Dementia 13 (1963)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Francis Ford Coppola (writer)
Jack Hill (second unit writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1966 (Denmark)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You Must Pass the "D-13" Test To Prepare You for the Horrifying Experience of Dementia 13. If You Fail the Test...You Will Be Asked to Leave the Theater!

Plot:

John Haloran has a fatal heart attack, but his wife Louise won't get any of the inheritance when Lady Haloran dies if John is dead...

Plot Keywords:

Heart Attack | Castle | Pond | Axe Murder | Axe

Cast

William Campbell	...	Richard Haloran
Luana Anders	...	Louise Haloran
Bart Patton	...	Billy Haloran
Mary Mitchel	...	Kane
Patrick Magee	...	Justin Caleb
Eithne Dunne	...	Lady Haloran (as Ethne Dunne)
Peter Read	...	John Haloran
Karl Schanzer	...	Simon
Ron Perry	...	Arthur
Derry O'Donavan	...	Lillian
Barbara Dowling	...	Kathleen

Directed by
Francis Ford Coppola		(as Francis Coppola)

Writing credits
Francis Ford Coppola		(writer) (as Francis Coppola)
Jack Hill		(second unit writer)

Produced by
Roger Corman	....	producer
Marianne Wood	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ronald Stein
Les Baxter		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Hannawalt		(as Charles Hanawalt)

Film Editing by
Stuart O'Brien
Morton Tubor		(as Mort Tubor)

Art Direction by
Al Locatelli		(as Albert Locatelli)

Set Decoration by
Eleanor Coppola		(as Eleanor Neil)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard F. Dalton	....	assistant director (as Richard Dalton)
Jack Hill	....	second unit director

Art Department
Edward Delaney	....	sculptor

Sound Department
Joseph Gross	....	sound
Liam Saurin	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
John Vicario	....	camera operator
Michael Vines	....	best boy

Editorial Department
Donald Shebib	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
George Brady	....	technician
Patrick Brady	....	technician
Dr. William Joseph Bryan Jr.	....	technical advisor
Eyemonn Callian	....	production assistant
Patrick Doyle	....	technician
Paul Julian	....	title designer
Michael Purcell	....	technician
Angela Wadlow	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Filmgroup Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1963) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• K-tel Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Troma Team Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• UAV Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Arcadia Entertainment (2003) (Greece) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• SlingShot Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• 303 Recordings (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Multimedia Group (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Vidtape (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Weton Wesgram (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• Cable Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Castle Communications (1994) (Finland) (VHS)
• Cine FX (????) (France) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Finnkino (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (????) (USA) (VHS)
• K-tel Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Nostalgia Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Ovation Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (DVD) (as Enjoy Movies)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Regal Films (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• World Video Picture (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Aer Lingus  thanks
• Guinness Breweries  thanks
• Irish International Airlines  thanks
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Also Known As:

The Haunted and the Hunted (UK)
Demência 13 (Brazil) [pt]
Demencia 13 (Spain) (cable TV title) [es]
Dementia 13 (Brazil) [pt]
Dementia 13 (West Germany) [de]
Dementia 13 (Spain) (DVD title) [es]
Djævelens borg (Denmark) [da]
Nattens skräcknäste (Sweden) [sv]
Parafrosyni (Greece) [el]
Terrore alla 13 ora (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (colorized)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-16 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Filmgroup Productions

Trivia:

This film was originally going to be titled simply "Dementia." The "13" was added because it was discovered that the title "Dementia" had already been used for a 1955 film.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the movie's latter half Dr. Caleb enters a work shed and discovers the body of Louise and the lifelike Kathleen doll. Carefully picking up the doll, he closes the shed door, and immediately in the next scene is shown walking with the doll in his arms and a cigar in his mouth.

Quotes:

Louise Haloran: It's nice to see her enjoying herself for a change. The mood around this place isn't good for her.... Especially an American girl. You can tell she's been raised on promises.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "In the Cellar: Retribution (#2.1)" (2009)

Scares on a shoestring and it's not bad.

When Alfred Hitchcock's Marion Crane (of "Psycho") stepped into the shower and met her fate, it kicked off a slew of stark, grisly chillers about nutcases, often wielding butcher knives or axes. This entry has the distinction of being one of Coppola's earliest directorial efforts and it is clearly influenced by Hitchcock, though without his budget or seasoned mastery. Anders plays a rather nagging wife who is visiting her husband's ancestral castle with him just in time to "celebrate" the anniversary of his kid sister's funeral. He, his two brothers and his mother gather annually to pay tribute to the little girl who was drowned on the premises years before. One brother (Campbell) is an angry sculptor with an American fiancee (Mitchel.) The other (Patton) is a gentle, sort of shy type. The mother (Dunne) can't get past the death of her daughter and faints on cue each year at the ceremony. Not long into the film, one death sets off a chain of events that unleashes a couple of other ones to where no one at the castle is safe and the audience is often not certain who the mad killer is (though veteran fans of horror/suspense shouldn't have that much trouble figuring it out.) The film is far from perfect, but given the unbelievable budgetary and filming restraints, it does manage to conjure up some creeps and story interest. The only part that really drags is the section involving an overly inquisitive doctor (Magee.) Otherwise, there is creativity in the filming of the deaths and a nice sense of atmosphere throughout (even if almost none of these Irish characters has anything resembling an accent!) There are slicker fright films out there, but this one wins points for accomplishing pretty much with precious little to work with.