THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970)
Directed by Daniel Haller
Starring Sandra Dee and Dean Stockwell
Before hitting it big again as an actor in the late 1980s by landing a small role in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," Stockwell was apparently out of work as an actor, making a living as a salesman.
Part of the
reason his career may have hit the skids was his presence in movies like this
one."Dunwich" would have been forgotten if it hadn't been based on an
H.P.
Lovecraft story—or if it hadn't featured Sandra Dee in the buff!
Stockwell plays a warlock who steals the Necronomicon (an occult book) from a library and uses his amazing hypnotic power to seduce Dee into being a sacrifice for a ritual.
The wacky warlock wants to conjure up "the Old Ones," some evil super beings that were banished from the earth long ago. Meanwhile, his monster twin brother has escaped is killing the local townsfolk.Some groovy, orgiastic dream sequences and a laughable monster that emanates psychedelic light make this an at least a slightly worthwhile video.
But it doesn't
come close to "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond," two
H.P. Lovecraft adaptations of Stuart Gordon.