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:

The New York Board of Censorship had this movie banned from theaters for 3 years, and didn't release until 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)

Great movie-especially music

I saw this great movie in error in 1972. Dementia 13 by Coppola was ordered and Dementia (Daughter of Horror) showed up. I was particularly impressed by the brilliant score by Antheil and sung by Marnie Nixon, later the voice of Maria in the movie West Side Story.

Interesting note - In the original movie, The Blob, it is the movie being shown in the movie theater when the kids run in to find their friends.

The style of Dementia was captivating and created a surreal mood. For those interested in obscure horror films, well worth seeing.

After originally seeing it it took almost 10 years to even find a reference to it (partially because of the two names). I finally got a copy of Dementia around 10 years ago and can now appreciate it whenever I choose.