Dementia (1955)

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

Director:

John Parker (uncredited)

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	...	Shorty Rogers (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:

no dialogue | experimental film | cult film | surrealism | hallucination | 

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Taglines:

The controversial film which took 2 years to pass the censors - now presented to the public for the first time.

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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

The flower girl was played by Jebbie VeSota. She was married to Bruno VeSota who played the "rich man" and was also the associate producer of this film.

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Quotes

Narrator: Run, daughter of horror, run from your crime. But behind you, the policeman with the face of your father, the face of your first victim. Pursuing you relentlessly in your haunted brain. Hunting you mercilessly through the twisted corridors of your tortured mind. The horror that will track you down. The horror that can destroy you. Run, run, run!... Guilty, guilty, guilty!

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Connections

Referenced in Creepy Classics (1987)

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Soundtracks

Wig Alley
Music by Shorty Rogers

User Reviews

Give it a million dollar budget, and...

This is one of those (exceptionally) rare very low budget films where you can see clearly that, if the director had had more time and more money, we would be discussing a classic "film".

Better known to buffs of the odd, the obscure, and the strange as "Daughter of Horror", in the tale as told we are witness to the unraveling of a mind. Like "Eraserhead", the best of this sub-genre, it is difficult to tell where the madness starts and where reality ends- or, indeed, if any of what we see on screen is real at all. It is hard to get any sense of what is occurring from the Gamine's point of view. Are the events happening to her? Is she dreaming? Hallucinating? The viewer (or, at least this viewer) is always a little off balance while watching this movie, and I think that that is what the director was aiming at.

I would go so far as to say that, within the budgetary constraints imposed, this movie is a masterpiece. As stated in the synopsis, this is a dark movie with no sympathetic characters, no attractive locales, no hope. Were it just a Film Noire murder story, it would still be a very good movie. As a descent into madness, it excels.