New this week in select theaters, On Demand, and digital download from Chiller Films!
aka HALORAN MANOR
Directed by Richard LeMay
Written by Dan DeFilippo, Justin Smith
Starring Julia Campanelli, Channing Pickett, Steve Polites, Marianne Noscheze, Ben van Berkum, Ana Isabelle, Anthony Salvador Lewis, Donal Brophy, Leif Steinert, Roland Sands, Christian Ryan, Jay William Thomas, Leila Grace
Find out more about this film @Dementia13Movie and on Facebook here
A solid little slasher with a fucked up family is what you’re going to get in DEMENTIA 13, a remake of Francis Ford Coppolla’s first film.
Greed is an evil thing and it is exemplified at its worst in DEMENTIA 13. The story begins with a family getting together at the ancestral castle home of a well to do family. First to arrive is a newlywed couple and in the opening moments, their wedded bliss is replaced by rage and abuse as they battle one another on a rowboat in the middle of a pond on the estate. After one of the couple is murdered by the other, the rest of the family arrives. It appears the youngest daughter of the Haloran family was murdered long ago, but her ghost may still be haunting the estate. On top of that, a masked killer seems to be hunting down and murdering the family members one by one.
A clever script and a blueprint set by one of cinema’s greatest masters makes this film worth checking out. While the performances aren’t spectacular, all of the actors involved are pretty capable of being greedy assholes to one another. This is truly a film where you don’t mind seeing the cast murdered in horrible ways as they all seem to be at each other’s throats anyway. While DEMENTIA 13 isn’t very bloody, the cast is downright brutal to one another and the script is actually pretty biting between these bickering relatives. The film has a few unexpected twists along the way and the ghost of the little girl makes for some supernatural fun along with all of the stalking and slashing.
I haven’t seen the original DEMENTIA 13 in ages, but this film has made we want to revisit it. As is, this modern retelling captures the evil of greed very well and while it treads a familiar slasher path, it does it well. Recommended for those who like a little depth to their slasher yarns.
MLMILLERWRITES / MLMillerFrights 
I had no idea this film was remade, I’ll have to check it out. The strengths of the original include an intimidating performance by William Campbell, an overall sickness of spirit attached to the family, and especially Ronald Stein’s aggressively creepy score. Thanks for the find! Glad you’re still writing and publishing following the ongoing demise of AICN….
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Thanks so much for following me here. I’ll try to make the trek worthwhile!
I need to revisit the original DEMENTIA 13. It’s been so long I can hardly remember, but the family strife is actually pretty potent in the remake.
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