285 The Dunwich Horror (1970 )

If   AIP  were  trying  to  recreate  Witchfinder-General  in  England, Rosemary's Baby  was   the  bigger  influence  in  America  and  The  Dunwich  Horror  falls  into  that  category  although  it  was  based  on  an  H  P  Lovecraft  story. It  has  its  moments  but  it's  seriously  impaired  by  the  miscasting  of  faded  Hollywood  starlet  Sandra  Dee  as  a  virginal  student.

Dee  plays  Nancy  Wagner,  a  student  of   Dr  Armitage  ( Ed  Begley )  who  surprisingly  entrusts  her  with  a  very  rare  and  valuable  book  the  Necronomicon  to  display  in  the  college  library. There  she  meets  a  rather  nerdy  young  man  Wilbur  Whateley  (  Dean  Stockwell )  who  hypnotises  her  into  letting  him  read  it. When  Armitage  returns , Wilbur  reveals  himself  as  the  great  grandson  of  a  man  from  Dunwich, Massachusetts  who  was  hanged  by  the  villagers  for  practising  black  magic. He  himself  is  shunned  in  the  village  but  Nancy  is  drawn  into  his world.

Sandra  Dee  ( as  Nancy  Wagner )

Sex : Nancy  is  impregnated  by  Wilbur  in  a  scene  cribbed  from  Rosemary's  Baby  but  you  don't  see  anything.

Death : Survives

Sandra  was  only  28  when  she  made  the  film  but  her  career  had  declined  markedly  since  the  early  sixties  and  her  star  marriage  to  Bobby  Darin  had  ended  in  divorce. She  wears  all  black  for  most  of  the  film  and  the  film-makers  seem  to  have  taken  great  care  to  disguise  her  figure. She  struggled  with  anorexia  most  of  her  life  and  made  few  pictures  after  this  one. She  died  of  kidney  disease  in  2005  aged  62.

Donna  Bacalla  ( as  Elizabeth  Hamilton )

Sex : Elizabeth's  clothes  are  shredded  when  she's  attacked  by  the  monster  with  brief  flashes  of  what  may  be  her  breasts  ( or  those  of  a  body  double ).

Death :  Mutilated  by  the  monster

Donna  was  mainly  a  TV  actress  who  disappeared  at  the  end  of  the  seventies   but  then  made  a  brief  comeback  at  the  start  of  the  nineties. She  is  now  72.

Talia  Shire  ( as  Cora )

Sex : No

Death : Mutilated  by  the  monster

Talia   is  the  sister  of  Francis  Ford  Coppola, best  known  for  her  roles  in  the  Godfather  films  and  Rocky.  Her  film  career  is  still  going  strong  at  the  age of 71.

Barboura  Morris  ( as  Mrs  Paine )

Sex : No

Death : Mutilated  by  the  monster

This  was  Barbara's  peultimate  picture  and  her  last  horror film.