Film Review: The Dunwich Horror (1970)
I fully, and with sound mind, admit that I enjoyed The Dunwich Horror more than most might, simply because I have a built-in predilection for H.P. Lovecraft. Even with my bias for this type of story, I won’t insult you with claims of quality. It’s not a good film—it’s not even a very good Lovecraftian film (based on the short story of the same name, published in 1929). I will recommend it to fellow fans of the long-dead author (to sate curiosity, if nothing else), but I won’t recommend it for anyone else.
That’s not to say that quality films featuring heavy doses of Lovecraftianism (is that a word?) don’t exist. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) always comes to mind, and this year’s Annihilation is top-notch Lovecraft horror and cosmic dread if I’ve ever seen it. Except for the bonkers Stuart Gordon film Re-Animator (1985), films based directly on Lovecraft’s writing generally don’t fare well. It’s a strange phenomenon considering how prolific the author was in his lifetime, and how admittedly influential he was to virtually every horror writer and director that’s ever lived since. He wasn’t widely known until well after his death, but every bit of his work lies in the public domain, so you’d think someone would have made something worthwhile by now (if there’s something I’m not aware of that’s based directly on a work by H.P. Lovecraft that’s worth a look, please let me know).
Dean Stockwell plays Wilbur Whateley, a young man shunned by his neighbors, but somehow manages to catch the eye of a young and naïve Miskatonic University student named Nancy (Sandra Dee). Wilbur is after an old and priceless book called the Necronomicon, which is being housed at the University under the care of Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley). The book contains a spell which will release some sort of evil upon the world, but not before Nancy’s friend Elizabeth accidentally frees “something” from a locked upstairs bedroom. Rituals are performed, havoc is wreaked, and sanity is lost in what amounts to a hackneyed acid flashback and a large number of rubber snakes.
Director Daniel Haller appears to be attempting to cash in on psychedelic hippy culture mixed with occultism ala Jimmy Page’s Crowleyism and the satanic panic of Polanski’ Rosemary’s Baby, only with far less success (The Fearless Vampire Killers could be cited as a source of aping as well). I dig the use of color, and I like weird trippy scenes, but this overused—and by 1970, played-out—gimmick is relied upon too heavily and used for stretches that last entirely too long. In other words, it’s cheap and it gets old quick.
Stockwell speaks in a strange, listless near-whisper for the entirety of the film. Even his ritualistic chanting is nonchalant. No wonder the Old Ones didn’t seem very interested. Sandra Dee’s Nancy is vapid and uninspired, and I’m not convinced she read the script before accepting the role. Ed Begley’s Armitage and Lloyd Bochner’s Dr. Cory are the real stars, if such a thing were possible. They manage to pull off some perfectly acceptable Lovecraftian characters under the circumstances. Stuffy professors and doctors who stumble upon forces they ought not is the cornerstone of many a great Lovecraft tale, after all. I suspect their adherence to the familiar characterizations of Lovecraft’s protagonists was entirely by accident, however.
And yes, that’s Talia Shire as Nurse Cora.
In the end, I had fun with The Dunwich Horror, even if I doubt many will. It falls just short of “goofy enough to be hilarious,” but it has its moments. I’d like to see it remade. Hell, you could very nearly use the script as it is. Just give it some budget, some actors, and a good effects team. It really could be something under the right guidance. Too bad this one wasn’t. Oh well.
