Review of Dementia 13 (1963) by Christopher H — 18 Apr 2012

"It's nice to see her enjoying herself for a change.".

Synopsis: The Haloran family gather at their Irish Castle to commemorate the death of their daughter Kathleen.

Dementia 13's production is more a story of the legacy of two of cinema's most revered and groundbreaking achievements, Psycho and The Godfather, then a low budget feature debut. Structurally, the film is obviously a knockoff of Alfred Hitchcock's great psychological thriller/slasher film released a mere 3 years earlier. The plot follows the same story arch, much the same atmosphere is used, and it's even shot remarkably similarly. Such obvious inspirations are not shocking, as although Psycho had a considerably larger budget than what's on display here, Psycho itself had a relatively modest budget, and theoretical success with Dementia 13 would help Coppola move on to more ambitious projects.

Look a bit closer however, and Coppola's auteur characteristics are evident, at least in the film's script. Famed Producer Roger Corman wanted a "psycho-copy", and Coppola was happy to oblige, but even here Coppola weaves in a tale about family and guilt, two central themes that eventually found their way into one of the greatest film's of all-time, The Godfather. Not that such themes make this low-budget thriller any more impressive, but it's interesting to see a spark that would ignite a unrelenting fire.

No, Dementia 13's real strengths are not Francis Ford Coppola's words, but rather his directorial talent. He crafts a moody picture that can impress even to this day, if it weren't for the picture's obvious debt to Psycho, the film might have been a hit, but as it stands it's simply a picture that inhabits the better half of the myriad of knockoffs inspired by Hitchcock's groundbreaking thriller.