9) Dementia 13
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most popular directors around, and like many other iconic actors and filmmakers, he got his start working with cult director Roger Corman. In fact, his first feature film was Dementia 13, which he made for Corman to ripoff the success of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Originally written by Coppola to include a gothic atmosphere and outrageous kill scenes as Corman demanded, he was also given complete control over shooting.
For one reason or another, however, Corman was displeased with the final film and hired Jack Hill to direct new sequences. Nevertheless the movie stands out as a very haunting example of atmosphere. While the story and characters don’t exactly shine, it’s the set pieces and tone that make it.
The opening scenes especially manage to be extremely memorable, as it begins with a murder in almost Tales from the Crypt-like fashion. My favorite part is the audio in this scene, which consists of music from an old transistor radio sinking into a lake besides the freshly-murdered corpse.
It’s certainly a powerful directorial debut for Coppola and also shows just how great a horror ripoff can be with a small budget and just enough creativity to do something passionate and interesting. That said, plenty of filmmakers can learn a lesson or two from Dementia 13.
10) The House By The Cemetery
The House By The Cemetery is the third installment in director Lucio Fulci’s unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy. While the prior two films deal more with zombies and the undead coming back to life, this one focuses more on a Frankenstein-esque story in the vein of The Shining or The Amityville Horror.
The storyline doesn’t quite make sense, but it’s still a disturbing depiction of gothic imagery with brutal deaths, crazed flying bats, and an immortal decomposed scientist. And it’s this decomposed scientist that ends up being the film’s main antagonist – by the time he shows up, all Hell breaks loose. Dr. Freudstein is as disturbing as they come; filled to the brim with evil and maggots.
If you can get over the annoying kid included in the main cast, you’ll have an extremely atmospheric and haunting film to watch on a rainy day. In fact, I’d recommend watching all three Gates of Hell films, which include Fulci’s City of the Living Dead and The Beyond.