The Dunwich Horror (1970)

Director:

Daniel Haller

Writers:

H.P. Lovecraft (short story)
Curtis Hanson (writer) ...

Release Date:

14 January 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A few years ago in Dunwich a half-witted girl bore illegitimate twins. One of them was almost human!

Plot:

Wilbur Whateley pops over to the Arkham Miskatonic University to borrow the legendary Necronomicon and Sandra Dee. But little does anyone know, Whateley isn't quite human...

Plot Keywords:

Necronomicon | Book | Drugs | H.P. Lovecraft | Warlock

Cast

Sandra Dee	...	Nancy Wagner
Dean Stockwell	...	Wilbur Whateley
Ed Begley	...	Dr. Henry Armitage
Lloyd Bochner	...	Dr. Cory
Sam Jaffe	...	Old Whateley
Joanne Moore Jordan	...	Lavinia Whateley (as Joanna Moore Jordan)
Donna Baccala	...	Elizabeth Hamilton
Talia Shire	...	Nurse Cora (as Talia Coppola)
Michael Fox	...	Dr. Raskin (as Mike Fox)
Jason Wingreen	...	Sheriff Harrison
Barboura Morris	...	Mrs. Cole
Beach Dickerson	...	Mr. Cole
Michael Haynes	...	Guard
Toby Russ	...	Librarian
Jack Pierce	...	Reeger

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:M (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Mendocino, California, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Carol Lynley was on the ideas list for the female lead.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Every person in the movie pronounces the town's name as "Dun-witch"; in fact, it is pronounced "Dun-itch", with a silent 'W' as in "Greenwich village".

Movie Connections:

Version of Dunwich (2006)

Hippie Horror

Dean Stockwell (sporting a 'fro and looking like a sinister disco king) visits Miskatonic University in hopes of "borrowing" the original Necronomicon. It seems that Dean is the grandson of a powerful wizard, and the illegitimate son of a woman who is finishing her days in the padded room of an insane asylum. Sandra Dee and her huge helmet of blond hair accompany Dean back to his isolated farmhouse where she is quickly drugged, talking about sex, having orgasms on altars and dreaming about strange beings (who rather resemble Manson Family members) who chase her along the misty sea cliffs. Suspicious friends arrive to help the stoned Miss Dee, who has no desire to be rescued from her creepy new boyfriend or his awful perm. But the well meaning friends learn some shocking truths about Dean anyway: he has a twin brother, and if looks are anything to go by, then their Daddy was a mutant sushi dinner.

There's some pretty decent creepy moments to be found in this film. The mood is nice and eerie, the atmosphere as thick and creepy as the fog that lies thick along the coastline beside Dean's house. We don't get to see much of the Twin Brother, but the POV shots are nice, done in blood red negatives. Dean Stockwell delivers a truly icky performance as the not-quite-human Wilbur who succeeds in seducing virginal Sandy, whose Good Girl image goes bye-bye here pretty quickly. The ending is a tad rushed and somewhat silly, but everything leading up to it is nice and tense, with minimal gore and some haunting sound effects. I give it a fat 8 on a scale of 10.