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The Dunwich Horror (1970)

The Dunwich Horror
Come back, Old Ones... Princes of Darkness... and repossess the earth.
—Wilbur Whateley
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The Dunwich Horror is a tale of birth and death and terrible creatures. Based on the short story of the same name by H. P. Lovecraft, the minimalist graphic title sequence was designed by artist and graphic designer Sandy Dvore.

Dvore cut his teeth working with legendary B-movie producer and director Roger Corman, who first courted him after seeing Otto Preminger’s Skidoo (1968) and Dvore’s titles work therein. Skidoo was a light and saucy affair: comedic bickering, singing, boats, sunshine. The Dunwich Horror, on the other hand, takes its cues from the graphic minimalism of the 1960s, Lovecraft, and the terror of the unknowable. 

His first excursion into graphic animation, the titles to The Dunwich Horror cleverly blend themes from the film through scale and image morphing, each silhouetted form growing and shifting into another. The title sequence acts as prologue and as summary, explaining the cold open of a woman in labour and foreshadowing events to come. The style is reminiscent of leading graphic title designers of the 1960s like Saul and Elaine Bass and Maurice Binder, with hints of Matisse and his Blue Nudes cut-outs.

View 2 images

Image Set: Icarus (1946) and Blue Nudes (1952) by Henri Matisse

The deep blue and black palette establishes a sombre sense of darkness, like a summer sky just before night sets in, while Les Baxter’s theme adds melancholy and grandeur.

Also notable here, and in Dvore’s other sequences (Blacula, for example), is the use of type: an asymmetrical sort of placement, oblique and askew. Credits are placed atop subjects and on the edges of shapes, throwing balance to the wind in favour of graphic tension.

IMAGE: Dunwich Horror type example 1

IMAGE: Dunwich Horror type example 2

Credits are also placed in positions that seem to indicate a phallic visual metaphor, hinting at events within the film.

IMAGE: Dunwich Horror phallic type 1

IMAGE: Dunwich Horror phallic type 1

Altogether, the title sequence is a powerful animated piece that bestows the film with a graphic elegance above its B-movie station, gracefully teeing up the audience for a gruesome picture.

  • Credits

Title Designer: Sandy Dvore

Titles Produced by: Pacific Title
Opticals: Butler-Glouner

Music: Les Baxter

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Title sequence

  • Production Studio

    Pacific Title and Art Studio
  • Title Designer

    Sandy Dvore
  • Category

    Film
  • Styles

    1970s, copyright line, graphic, illustration, main title
The Dunwich Horror
  • Film Director

    Daniel Haller
  • Release Date

    January 14, 1970
  • Aspect Ratio

    1.85:1
  • Studio

    American International Pictures (AIP)
  • Country

    USA
  • Language

    English
  • Reviews

    Reviews on Letterboxd
  • IMDb has full details

Article

  • Writer

    Lola Landekic
  • Published

    August 14, 2015

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