget film, it's an entertaining (and very gory) Corman production, but it's a far cry from being as original or stylish as Coppola's later work or even compared to the similarly low-budget black & white horror film "Carnival of Souls".