Growing up in the '50s and '60s, Stephen King didn't dream of wholesome girls played by the likes of Hayley Mills or Sandra Dee. Fresh-faced innocence wasn't his thing.
"At thirteen I wanted...girls in black bras who looked like trailer trash," he remembers in his memoir On Writing. (King 45)
Dementia 13 (Spoilers Ahead)
Luana Anders in Dementia 13 (1963) was the embodiment of King's it-girl, right down to her choice of undergarments. The fact that she was being hacked to death by an axe-murderer? Even better. After all, the man didn't become an icon of horror fiction on a diet of beach sing-a-longs and Disney classics.
In Turner Classic Movies' latest installment of its Night at the Movies series, King recalls the horror films and monster flicks that fueled his imagination as a child and as an adult. His love for the classic era of low-budget thrillers is clear, but he confides his moral queasiness at the modern industry's penchant for glorifying the killer rather than sympathizing with the victim.
One of King's earliest memories of being frightened by a horror film is tied to director Francis Ford Coppola's first substantial venture, Dementia 13. The low-budget, atmospheric thriller follows a woman's attempts to gain her wealthy mother-in-law's trust, and money, by terrorizing her with the "ghost" of her beloved dead daughter.
It's an imperfect, somewhat confused film, but it still offers some chilling moments and a glimpse into Coppola's budding creativity.
The Plot of Dementia 13
Louise Haloran (Anders) is a recent widow, only her late-husband's family doesn't know it, yet. The two are hatching a scheme to inherit the family fortune when John Haloran (Peter Read) dies of a sudden heart-attack during a late-night canoe ride. This couple is hardly a pair of lovebirds, though; John taunts Louise during his last breaths, saying she can never get the money from his ailing mother without him.
But there's more than Lady Haloran (Eithne Dunne) to deal with. The whole family expects John and Louise to be present at the annual memorial service for John's little sister, Kathleen, who mysteriously drowned seven years earlier. There are also John's two brothers, a future sister-in-law and a suspicious doctor to contend with - oh, and that pesky axe murderer lurking about.
Louise easily takes care of John. After dumping his body, she forges a letter from John to his family, explaining he must leave on an impromptu business trip. Of course, his lovely wife will stay on for an extended visit, instead.
It doesn't take much time at the Haloran estate before Louise sees the perfect opportunity to push her mother-in-law closer to her grave. She'll use Kathleen's memory to haunt the halls of the family's creepy, ancestral castle. Only, someone else already possesses the dead girl's memory...and an axe - but who is it?
Has the grief-stricken Lady Haloran finally gone insane after years of re-living her precious daughter's death? Is it the shy brother, Billy (Bart Patton), long-haunted by the discovery of his sister floating in the pond? Could the suspicious older brother, Richard (William Campbell), be protecting an old secret? Does the family doctor (Patrick Magee) take his loyalty too far? Or could it be Kathleen (Barbara Dowling), herself, seeking revenge?
Louise is about to find out.
Too Many Elements
Coppola incorporates elements from different genres in Dementia 13 - psychological thriller, gothic horror, slasher, and even whodunit - but never fully develops any, making the movie seem like a puzzle whose pieces don't quite fit together. It's too easy to imagine Dementia 13 as a candidate for Mystery Science Theater 3000, with those familiar silhouettes offering their running commentary from the edge of the screen.
The movie does succeed, however, in creating an atmosphere of fright with plenty of surreal visuals made even more haunting in black-and-white. The cast, especially Anders, Campbell, Dunne and Magee, give convincing performances, but barely save the muddled plot.
Still, King's fans can thank the movie for its early contribution to a warped imagination. Want to find out what other movies terrified the author? Watch TCM's original documentary A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King.
Sources:
- Dementia 13, 1963. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Luana Anders, William Campbell, Patrick Magee. Filmgroup Productions. Running Time: 75 min.
- King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Print.
- A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King Turner Classic Movies. TCM, Pittsburgh. 3 Oct. 2011. Television.
Amanda Flinner - Amanda is a freelance writer who earned her Bachelor's degree in Writing from Geneva College in 2006. Although a variety of interests ...
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