Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 2K film restoration (from the original 35mm camera negative) of director Daniel Haller’s 1970 film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1933 short story, The Dunwich Horror, ready for the Blu-ray marketplace on Jan. 10.
The film is noted — beyond the H.P. Lovecraft connection — for both newcomer Curtis Hanson’s script (his first screen credit … he would, in 1998, win the Oscar for his L.A. Confidential script … and become a noted director with such films as The Bedroom Window, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The River Wild, 8 Mile and the aforementioned L.A. Confidential) and Sandra Dee in the starring role — very different from her Gidget, Tammy Tell Me True and Tammy and the Doctor roles of the late ‘50s early ‘60s.
Nancy Walker (Sandra Dee) is a student at Miskatonic University, who has a job in the school’s library, which puts her in the right place at the right time to meet Wilbur Whateley (played by the late Dean Stockwell). That will be a life-changing experience for her!!
It seems that Whateley is the great-grandson of the local legend, Oliver Whateley of Dunwich, who was hung by the town folk way-back-when for being a demon; perhaps even Satan himself. Just a legend; a story … a myth.
However, Wilbur takes this stuff seriously and has become fixated with the University’s copy of “Necronomicon,” a mysterious book of ancient spells. He has one spell in mind and it involves the alluring Miss Walker.
The Dunwich Horror is a great ride, featuring a neat twist involving an unseen twin brother … who is even more dangerous than Wilbur.
Bonus goodies include commentary with Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict and a trio of featurettes — “The Door into Dunwich,” “After Summer After Winter” and “The Sound of Cosmic Terror.”
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