DEMENTIA 13 (1963)

The directorial debut of Francis Ford Coppola (courtesy of producer Roger Corman), DEMENTIA 13 has been hailed as a forgotten masterpiece. Those who make that claim are only half right. It is a rushed production with a very low budget and a young director who had yet to find his voice. These elements don't have to mean a sub-par movie, but in this case they did.

The plot: when John Halloran [William Campbell] dies of a heart attack, his wife Louise [Luana Anders] disposes of the body and lies that he was called away on urgent business so she can claim his inheritance. This leads to a bizarre family gathering in an Irish castle where an ax murderer picks them off one by one.

Luana Anders is convincing enough as the scheming Louise. She also is quite attractive in a Dusty Springfield sort of way. The rest of the acting is what I expected: passable but nothing special. The characters are cursory and, though the Hallorans are of Irish descent, none have an accent. So why bother to set the film in Ireland?

It never occurs to anyone to notify the police when their family and staff members go missing. The film does a poor job of hiding the killer's face during the ax murders. The violence is more implied than shown, a bad move on Coppola's part. The score is simultaneously uninspired and grating. And in several scenes, it's hard to hear what the characters are saying.

DEMENTIA 13 is a desultory exercise that moves like molasses, offers no suspense, and at 74 minutes feels longer than Coppola's three-hour masterpieces, THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW. On the other hand, I can see the genetic link between this film and the disastrous BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA.

Item: When Louise strips to her underwear and goes swimming in a nearby pond, her panties change color from white to black.

Item: Though she is swimming at night, Louise has a clear view of everything under the water.

Item: The family doctor tells an ailing Mother Halloran, “Think of your mind as a bird in the hand. When it's relaxed, you're fine. But when it's tense….” (Hey, don't ask me.)

Item: The killer takes his ax to one of the servants, who is never mentioned again. Either no one noticed or didn't care that he was gone.

Item: As the family doctor pursues the killer through the woods, there is a cigar in his mouth that vanishes and reappears with each cut.

Item: The title is never explained.