The Dunwich Horror (1970)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

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 | Warlock | Drugs | H.P. Lovecraft

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)

Good movie marred by a couple of flaws.

I liked this one, but it was not without its faults. One of these is clearly the monster. It does not look to good, but on the bright side they try to cover up its appearance with weird flashing lights and they usually only show it by showing its point of view. Another problem is I found myself pulling for Wilbur to succeed in his rituals. I am sure that is not the makers of this movies intent. This one has a man wanting to see a book at a library that contains many rituals for bringing those called the "old ones" to the earth. He can't convince the man in charge of the book to loan it to him, but he does get a gal to drive him home and stay the weekend. His house is rather drab, but she seems okay with it. She soon becomes part of his plans to bring the "old ones" to earth. Meanwhile, her friend and the guy with the book investigate the guy. Overall I liked it, but I wasn't thrilled with the ending as it did not seem right to me. The old guy was about three or four steps behind in everything to me, so it didn't seem right that it should end that way. Some nudity in this one, but not all that much. Could have used a bit of gore too, but the story is interesting enough to keep my attention anyway. Based on a Lovecraft story that probably explains the monster. He always describes such horrors in his story that they are nearly impossible to duplicate by building them or using computer graphics.