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)

you have never seen anything like this before

This is one of the best and most intelligent films ever--although I don't think I'll be seeing it again anytime soon. I have never been so assaulted emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually by a movie. If you are looking for a fun and scary horror movie--this is NOT what you are looking for. This film is very disturbing. It is not gory, or overly graphic, just disturbing. The aesthetics of the film stretch back to early German Expressionism to 70s psychedelia. It is a bizarre mix of many things, most of which work perfectly. As you watch it, it's very easy to start judging the movie and go "Oh God, it's doing this or that". There are definately times when the movie borders on badness. But it is always one step ahead of itself, and one step ahead of you, and one step ahead of any other movie I have ever seen. The things the director does are amazing--he does things that were so ahead of his time.

The portrait of the main character is amazing. I've never felt so close to a character who completely freaked me out, as I did to her. She is SCARY--and so human in a wierd way. And that's why this movie was so good. It is not a black and white horror movie. It's not a slasher flick. It is definately trying to tell you something. Whether the final message is feminist or sexist is up for debate. This film is so well done that it's hard to tell whether it's being purposeful or exploitative. It's pointless to write more. You just have to see it.