The Dunwich Horror — The Dunwich Horror(Blu Ray)

The Dunwich Horror is an often heady, at times creepy mix of occult terror, hippy-tinged gothic, and inversed ‘n’ roaming psychedelic horror. The 1970s American film is based on the 1928 H.P Lovecraft novella of the same name, and aside from some slight 70’s ham-ness/ cheesiness.  It’s one of the better attempts to try and capture the cosmic horror of Lovecraft. Here from Arrow Video- both in the UK and stateside- is a new Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a 2k scan of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other neat extras.

The Dunwich Horror was made in the year 1970. It was directed by Glendale, California-born Daniel Haller- he had seven feature-lengths to his name, as well as nearing fifty US TV credits, taking in show episodes & TV films. His features go from the biker gang film Devil’s Angles (1967), comedy drama Paddy (1970), and campy sci-fi Buck Rogers In The 25th Century(1979).   The film was produced by Roger Corman & Samuel Z. Arkoff- so there are hints of Corman’s Poe film within The Dunwich Horror, but with more of a hippy ‘n’ psychedelic edge to proceedings.

The film opens at Arkham Miskatonic University- where Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley) is pleased he’s finally tracked down a copy of Necronomicon. Just as it’s been put away in its not very secure glass and wood box setting-up pops the rather intense but coolly charming Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell), he insists he must see the book. So blond & rather naive librarian Nancy (Sandra Dee) agrees to let him read the book in a side room…though fairly soon in storms Dr Armitage. And here we find out that Whateley and his family have a connection with Necronomicon and its magic, as his grandfather in their hometown of Dunwich tried to conjure something up back in the past.

 
The three- Dr, Wilbur, and Nancy go to a bar for food- and Wilbur wants to take the book back to Dunwich- the Dr refuse, but he’s got his hooks into Nancy, who agrees to drive him back home. He lives in a gothic-meets-hippy mansion with an ageing and frail father, and something living in an upstairs room- which lightly thrashes against the door. As things unfold Wilbur gets his claws in deeper- with Nancy having strange and unbalancing dreams, and we find out that he is keen to open up the gates, to let the old gods in.
 
The film slowly but surely builds up its atmosphere- and when things really do kick into high gear, we don’t really see the monster/gods- instead we get eerier bird calls, wind sounds, and inversed coloured POVs. There is also a vein of sleaze and oppressed sexuality running through the whole thing, which adds another interesting twist to the proceedings. Acting wise Stockwell is the highlight here as the charmingly sinister Wilbur, with the rest of the cast being passable to a little hammy….and even Stockwell hams things up towards the end.
 
Surprisingly, as I’ve been a Lovecraft fan for the last thirty or so years, I had never seen The Dunwich Horror until now- though I had been more than a little familiar with its soundtrack by Les Baxter, which goes from sinisterly bombastic, to creepily cosmically purring. And this of course nicely adds and enhances the visuals on screen. All in all, it’s an entertaining, at points subtle creepy and lightly tripped-out slice of early 1970s horror
 

This new Blu-Ray release features a really crisp and clean print of the film, which nicely enhances both the visuals and the atmosphere of the whole thing. Moving onto the extras- and we get a good selection of new things. First, we get a commentary track from Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict, creators of the audio drama Arkham County- and this is both very entertaining and informative- with Mr Adams having a Terry Wogan-like flow to his phasing & humour. The pair move talking about Sandy Devory who created the film's shifting credits, and other work he created. They discuss the university location in the film, and early visual cues that nod towards how the story is resolved.  We get talk about director Daniel Haller, and how he started off as a set designer- in particular in Corman Poe films, which can be seen in this film, as well touches of Brava like the use of colour. They comment on the sexuality running through the film, and that this doesn’t exist in the original story. We get talk about how the films Dunwich, and how it quite dramatically varies from that in the original story. They discuss the history of Lovecraft's adaptations on AIP- and how one of the early versions of film were going to feature Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. We get talk about the mystical rune appearing in the film- with the closest comparison to this being the thunderbird from the Native American culture, and the symbolic meaning within this setting. Later on, they talk about how Stockwell was a Lovecraft fan, and hated reshoots. They discuss the actors' take on the role of Wilbur, and how it differs from the book, and much more- a must-play track. Next is The Door into Dunwich(two hours and ten minutes) which finds film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws discussing The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft, and their memories of seeing the film on release. There’s After Summer After Winter(16.21) which finds science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys talking about the original story and film. There’s The Sound of Cosmic Terror (32.06) which finds the always-worthy David Huckvale talking about Les Baxter, and the film's soundtrack. There's a theatrical trailer and an Image gallery. With the finished release taking in a booklet with new writing by film critics Johnny Mains and Jack Sargeant.

 

The folks at Arrow Video have done a truly splendid job of this new Blu-Ray release of The Dunwich Horror- with a stellar new scan of the film, and excellent/interesting extras. A release for Lovecraft fans, or those who enjoy tripped-out & unsettling horror.