Customer reviews of The Dunwich Horror
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Strictly for fans of Gothic horror
Comment: "The Dunwich Horror" is a movie that claims to be based on horror maestro H.P. Lovecraft's work of the same title, but one can at best describe this movie as a very liberal adaptation of Lovecraft's work. The movie itself stars Dean Stockwell as the sinister Wilbur Whatley who wishes to reclaim his family's dark heritage and standing by summoning the Old Ones through [a] using the Necronomicon, a dark book, and [b] offering up luscious co-ed Sandra Dee as the virginal sacrifice.
Luckily for Sandra Dee [this movie proved to be a disastrous comeback movie for her btw, as it was so far off from her earlier successes such as Gidget etc], her college prof, Dr Armitage [Ed Begley in a commendably credible role] is determined to keep her out of harm's way.
The special effects are pretty cheesy given the year it was made [1970], but the atmosphere is sufficiently menacing, the sinister score is typical fare yet does go with the tone of the movie, and of course, the performances by the leads are pretty credible. Dean Stockwell's Wilbur Whatley is sufficiently mad and evil, and his eyes and moustache do much to portray menace, greed and lust [ also commendable were those complex hand gestures he mastered!]. Sandra Dee's role is more of a 'zombie' in this movie - her character is so drugged out by Wilbur that she moves about in a haze of imposed calm and doesn't really need to do much except play the pretty victim.
If you are a serious fan of true horror, this is probably not for you, but if you appreciate quirky Gothic-inspired horror cinema, then this will entertain.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't know what the Old Gent from Providence would have thought...
Comment: On the big screen adaptions of H.P. Lovecraft have been few and really nothing to write home about. Probably the reason why is that, unlike say Stephen King, HPL's characters are pretty much doomed victims. They have come into contact with power so alien and vast that their destruction is assured. Humans can't win. His protagonists are always male, bookish: scholars, antiquarians. Characters such as these were prevelant in horror fiction back in the late 19th early 20th century. Another strike is that the horrors in his fiction is not visceral but cosmic in power and scope. Ed Begley is fine as Professor Armitage, Dean Stockwell rather odd as Wilbur Whatley and Sandra Dee a character who never existed in any Lovecraft story as sex did not figure into his tales. The chilling effect of HPL's stories is that we are afforded only brief glimpses of the Great Old Ones that force to recoil in horror. Visual effects circa 1970 could not do them justice and even John Carpenter makes the mistake of showing too much in IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS -- probably one of the best Lovecraftian movies ever done. THE DUNWICH HORROR, having said all of that is still goofy and kinda fun entertainment. I tend to collect films based on HPL and will watch this movie from time to time. Among the AI films I still think Corman's THE HAUNTED PALACE (based loosely on a Poe poem and Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") is probably the best of the lot. The HPL Society adaption of THE CALL OF CTHULHU is probably the best Lovecraft adaption of them all. Have to wait and see what happens with the upcoming AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.
Customer Rating:
Summary: buy the book
Comment: saw this movie in the early 70's on tv when i was a kid. i forgot about it until i found it recently in big lots for $2.99. i remembered little bits and pieces. oh yes, i didn't remember how B-O-R-I-N-G it was. ergh! i should have left it there. this version of the lovecraft story is about frightening as a roll of paper towels. go buy the book. really.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Die Monster Die/The Dunwich Horror
Comment: A Good double feature and it arrived in time and in great shape, like all Amazon purchases.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft, Arkoff, and Haller, oh my!
Comment: Die, Monster, Die! (Daniel Haller, 1965)
Do I need to say anything more than "H. P. Lovecraft in the nuclear age" to get you to see this? I do? Okay--Boris Karloff acts in an H. P. Lovecraft adaptation ("The Colour Out of Space") produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff that reflects the predominant nuclear fears of the fifties and sixties. Does that help? It better, because that's really all I should need to say. You already know "The Colour Out of Space." If you don't, get thee hence to the library. And you should already be familiar with Samuel Z. Arkoff. If you're not, get thee hence to the video store. All you need to do from there is combine the two, and you have Die, Monster, Die!. You really can't go wrong. ***
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The Dunwich Horror (Daniel Haller, 1970)
These days, you can get The Dunwich Horror and Die, Monster, Die!, the two Arkoff/Haller Lovecraft adaptations, packaged on one chock-full-of-cheesy-goodness DVD, and lemme tell you, it's oh so worth it. This is the better of the two films, if only because Arkoff didn't rely on one big star to propel the film--he recruited a stable of the rising and falling of the day that includes Ed Begley (Sr.), Dean Stockwell, and Sandra Dee among its principles. Fans of prurience for the sake of prurience take note: this is, in fact, the one film in which Sandra Dee has a nude scene. (I use the term loosely--a quick flash of ******--but still, it's SANDRA DEE.)
Once again, I say: if I need to recap the plot for you, you need to go read Lovecraft. The Dunwich Horror is a slightly more faithful adaptation, thanks to the waning of the nuclear hysteria that was still in full rage when Arkoff and Haller collaborated on Die, Monster, Die!. Ever the bandwagon-jumpers, though, this movie is all about psychedelia. Lots of heavy filters here, man. I'm sure this movie is a blast to watch when stoned to the gills. A fun, fun movie. *** ½
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