Dementia (1955)

Director:

John Parker

Writer:

John Parker (original screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Horror

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Hotel Room | Necklace | Nightclub | Narrator

Cast

Adrienne Barrett	...	The Gamine
Bruno VeSota	...	Rich Man
Ben Roseman	...	Gamine's Father / Plainclothes Cop
Richard Barron	...	Evil One
Ed Hinkle	...	Butler
Lucille Rowland	...	Gamine's Mother
Jebbie VeSota	...	Flower Girl
Faith Parker	...	Nightclub Dancer
Gayne Sullivan	...	Wino
Shorty Rogers	...	Jazz Musician
Ed McMahon	...	Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

Daughter of Horror (USA) (recut version)

Runtime:

56 min | USA:61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:(Banned) (1957)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

H.K.F. Productions

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 (1958).

Quotes:

Narrator: Come with me into the tormented, haunted, half-lit night of the insane. This is my world. Let me lead you into it. Let me take you into the mind of a woman who is mad. You may not recognize some things in this world, and the faces will look strange to you. For this is a place where there is no love, no hope...in the pulsing, throbbing world of the insane mind, where only nightmares are real, nightmares of the Daughter of Horror!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Creepy Classics (1987) (V)

Short but fascinating art/horror film

Even at under an hour, this film drags a bit in the middle but has so much going for it that it has to be called a "must-see." Definitely see the dialog-free version (DEMENTIA) before you see the narrated version (DAUGHTER OF HORROR) but do see both of them because the narration by future Tonight Show co-host Ed McMahon is priceless! The jazzy score and accompanying vocal renderings accent the weird mood perfectly. The last 15 minutes in the jazz club are especially striking as music, image and pace increase to a fever pitch until the movie starts as it began. It's amazing that a film as avant garde as this actually played mainstream theaters in the 50s.