Dementia 13 (1963)

When her husband John has a heart attack while out in a rowboat on the lake, Louise Haloran throws his body overboard and later tells the family that he has left on an urgent business trip.... See full summary »

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Writers:

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

Stars:

William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton

Cast

Complete credited 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 Dunn)
Peter Read	...	John Haloran
Karl Schanzer	...	Simon
Ron Perry	...	Arthur
Derry O'Donavan	...	Lillian
Barbara Dowling	...	Kathleen

Storyline

When her husband John has a heart attack while out in a rowboat on the lake, Louise Haloran throws his body overboard and later tells the family that he has left on an urgent business trip. Her main concern is that she can only inherit a part of the family fortune if if her husband is alive. The Halorans are a strange family, still grieving over the death of the youngest daughter Kathleen who drowned in a pond when she was just a child. They hold an annual ceremony of remembrance every year on the anniversary of her death. This year however, someone is wielding an ax intent on murder.

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Plot Keywords:

ceremony | heart attack | castle | pond | will | 

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Taglines:

The Most Terrifying Screen Experience Of Your Life! A Brand New Concept in Motion Picture Shock! A Thrilling New Creation of Terror Thru Sight and Sound, Filmed Entirely in the Shock-Packed Process of Dementia 13!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1980 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Fright Night

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmgroup, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (colorized)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This line in the film: "Especially an American girl. You can tell she's been raised on promises" influenced the Tom Petty song 'American Girl' in which he sings "She was an American Girl, raised on promises."

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Goofs

In some shots Ron Perry as Arthur has two good arms but in other shots his left arm is in a cast.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in From Manila with Love (2011)

User Reviews

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.