Blu-ray Review: The Dunwich Horror

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

During the early ’60, American Internationa Pictures hit paydirt with the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The movies directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price became literary horror hits. As the culture changed, AIP needed a new author that could reflect the times that were getting rebellious and psychedelic. They found it in an American author that had died in 1937. H.P. Lovecraft wrote plenty of stories for Weird Tales magazine in the ’30s that had maintained their weirdness. He wrote of madness, paranoia and the Old Ones. Director Daniel Heller got his start set designing for Roger Corman’s Poe movie and turned Lovecraft’s The Color Out of Space into Die, Monster, Die! in 1965. In 1970, he’d return to turn Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror into a movie starring a former Gidget.

Nancy Wagner (Gidget‘s Sandra Dee) is an honor student at Miskatonic University. Professor Henry Armitage (Sweet Bird of Youth‘s Ed Begley) trusts her to return the Necronomicon to the library. During this extra credit trip, she encounters Wilbur Whateley (Blue Velvet‘s Dean Stockwell). Wilbur wants to check out the spellbound book and she feels compelled to give into his demand. She is startled back when Armitage arrives. He knows about Wilbur’s family and their connection to the occult. Even though she ought to be avoiding Wilbur, she gives the guy a trip back to Dunwich for an unexpected lost weekend. Wilbur lives with his creepy dad. Mom it turns out hasn’t been the same since she gave birth. She’s at Arkham Asylum. Nancy’s car breaks down and she really starts to dig Wilbur. Mostly because he might be drugging her. But she also digs his occult talk. He takes her out to an altar by the sea where she’s turned on by his talk about how the Old Ones. At this same time, Armitage looking for her discovers that mom delivered two babies and Wilbur’s brother wasn’t still born. Is Nancy really going to go through and get knocked up by a supernatural being?

This film must have been a bit of a shock with the sweet girl Sandra Dee in a Rosemary’s Baby situation. The movie does a fine job adapting the short story with a few liberties to make sure it can appeal to moviegoers. This one is a bit more adult than Die, Monster, Die! with a higher carnality on the screen. Stockwell rules the screen as the awkward kid always living in the shadows of his twin brother. The special effects probably would look rather hokey if they hadn’t done major opticals to make the twin look extra fierce on screen. This would be the last of AIP’s Lovecraft adaptations which is a shame although if they’d gone any further, the lack of a large budget would make Cthulhu look extremely unconvincing. The Dunwich Horror maintains the right nightmarish tone and will remind you to be careful about meeting strangers at the library.

The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer is taken from the original camera negative. You’ll feel the Old Ones creeping onto the screen. The audio is DTS-HD MA Mono. Things sound solid as the supernatural elements kick up the story. The movie is subtitled.

Audio Commentary by Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict, creators of the audio drama Arkham County. They bring up the fact that the same person who did the opening graphics for the movie also did the Partridge Family‘s opening. There’s also a connection between this movie and Ghostbusters.

The Door into Dunwich (121:13) is a video conversation between film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws. The duo discusses The Dunwich Horror, H. P. Lovecraft, and their memories of seeing the film on original release. They show off their old paperback collections. They talk about how hard it was to find Lovecraft books back in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

After Summer After Winter (16:21) has science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys, author of The Innsmouth Legacy series talk about Lovecraft and his work. She goes into the mythos that flowed between his various short stories.

The Sound of Cosmic Terror (32:06) allows music historian David Huckvale to look at Les Baxter’s score for The Dunwich Horror. He gives the background of Baxter who had released hit instrumental exotica albums to make your Hi-Fi take you around the world. Baxter became a main soundtrack composer at American International Pictures including the Beach Party films. Huckvale plays the score on his piano and goes into the various cues. This is a fine introduction to how the score works within the film.

Theatrical Trailer (2:16) promises a supernatural experience at night.

Image Gallery has 33 press photos and a shot of the poster. There’s a lot of shots of Sandrea Dee on the altar.

Arrow Video presents The Dunwich Horror. Directed by Daniel Haller. Screenplay Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum & Ronald Silkosky. Starring Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Donna Baccala & Sam Jaffe. Running Time: 87 minutes. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: January 10, 2023.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.