“The Old Ones are not truly dead. They only sleep. It is a dreamless oblivion, stretching on and on towards vast eternity!” Eternal, dreamless oblivion? That’s a hard pass. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they enroll at Miskatonic University to study The Dunwich Horror (1970).
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 191 – The Dunwich Horror (1970)
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Wilbur Whateley travels to Miskatonic University to borrow the legendary Necronomicon. But, little does anyone know, Whateley isn’t quite human.
Director: Daniel Haller Writers: Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum, Ronald Silkosky; H.P. Lovecraft (based on the story by) Music by: Les Baxter Title Design by: Sandy Dvore Poster Art by: Reynold Brown Selected Cast: Sandra Dee as Nancy Wagner Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley Ed Begley as Dr. Henry Armitage Lloyd Bochner as Dr. Cory Sam Jaffe as Old Whateley Joanne Moore Jordan as Lavinia Whateley (as Joanna Moore Jordan) Donna Baccala as Elizabeth Hamilton Talia Shire as Nurse Cora (credited as Talia Coppola) Michael Fox as Dr. Raskin Jason Wingreen as Sheriff Harrison Barboura Morris as Mrs. Cole Beach Dickerson as Mr. Cole Michael Haynes as Guard Toby Russ as Librarian Jack Pierce as Reeger
Set your H.P. Lovecraft expectations aside and you just might enjoy The Dunwich Horror. The film features a great cast, including Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Sam Jaffe, and Talia Shire. While the results may not be 100% successful, the cinematography looks spectacular, the often cliché visual effects are used creatively, and the direction is spot on. Could a 1970 film adapt Lovecraft more faithfully at that time? It’s hard to say. Lovecraft is a tricky beast to translate cinematically. Regardless, the poster from Reynold Brown is phenomenal. Check out what the Grue-Crew has to say. Enjoy!
At the time of this writing, The Dunwich Horror is available to stream free with ads from PlutoTV and PPV from Amazon and Apple TV. The film is also available as a Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the Grue-Crew change it up for their next episode with a bit of a treat, welcoming director John D. Hancock to discuss his first feature film, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), and of course other aspects of his career. This will be fun!
We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.
