The Dunwich Horror (1970)

THE DUNWICH HORROR is one of those titles I should have seen ages ago. Been aware of it since the 70s, but, just never got to it. In a way, it's a good thing I waited since I would have likely seen it on over-the-air TV, panned & scanned and chopped of its nudity instead of the very nice TCM HD broadcast. Of course, the main reason I skipped it until now is because of its mediocre reputation. Unfortunately, that rep is well 'earned'.It certainly isn't a bad film, but, you could excuse audiences at the time of thinking of it as Gidget's Baby or, Gidget Goes To Hell (if it weren't for the legalities, I'm surprised AIP didn't re-release it under one of those monikers!). Although based on the Lovecraft tale, it very much seems to have been fashioned with an eye towards Polanski's classic hit. In the horror pantheon of 'What If?'s, Bava's 1963 aborted version with Karloff ranks high. Still, a cast with Dean Stockwell, Sandra Dee and old vets Sam Jaffe and Ed Begley Sr. wasn't a bad one to work with.Director Daniel Haller was a former Art Director for Roger Corman (who produced), and he, along with Cinematographer Richard Glouner and Art Director Paul Sylos, give DUNWICH a visual look far richer than such a budget would normally allow (a trait Haller was applauded for in the in he Poe pictures). Even with the Rosemary's Baby angle inserted (complete with drugged hallucinations and chanting), there is enough of a Lovecraft feel to the enterprise that gives it a certain atmosphere and flow. Unfortunately, whenever the film seems to pick up momentum, thuddingly conventional and out-of-tune scenes break it up (the funeral; the convenience store; etc.). Sam Jaffe is one of my favorite character actors in cinema, but, the less said about his performance the better. Of course, the two most interesting curios in the credits is an early appearance by Talia Shire, and the very first (Co) Screenplay credit for Curtis Hanson.In the end, DUNWICH is a flawed attempt at melding the 60s AIP Poe pictures formula with the more then 'hip' filmmaking of the early 70s - much like the transition Hammer was going through at the same time. The nudity is a bit jarring - Gidget nude!???! (almost certainly a body double, as Dee remains buttoned up whenever her face is clearly visible). The color filters, zoom lens shots and other 'arty' tics seem to be employed more to cover up the lack of SFX than any attempt at a genuine style. The most effective moments are shots of the wind rolling over a river and empty streets (worthy of Tourneur's NIGHT OF THE DEMON). The shot of Stockwell's tattooed torso as he is about to go all devil on Dee is also a bit chilling.

At a Massachusetts University, Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell) searches out for the mysterious Necronomicon book. Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley) is unwilling to lend it to him. Student Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee) gives him a ride back to Dunwich. He lives with his grandfather Old Whateley (Sam Jaffe). He keeps her at the house through drug-induced hallucinatory visions. Armitage and her friend Elizabeth Hamilton come looking for her.This is a lower grade slow-moving B-horror. There is nothing scary. Stockwell does his best creep but there isn't much else. The hippie old visual effects saps any horror from the movie. This is based on a H.P. Lovecraft story but it really doesn't deserve the name. The snakes-headed figure is only in the film for a seconds and is a disappointing stiff static thing.

Weirdo student of the occult Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell) tries to get his hands on a copy of the Necronomicon in order to perform a ritual that will open an inter-dimensional portal and free 'the old ones'. For his ceremony, he also needs a virgin: cue cinematic goody goody Sandra Dee as librarian Nancy Wagner, the actress ultimately shaking off her wholesome screen image by baring some flesh during the film's climactic ritual.Based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror is an undeniably atmospheric movie, with a great sense of foreboding helped in no small part by a sinister score, but director Daniel Haller's best efforts are undone by a script that treads water until the finale, a plodding pace and an over-reliance on groovy psychedelic visuals, the image becoming negative and changing colours during key scenes: what may have seemed cool to the hippy generation now looks horribly cheesy and incredibly dated.And, of course, anyone looking forward to the arrival of the 'old ones' is heading for disappointment: all the budget can stretch to are some rubbery snake heads, their awfulness partially disguised by one of Haller's crappy visual effects.

The Necronomican (a mythical book said to be a tool to open a gateway to an alternate universe) becomes the prized exhibit of Dr Armitage (Ed Begley) at the local library, and gets interest from the eccentric, and locally feared Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell), who was born of a deformed mother who is now held in an institution. An encounter at the library leads him to Nancy (Sandra Dee), a pretty young blond girl; he seduces her and takes her back to his mansion - a local 'old dark house' shrouded in local fear and loathing to the population of the fictional town of Dunwich, Massachusetts. Nancy becomes embroiled in a necro- nightmare, where she has visions of strange ritualistic, tribal torture and sacrifice, and Wilbur manipulates her to become a vehicle to open the gateway open to let the "old ones" through to our world.Based on the short story, published in 1929, by H. P. Lovecraft, the story is grounded in two of his most famous creations. One being the Necronomicon (a creation that has been used several times in popular culture - including Sam Raimi's Evil Dead Trilogy (1981 - 1992)), and the tentacled beasts of the other world, epitomised by Cthulhu (yeah, no one knows how exactly it is pronounced). Whilst much of his writings have now been adapted into films (most famously Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986)), his adjective-heavy prose is regarded less than the work of that other American horror writer, Edgar Allen Poe; perhaps symptomatic of his anti-Semitic attitudes in life.Like the films pop art stylings of the Sandy Dvore title sequence, with it's bold colours and silhouetted figures, the films "horrific" action is marked with various coloured filters, giving a very '60's charm to it. Oranges, reds and blue filters flash on screen, the editing at times too quick to register, as the screams of victims, and the flight of a beast are signified simply, for budgetary purposes no doubt. Stockwell gives a fantastically hammy, yet suave performance as the tortured, yet controlling man, who's past is shrouded in mystery. The climax reveals a potent edge of cerebral, nightmarish horror, a conclusion of twisted, monstrous proportions. Produced by Samual Z. Arkoff's AIP, it sometimes feels like a very East-coast American Hammer film, but the tentacled monstrosity (which we don't really see exactly) is absolutely from the imagination of Lovecraft. It's preposterous, but a hell of a lot of fun - helped by Stockwell's furry eyebrows and moustache.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com