Dementia: An Experiment in Terror (2006)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

B. Luciano Barsuglia

Writers:

B. Luciano Barsuglia (writer)
Kevin Bernstein (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Horror strikes indiscriminately...

Plot:

Gein. Bundy. Dahmer. Ramirez. These were real people. These were the ones that were caught. There are...

Cast

Marcus Barcroft	...	Elvin Johnston
B. Luciano Barsuglia	...	Theodore Dresden
Steve Braden	...	Analyst
Stell Brucker	...	Jamie
Christine Cowden	...	Spaulding
Cindy Griffith	...	Shelly
Shawn Hauser	...	Mr. Martin
Daron McFarland	...	Frankie
Stephen Peirick	...	Neil Timmons
Daymond W. Rice	...	News Anchor
Jason Rogel	...	Maxson
Miranda Rubin	...	Julia
Che Zon	...	The Face

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Corona, California, USA

Company:

BLB Media

Trivia:

The majority of the movie was shot in an underground sound room. During Elvin's (Marcus Barcroft) screaming scenes, the yells were so loud that upstairs tenants alerted the police.

Quotes:

Elvin Johnston: Wha... What are you doing?
The Face: I'm sewing him shut. He's had one too many accidents. I've never sewen nothing like this before.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zombie Farm (2007)

Blood, guts, gore and low budget fun!

I saw a test screening of this movie. It's pretty low budget, but very cool. Very dark and creepy. Stylistically, it kind of reminds me of a cross between Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes," and Peter Jackson's "Bad Taste." However, the story line is very different from those two films. The effects, while not always great, will make you cringe. The soundtrack is great (very eerie).

In short, "Dementia" tells the story of a man named Elvin who is kidnapped the day after his bachelor party. He wakes up, bound, gagged and blindfolded, uncertain where he is or what is happening. Still confused and blindfolded, he hears the savage assault on his friend Frankie, who is attacked with a mallet repeatedly, and often. Elvin and Frankie both withstand some hard-to-watch torture and torment. Halfway through the movie, it's surprising that Frankie is still alive. Elvin discovers that he is being held hostage by ringleader Mr. Martin and a mysterious man who only wears masks (The Face).

Mr. Martin (Shawn Hauser) has a deep and haunting voice. The character is undergoing a freakish transformation. Che Zon's Face character is the heavy, bringing down the hammer on the captives, and clothed in a variety of masks and off-beat t-shirts. The fear revealed by Marcus Barcroft's portrayal as the victim, Elvin, is very believable, but not always sympathetic. Daron McFarland (Frankie) is highly entertaining as the resident fleshy-pounding-picking-poking punching bag. Barcroft and McFarland pull of quite the achievement as one spends the majority of the movie bound to a chair and the other is sprawled on the floor.

The acting is surprisingly good, the script is strong and the atmosphere is very dismal. There are definitely some holes in the story and a few unanswered question marks, but ultimately, you are satisfied with the story's resolve.