The Worst Film Ever

Overrated and overhyped

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

You know why Lovecraft is so hard to film, other than the fact that most of the monsters are necessarily "indescribable" horrors? It's because he doesn't really write people at all. This is probably one of the more overtly "pulpy" of Lovecraft's tales. In its original form, it even has a hero, and a resolution that's not Pure Doom, or at least ends with the monster being vanquished. Theoretically, this makes "The Dunwich Horror" one of the easier Lovecraft tales to translate to the screen. But it still is told in this extremely detached, kind of faux-scholarly manner. There's no dialog, as such, and almost everything seems to come to the reader "second-hand". In practical terms then, screen-writers who want to tackle Lovecraft's stuff actually have to do a lot of work to make the stories function as film. I submit that, all things considered, this is actually one of the better ones.You have to put aside Lovecraft a bit here, and think of this as the kind of work that hundreds of writers have done since then in an effort to "humanise" the concepts in his stories, if not the stories themselves. If you are a Lovecraft "purist", maybe this bothers you. But I don't think it should. It's not like the stories aren't still available in all their glory for us to read.One thing that I have seen a few writers do, and which Lovecraft hints at himself in the original story (but only hints, mind you), is portray a certain amount of sympathy for Wilbur Whateley. I always thought the brief exerpt from Wilbur's diary was the most interesting part of the story, and I know I'm not alone in thinking it would have been interesting to see the whole story from *his* perspective.Now, this 1970 film doesn't totally do that. There are still "good guys", and yes, they're still kind of uninteresting. But the screen-writers were smart in making this more about Wilbur and his story. He wants to destroy the world, but you know he wants to do it because he's outcast, frustrated and a creature apart. The whole town shuns him. Their hypocrisy is transparent and I think it's supposed to make you angry. noo better is this illustrated when Wilbur and nancy pull up at the store to gas up her car. The guy is all delighted at the sight of a pretty young stranger, but then sees Wilbur and his entire demeanor changes to one of cold hostility. Wilbur just kind of shrugs and says, "that's the way it is. They all hate me."Apparently either Corman or the director wanted to get Vincent Price in for the Wilbur role. I love Vincent Price, but I submit that, having already done The Haunted Palace, this role wouldn't have been right for him. It may be controversial (judging from other comments I've seen and heard about this movie), but I think Dean Stockwell was perfect for this. he is slightly awkward, almost shy-seeming. He speaks in a low, buzzing voice. And he does what I like to call the "Trance of the Old Ones" (because it's a thing, you see), where he's reading something, or thinking aloud, and starts uttering words in an alien language in a kind of subdued, but reverent, monotone, really well. The main addition made by the screen-writers is the character of nancy, who isn't even hinted at in the original story. On the one hand, you can see that they just wanted a "damsel in distress" character, like in The Haunted Palace, and yes, that's kind of unfortunate. But, Sandra Dee acquits herself well, I think, even though she ends up acting kind of drugged for most of the film. The story of her falling under the unlikely influence of Wilbur, who is after all not much of a charming or seductive type, is the most interesting thing about this rather cool film. It is too bad she wasn't given a chance to be more proactive, but given the time, audience, source material, etc, I can't really fault anything here. The only real fault is, as I mentioned before, that Armitage et al are not really as interesting. That's hardly unique to this film. I'd even say it's a rare thing to find overt "good guys" to be as interesting as the villains in these types of movies.Finally, the score by les Baxter, is freaking amazing. Seriously psychedelic, eeerie, and full of awesome percussive flourishes. The opening animated sequence is also extremely cool. This could definitely be considered a "psychotronic" kind of film. It's worth your time.

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.

Maybe it's for-the-best that the ending is a bit fuzzy as no one really wants to see such a nightmarish monster as shown on the movie's "cover". They attempted such a scene, but it was very brief and a better look into the Devil's dimension occurs at the very end. As noted by others, it's a bit plodding and slow with a weak "climax". Along the way, The nonhuman twin either destroys or horrifies a few victims as he literally comes out of the closet. Too bad Sandra Dee seems a bit old for the "virgin" role. She has a devilish "rendezvous" with the cute mustached Devil boy. A remake is supposedly in the works and I expect it will have much more nudity in it! BTW Sandra has a "bun-in-the oven"and it's obviously "Devils Food Cake"! H.G. Lovecraft's ideas were so often imitated and plagiarized by several other authors and scriptwriters. This is a very mild "horror" film by today's standards. Lovecraft was the original "Master of Supernatural Tales of Horror", right up there with Mary Shelly and Edgar Allan Poe, thus far ahead-of-his-time. Like most later films, a good-looking Roger Corman "B" picture. Rated "R" for showing a "little" frontal nudity and maybe also for being ridiculous as well. At the end we have a "fire sale" as all the evil things either burn up or die. Big deal.

To judge from the poster of the 1970 version of "The Dunwich Horror", you would think this must be one of the most kickass horror movies of all time. Unfortunately, as the story unfolds, you soon realise that a lot of artistic licence was taken with that poster - a lot.Sandra Dee plays Nancy Wagner, a research assistant to Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley), an expert on the occult. When she encounters Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell), she ends up at the Whateley mansion and falls under his spell - she keeps on drinking those cups of tea. Wilbur believes that a combination of rituals, incantations and sacrifice of the 'right girl' will allow an ancient race of superior beings, the Old Ones, to be brought back.The story involves twins, mating with dark forces and a room at the top of stairs that hides an evil entity. That room generates a lot of tension, until it's opened that is, then the limitations of the special effects are revealed. It needed something like the monster out of John Carpenter's "In The Mouth of Madness", but got strobe lighting instead.The best effect in the film is the altar on the headland. When Nancy innocently asks Wilbur what it was used for, he gives her a rundown on the program of events.It entailed selecting a beautiful girl, just like Nancy strangely enough, who would be placed on the altar naked to the elements while black robed figures gathered round to observe and 'relish' her, "and then they waited for the moment when she would allow the power of darkness to enter; the moment when the gate would open and the Old Ones would come through." Sandra Dee wasn't someone you automatically associated with sexy roles, but she has her moments in "The Dunwich Horror", especially when she ends up on the altar with a fair amount of thigh and hip exposed to relishing.Less appealing is Lex Baxter's score; he needed a safety catch on that theremin - his music makes the film seem more cheesy than it actually is.The film was remade in 2009, but it was a cheap looking effort with even worse special effects than the original. However there was homage for Dean Stockwell who played the role of Dr. Armitage.The stars of the 1970 version generate a certain level of interest, although I think disappointment over the depiction of the Old Ones is unavoidable.