The Dunwich Horror – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1970
Director: Daniel Haller
Writers: Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum, Ronald Silkosky
Cast: Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Sam Jaffe, Joanne Moore Jordan, Donna Baccala, Talia Shire

Release Date: January 9th, 2023 (UK), January 10th, 2023 (USA)
Approximate running time: 87 Minutes 35 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $39.95 (USA)

"Dean Stockwell stars as Wilbur Whateley, a mysterious young man who travels from the small town of Dunwich to the library of the Miskatonic University which holds one of the only copies of the Necronomicon, a legendary book of occult lore that Wilbur hopes to borrow. Graduate student Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee) falls under his malign influence and travels with him back to his home where Wilbur has plans to use her in a ritual to raise 'The Old Ones', cosmic beings from another dimension. But who, or what, is in the locked room at the top of the stairs? And what will happen if they get out?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at Company 3, Los Angeles.

The film was graded and restored in 2K resolution at Dragon DI, Wales.

All the materials for this new restoration were made available by MGM."

The Dunwich Horror comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.9 GB

Feature: 23.3 GB

The source used for this transfer looks great; there are no source-related imperfections. Colors are nicely saturated and at times vivid; flesh tones look correct; image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid; and grain remains intact. That said, when optical effects occur, the source does not look as strong as it does for the bulk of this transfer.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and included are removable English SDH subtitles. The audio is in great shape; it sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should, especially Les Baxter’s score.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (33 images-stills/poster), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with music historian David Huckvale in which he takes a closer look at Les Baxter’s score for The Dunwich Horror titled The Sound of Cosmic Terror (32 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys, author of The Innsmouth Legacy series titled After Summer After Winter (16 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a conversation between film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws in which they discuss The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft, and their memories of seeing the film on release titled The Door into Dunwich (2 hours 10 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict, creators of the audio drama Arkham County, reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to first pressing), and a thirty-six page booklet (limited to first pressing) with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Dark Psychedelia of The Dunwich Horror written by Jack Sargeant, an essay titled Daniel Haller, Almost Supernatural written by Johnny Mains, Further Reading: The more you know, the more you see…, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

H.P. Lovecraft film adaptations can be traced back to Roger Corman's 1963 film The Haunted Palace, which was based on the H.P. Lovecraft novella "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Over the next seven years, four more feature film adaptations were released, including Die, Monster, Die! (1965), based on the short story "The Colour Out of Space," The Shuttered Room (1967), based on the short story of the same name, Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), based on the short story "The Dreams in the Witch House," and The Dunwich Horror (1970), based on the short story of the same name. The 1970s and 1980s were a relatively quiet time for works of H.P. Lovecraft, with the only major adaptations being "Cool Air" and "Pickman’s Model," which were adapted into episodes for the television series Night Gallery.

It wasn’t until 1985, with the release of the film Re-Animator, based on the short story "Herbert West, Re-Animator,"  and a year later, with the release of From Beyond (based on a short story of the same name), that adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s writings really hit their stride. Though most feature films that followed Re-Animator and From Beyond failed to capture the essence of H.P. Lovecraft or were only loosely based on his work, they were only faint reminders of the brilliant source material from which they were adapted. There have been several short films that have done an admirable job adapting H.P. Lovecraft, with most of these finding their way to home video via Lurker Films.

This brings us back to The Dunwich Horror, director Daniel Haller’s second H.P. Lovecraft adaptation; Die, Monster, Die! is the other adaptation. Though The Dunwich Horror is the stronger of his two H.P. Lovecraft adaptations, one must not overlook how a film like Rosemary’s Baby influenced Daniel Haller’s The Dunwich Horror. In the wake of Rosemary’s Baby, there was an influx of occult-themed horror films, many of which also had a psychedelic vibe to them.

When discussing a film like The Dunwich Horror, its most interesting aspect is the casting choices for its two leads. Dean Stockwell (Compulsion) in the role of Wilbur Whateley, a young man wanting to fulfill his family's destiny, and Sandra Dee (Gidget) in the role of Nancy Wagner, a young woman who is seduced by Wilbur Whateley Both of these actors became famous as child actors, and most of their roles were in contrast to the characters they portray in The Dunwich Horror. That said, performance-wise, they both deliver well-rounded performances that suit the story at hand.

The rest of the cast is good in their respective roles. Other notable cast members include Ed Begley (Sweet Bird of Youth) in the role of Dr. Henry Armitage, Sam Jaffe (The Asphalt Jungle) in the role of Wilbur’s grandfather, and Talia Shire (The Godfather) in one of her first film appearances.

Though The Dunwich Horror is a low-budget production from AIP, it is in the same vein as their Poe cycle films. Just like their Poe films, The Dunwich Horror is a film that far exceeds its budget. It is a film that is overflowing with atmosphere and trippy, psychedelic moments. Another area where The Dunwich Horror excels is Les Baxter’s (House of Usher) superlative score, which is arguably his best. Ultimately, The Dunwich Horror is a solid adaptation that does a great job of remaining faithful to the cosmic wonder that is synonymous with the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

The Dunwich Horror gets an excellent release from Arrow Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras, highly recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer