366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 336

The Date: August 31

The Movie: American Graffiti (1973)

What Is It?: After seeing his buddy’s ice-cold sci-fi experiment THX-1138, Francis Ford Coppola bet George Lucas that Lucas could not make a goofy, lighthearted, popcorn flick. No, Georgie didn’t immediately go to work on Star Wars; he made American Graffiti, a plot-less romp about driving cars, flirting, and listening to great, pre-British Invasion Rock & Roll right before the Vietnam War fucked everything up for young people. Lucas went mainstream, had a massive hit, and never looked back.

Why Today?: In the movie, this is the date in 1962 on which the kids go racing and flirting.

Review: 'Dementia 13' Blu-ray

Like most low-budget horror producers, Roger Corman wanted his very own Psycho when Hitchcock’s 1960 filmed became a genre-spawning mega-hit. Corman handed the assignment to a basically untried aspiring writer/director named Francis Coppola. Yes, the Francis Coppola who would soon squeeze a Ford between his first and last names. The resulting product, Dementia 13, is not at the level of Corman’s own lush Poe-inspired horrors, but it most certainly rises above the cheesiness of the assignment. Psycho’s beats are easy to spot. There’s a scheming blonde (Luana Anders) who gets a violent surprise halfway through the picture (with a pond subbing for Hitch’s shower). There are grotesque family secrets hidden in a Gothic residence that involve a demented Mom and a weedy young man, and there is a series of nasty murders (with an axe subbing for Hitch’s kitchen knife), though a surprising lack of blood. Ronald Stein’s score is pure Herrmann.

However, Coppola makes his picture stand out with some original and very effective flourishes. Most striking is the horrifying sight of a little girl’s corpse that keeps popping up all over the place. Subtler is the most effectively eerie use of underwater photography since The Night of the Hunter. Plus, there’s the ever-delicious hunk of ham Patrick Magee as the family doctor who leads the investigation at the Haloran family’s Irish castle and there’s Anders. Always memorable in cult classics like Easy Rider, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Last Detail, Anders’s presence is a handy indicator that you’re watching something pretty cool.

Like a lot of Roger Corman movies, Dementia 13 is in the public domain and has appeared on a lot of bad DVDs cheapies. The Film Detective’s new Blu-ray scrubs up the film pretty well. The picture is very soft and short on detail, but it’s agreeably clean. White specks flit in and out throughout the picture, but never become overwhelming. Contrast is a bit inconsistent, but it’s strong for the majority of the film. The sound isn’t great, but the faulty for that most likely lies with the way it was recorded back in 1963 and not The Film Detective, which has done a good job with a very underrated little horror flick.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 226

The Date: May 13

The Movie: Dementia 13 (1963)

What Is It?: Francis Ford Coppola delivers his assigned Psycho rip off to Roger Corman and kick starts his own career as a writer-director. More fun than The Godfather, though that’s probably true of every movie with Patrick Magee.

Why Today?: Today is Friday the 13^th. You thought I might assign Friday the 13^th today? Nah. I like you too much to expect you to watch that crap. Watch this crap instead!

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 190

The Date: April 7

The Movie: The Conversation (1974)

What Is It?: An unusually intimate thriller from the grandiose Francis Ford Coppola. Gene Hackman plays a schlub so wrapped up in his work as a surveillance expert that he doesn’t appreciate the fact that Teri Garr likes him, which is the film's true mystery. What an idiot! Nevertheless, I’ll take The Conversation over The Godfather any day.

Why Today?: On this day in 1939, Francis Ford Coppola burst out of his mother’s womb and demanded more obstetricians and nurses even though his delivery had already gone way over budget.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 104

The Date: January 12

The Movie: Apocalypse Now (1979)

What Is It?: Francis Ford Coppola adapts Heart of Darkness as a Vietnam War movie and a demented and immersive metaphor for the insanity of the war, itself. He gives himself and his film crew a taste of that insanity too.

Why Today?: On this day in 1962, Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in Vietnam, takes place.