From The Corner: Dementia 13

Welcome to the first installment of From the Corner, where I bring you my reviews of classic (and not so classic) horror movies. First up, is a little bit of Francis Ford Coppola madness titled, "Dementia 13"...

The Haloran family has been under a cloud of darkness for decades. The cloud pours down death as people start dying at the hands of a shadowy figure and their axe...

This movie was made quickly, and cheaply- and it shows. Fortunately, Coppola had talent even at the start of his career, and managed to make this a nicely suspenseful, and tense little thriller. The characters are interesting, and the performers were great. I especially liked William Campbell's performance (Star Trek fans will remember his as Trelane and the Klingon Captain Koloth). Patrick Magee was great in the role of the slightly sinister and condescending Dr. Caleb- even if I did want him to die.

Coppola was creative in his use of camera angles, lighting and sets to create a sense of suspense and creepiness. The scene in the child's room and the close-ups of the toy monkey still give me shivers. He's also great at his use of gore, in that he doesn't really use much. There are about two scenes with any sort of real blood. Body counters will be disappointed by the low death rate, but fans of suspense won't mind.

This is one of the few movies that I wouldn't mind doing a remake of, since there are so many little threads in the original that could be explored. In my opinion, this is just a great film that I have absolutely NO problem owning, recommending, or re-watching. Because of that, I'm putting Dementia 13 solidly in The Good.

You can follow Mike S on Twitter @TerrorCorner

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