Dementia 13

Terribly boring, and has aged about as well as a corpse. I doubt this was even scary in the '60's and hell, back then killer shrews, giant leeches, and Godzilla were scary.

For a Corman-produced debut it's not all that bad! The cinematography and score are both great and the atmosphere and sets are creepy as all get out.

This is a boring and low budget film. The dialogue is not great, and the script has many boring moments. Overall this movie is disappointing.

This film peaks with the opening scene and rises to the occasion whenever someone is murdered, but what happens in between is mostly unfulfilled potential. It's mostly a half-baked film, but still worth watching for the opening and those murders. Also, if you're a Luana Anders fan like me - there is something about her on-screen presence that I really like, but cannot articulate - then it's a must-watch movie.

60.500

Interesting early Coppola has the ragged, jagged feel of a student film (and apparently represents his first time solo with his hand on the tiller) - semi-riff on PSYCHO is never scary, and with the exception of Magee is rudimentary in its performances, but there are some nice, wonky camera angles and a general feeling of queasy unease that do maintain interest, though not a great deal outside of the before-they-were-famous avenues.

Not a bad little Corman cheapie, an early directorial effort from FFCoppola. Kinda slow paced, but it has some creepy suspense and a decent ending.

It certainly has some style, particularly visually, but it's not really in service of anything interesting, either as a story or even just a series of scares.

"...standard horror fare..."

Not completely worthless.

Actually pretty decently made for a Z-grade budget. The narrative is thoroughly unsatisfying though and save for a few discrete moments of mysterious atmosphere, it's completely uninteresting. More curious in terms of Coppola's career than as its own story.

Dementia 13 is where the legendary Italian-American director cut his teeth before moving on to the big leagues and establishing himself as a major force in contemporary film. It has atmosphere to spare and an effective score, but it's badly paced and the acting and dialogue are quite poor across the board. There are some expressive visual flourishes that Coppola would later refine, but overall it would have been difficult to predict future greatness based on the film as a whole.

Notable more for being Coppola's first "legit" feature film than for being a memorable frightfest in its own right, this has its atmospheric moments, especially the justly famous opening rowboat-murder scene.

I thought this was well made and a little ahead of its time. One of Coppola's first films. I'd say Halloween may owe something to it; there are significant similarities.

Very underwhelming early slasher flick. It feels like chunks of narrative are missing, but even at 78 minutes, this one felt long.

One of the more iconic posters out there and has some real great scenes but it’s a lot of nothing for the rest. Luana Anders is a delight

Cheap, highly boring trash. Coppola was seriously paying his dues on this one

Not as bad as Friday the 13th thanks to some decent moments, but damn, being able to compare them is a bad sign in and of itself. Coppola started with THIS!?

Apart from a few nice directorial touches creating an eerie atmosphere, it's a very poor and pretty dull Psycho-rip off.

60.500

And it has a remake?!

francis ford coppola's debut is almost impressive in its sheer ineptitude. the audio in particular sounds as if it were recorded through a pair of plastic earbuds in a small metallic cubicle, and it's about as scary as a glass of orange juice.

Demência 13 estreava há 60 anos em Los Angeles. É excelente para um primeiro filme, bem rip-off de Psycho, com boa atmosfera, mas ainda não está em evidência o gênio que Coppola se tornaria nos anos 70. YTS.

Early Coppola film. Acting is standard, but the photography, creepy locations, and weird music are what make this movie click.

Loads of atmosphere and some great murder scenes but with a frustrating plot that invites overestimation. Patrick Magee is great and Coppola is clearly talented even this early in his career and especially given the limits inherent in a Roger Corman production.

Saw the 69 minute version recently restored to blu-ray, & have not seen the original cut released way back when. This is...okay. It's lacking a lot of spice & characters worth giving a damn about, especially because it lets go of the most interesting one halfway through. There are some cool moments, & it's shot very well, but overall it feels undercooked in both idea and execution. That it so plainly rips off Psycho definitely does it no favors.

Patrick Magee is the only remarkable thing about this film.

Well-shot by Coppola, but while there is a story buried here, it struggles to emerge. I guess it's remarkable what he did with only $42,000 and 3 weeks. He was told by Corman to make a rip-off of Psycho, and he did to an extent, what with the female protagonist (spoilers) dying only halfway thru the film. But this thing is hard to follow, with people unrelated to the plot fainting and getting beheaded and whatnot.

59.500

Almost as silly as his Dracula movie. Fortunately not quite as long and therefore not quite as boring.

The whole affair revolves around an unassuming gold-digger's stripping down to bra and panties for her unexpected outcome, lifted straight from Psycho, with some giallo baked into the center. Coppola took advantage of a Corman set, crew and cast already being used. Dismissed as drive-in drivel, this has a particular visual expressionism, lean plotting and economic use of atmosphere, really an ambitious beginner's shrewd and fresh overture on filmmaking and the business of family.