‘The Dunwich Horror’ Blu-ray Review: Arrow Video

Long before Stuart Gordon’s One-Two Punch Reanimator When From Beyond (movie Opened the floodgates for HP Lovecraft’s work in the mid-1980s, an adaptation of Daniel Haller’s work. Terror of Dunwich It was part of a stream of Lovecraft-inspired films produced or distributed by American International Pictures from the 1963s onwards. Haunted houseBilled as inspired by Edgar Allan Poe (to match Roger Corman’s ongoing Poe cycle), Haunted house It was actually based on Lovecraft’s novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Haller served as his director of art for that film before moving to the director’s chair in the 1965s. Die, monster, die!is a Technicolor Gothic version of Lovecraft’s “The Color Out of Space” adapted by Richard Stanley in 2019.

Terror of Dunwich, from 1970, is arguably the most successful of these AIP adaptations, due to its dedicated performances by its veteran cast, Haller’s sharply quirky visual aesthetic, striking location and set design, and tense Run script co. Written by later filmmaker Curtis Hanson.In many ways, the movie plays like a lingering night gallery The episodes (minus the flashes of nudity) are similar to the second season adaptations of “Pickman’s Model” and “Cool Air.” Terror of Dunwich It’s a far cry from the source material, so if fidelity is your measure of success, you’re bound to be disappointed. This is an attempt to fuse the brand with a modern, psychedelic sensibility.

After a cold open about a pregnant woman writhing on a gorgeous bed, the groovy kicks in with the opening title designed by Sandy Dvore. Shifting black images against a deep blue background foreshadow the various occult aspects of the story, ending with images suggestive of childbirth, while Les Baxter’s captivating theme music flows from above. The sequence toyed with psychedelia with swirling colors and hazy steam, but never before had such a strong Op Art flavor been revealed.

The next scene takes us to Lovecraft’s famous Miskatonic University. There we are introduced to the shaggy-haired Wilbur Waitley (Dean Stockwell). Armitage (Ed Begley) won’t let him borrow it. At least he can console himself by bringing librarian Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee) home for the weekend. . It turns out that his plans for Nancy involve sex, drugs, and perhaps even a little bit of human sacrifice.

By portraying Wilbur as a charming and seductive figure, the script makes major changes to the original material, in which he is repugnant and portrayed as odious and ugly. To match the historical archetype of charismatic male sorcerers dating back at least to Aleister Crowley, one of the famous magical gestures Wilbur replicates when summoning Yog Sothoth in his final battle with Stockwell’s charming performance as Wilbur plays him as a rebellious angel sets out to defy the stocky authority of Armitage and the prematurely elderly Dr. Corey (Lloyd Bochner).

Romance, seduction, and sex (apart from the allegedly nauseating interracial influence) are rarely seen in Lovecraft, but they are found throughout Wilbur and Nancy’s relationship. Nancy hallucinates several times that she is participating in some kind of hippie orgy on a leafy hillside. This is like living theater doing softcore porn.The abundant skin on display (although only seen in petroleum-smeared flashes) pushes Terror of Dunwich These bits weren’t really available to viewers until the film’s home video debut, but on hard R-rated terrain.

Haller uses solarization, a perceptual warping technique often associated with the psychedelic music scene, in a very different way here. A colored negative image represents the attack of Wilbur’s inhuman twin brother. Otherwise, Haller deliberately incorporates Val Lewtonian allusions to make the classic horror pass through the woods after escaping confinement, like the ripple of the wind across a pond or the rustle of ruffled branches. It unfolds with some nice poetic touches to tell you what to do.

Roman Polanski’s rosemary baby (the previous year’s horror sensation), they find their apotheosis in the ominous freeze frame that closes the film. The final shot nicely muddles the waters of the clear conquest of “evil” by the power of “good” by the power of patriarchy. It also means that the female body constitutes a real site of ongoing threat to these forces. What constitutes a true embrace of the demonic side is up for debate.

Image/sound

Arrow Video 2K Restore Terror of Dunwich, sourced from the original camera negatives, looks great, and is a significant step up from previous DVD releases. Negative effect of . The black level is deep and not crushed. The fine details of the costumes and decorations stand out. The particles look well resolved. Master Audio’s mono mix sounds great, conveying dialogue cleanly and letting Les His Baxter’s resonant score ring out.

extra

The extras collected here may be few in number, but they dig deeper into the source material, Terror of Dunwichproduction history. Commentary tracks by married writers Guy Adams and her AK Benedict alternate between duly informative and deeply witty. Sandy Dvore’s opening covered topics such as her title design, the proper pronunciation of “Dunwich,” the psychedelic side of the film, Sandra Dee’s troubled life and career, and all sorts of her Lovecraftian lore. increase.

Ruthanna Emrys, Author Innsmouth Legacy, the Cthulhu Mythos, the various towns that make up the Lovecraft Country, and Lovecraft’s own personal demons. Music historian David Hackbale outlines the career of composer Les Baxter, from his early days as an exotica pioneer to his transition to film scores. Huckvale then scrutinizes Baxter’s score. Terror of Dunwichon his piano, shows how the main theme combines aspects of Bach and Handel, and how Baxter achieves certain musical effects.

“The Door Into Dunwich” is a 2+ hour Zoom chat with writers and film historians Stephen R. Bissette and Stephen Laws.Things begin with Stevens reminiscing about his first exposure to Lovecraft’s writing, his early love for the horror genre, and where they first saw Terror of DunwichAlong the way, they address nearly every aspect of the film, as well as many adjacent topics. One particularly interesting consideration concerns early attempts to adapt Lovecraft for television in the late 1950s and his early ’60s. The other delves into co-writer Curtis Hanson’s early days as a screenwriter and editor. cinema magazine. The debate never slackens, and what’s here will definitely be catnip for horror fans.

whole

Groovy and grotesque work by Daniel Haller Terror of Dunwich It looks hauntingly good on Blu-ray and is backed up by delicious Lovecraft-centric bonus material.