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

Also Known As:

Daughter of Horror (USA) (recut version)

Runtime:

56 min | USA:61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

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)

Where to begin?

This movie (originally 1953, I believe) is approachable on so many levels, it is difficult to say where to begin. We could start with the acting - Adrienne Barrett (whoever she is) is perfectly cast as the troubled, sinister, smirking, sexy anti-heroine. We could then examine the style - the mix of surrealism, expressionism, and film noir. We could then comment on the atmosphere - conjured through bleak-looking streets and unnerving music. Then there are the simple images - shadows growing and shrinking, gaunt faces, sharp contrasts between lights and darks. We might take a Freudian approach - the dysfunctional parents, the father imagery, the sexual symbols (cigars, no less!). There is also the Beat culture interest in the excellent jazz-band scene. There are also the intriguing comparisons one could make between the "silent" version and the narrated one.

As a horror movie in-itself, it may appear somewhat cheesy and overstated, but it clearly does not take itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either. Compared to other horror films I give it an 8, but due to its uncommon critical and historical appeal, I rate it overall a 9. Truly a unique achievement.