Dementia (1955)

This film, with no dialogue at all, follows a psychotic young woman's nightmarish experiences through one skid-row night.

Stars:

Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Adrienne Barrett	...	The Gamin
Bruno VeSota	...	Rich Man (as Bruno Ve Sota)
Ben Roseman	...	Law Enforcer / Father
Richard Barron	...	Evil One
Ed Hinkle	...	Butler (as Edward Hinkle)
Lucille Rowland	...	Mother (as Lucille Howland)
Jebbie VeSota	...	Flower Girl (as Jebbie Ve Sota)
Faith Parker	...	Nightclub Dancer
Gayne Sullivan	...	Wino
Shorty Rogers	...	Himself (as Shorty Rogers and His Giants)

Storyline

As the narrator invites us to explore the horrors of an insane mind, a young woman wakes from a nightmare in a cheap hotel room. We follow her through the skid-row night and encounters with an abusive husband; a wino; a pimp and the rich man he panders for; a flashback to her traumatic childhood; violence; pursuit through dark streets; dementia. Filmed in film-noir style throughout; only the narrator speaks.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | hotel room | necklace | nightclub | detective | 

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Taglines:

Not ONE WORD is spoken on the screen!

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Genres:

Film-Noir | Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Daughter of Horror

Filming Locations:

Windward Avenue, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

H.K.F. Productions, J.J. Parker Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

56 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received scant distribution. It became well known when footage from it was used in the theatre sequence of the highly popular release The Blob.

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Quotes

Narrator: Only a dream, a dream of madness and of darkness. Or was it? Was it *only* a dream?

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Connections

Referenced in Daughter of Fear (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Wig Alley"
Music by Shorty Rogers

User Reviews

A cult item that can't be easily dismissed.

Never heard of it, knew nothing about, watched it on a friend's recommendation and was struck by how daring and experimental it was for the time it was made. I was expecting a real piece of 50's cheese, but the further I got into it the more I realized it could not be so easily dismissed. Some of the nighttime black and white photography of the Gamine being pursued through city streets is right up there with THE THIRD MAN, and many of the images (especially the hacking off of a dead man's hand) are shockingly indelible. I'd place it many rungs above Ed Wood and perhaps only a rung or two below Herk Harvey (director/co-star and primary creative force behind the great ultra low budget masterpiece CARNIVAL OF SOULS, recently reissued on a gorgeous Criterion Collection DVD). Included on the DVD presentation is the re-cut version DAUGHTER OF HORROR, with Ed McMahon (!) providing a hilariously pretentious voice-over that was meant to make the film more accessible to a mainstream audience. It's a real hoot, one to play at parties to give your cinephile guests a laugh.