Demoníaca

This is one of those movies that's so bad it's just bad--too plodding, amateurish, gore-free etc. etc. to really be any fun--but it still has some qualities so atrocious they're worth a look, preferably if you're watching with a heavy finger on the fast-forward.

The main thing is the main "actress," who is so awful you can't imagine what they were thinking in casting her. She has a vocal range that goes from screetch to mousy squeak to whine--she'd be ideally cast as a disembodied voice used to drive someone crazy simply because it's SOOOOO annoying. Her (presumably in-character) personality is allowed to be almost equally off-putting; it's amazing how little sympathy we feel for a woman on thin mental ice after being gang-raped, because as played "Linda" is alternately clingy and tantrum-throwing when she's not just running around screaming.

Frankly, I kind of assumed all the actors here were moonlighting porn performers, because male lead Harry Reems (working under a pseudonym) is one; but it turns out the other actors I looked up on IMDb don't even have that excuse for giving less-than-pro-level performances. (In fact Reems embarrasses himself marginally less than anyone else here.) Some of the dialogue just seems arbitrary, as if they were trying to pad the runtime with more yakking to cover up the fact that the violence is so poorly and non-graphically handled.

There's very little logic at work: we never find out how the original rapists got caught, or who they were--let alone SPOILER!--why the nice neighborhood kids who later menace Linda would think scaring a recently gang-raped woman would be a harmless "joke." (Or how at the end Linda figures out something her husband has kept secret.) It's all monumentally dumb, though a slicker and more energetic film would have been required to actually make this an ENJOYABLE ridiculous/bad movie.

Nevertheless, I'll probably never forget lead Sallee Young's performance. Though believe me, I will try. You might want to check five minutes or so of her on YouTube (any scene where she's screaming/menaced is best) just to hear that fingernails-on-chalkboard voice. Funnily enough, it seems her only other substantial role was also as "Linda" in another almost unwatchably bad early 80s horror film, "Home Sweet Home" with "Body by Jake" Steinfeld giving an almost equally ludicrous performance as a crazed killer.

After surviving a rape, a woman becomes unglued and starts losing her mind in what's essentially a low budget reimagining of Repulsion without all the class and sophistication. The lead actress does nothing but whine for the entire film and it makes it really hard to root for her, especially when she goes psycho. With a better leading lady, but most of the movie is spent with this character, so if she's not cast right, the whole film is doomed.

Well, at least this movie doesn't wast too much time on boring introductions or overlong mood-settings. The opening shows a woman caressing her favorite horse for only a brief moment, and the very next second she's assaulted by four sleazebags with stockings over their heads and gang-raped in the stable. This scene is rather short and unclear to watch, yet also rather unsettling because these guys just 'come & go' without even bothering to take their disguise off. A certain period of time later, Linda is released from the mental hospital but definitely not cured yet. Her unfaithful husband (Harry Reems – the porn king) is spending most of his time with his mistress and Linda slowly goes...well...demented! When a new gang of thugs attempts to rape her, she snaps for good. "Demented" is a typical rip off of Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left" but tries to add a (lame) psychological theme. Linda avenges herself and cuts up people with a meat clever, only – supposedly – she's in a totally different state of mind. Whatever. It's a really lame movie, with only a few suspenseful moments and a disappointingly low amount of gore and sleaze. There's the obligatory castration-sequence – thank you "I Spit on your Grave" – but you can hardly make out what's happening. Sallee Young and Kathryn Clayton are ravishing ladies, but not exactly great actresses. Give "Demented" a miss and aim for one of the thousand other underrated rape & revenge films out there, like "Last House on the Beach", "Night Train Murders", "House on the Edge of the Park" or "Fight for your Life".

Demented opens with a bang—or to be more accurate, a gang bang—with a harsh pre-credits sequence that sees doctor's wife Linda Rodgers (Sallee Elyse) being attacked by four men wearing stocking masks, vicious sex beasts who rip open her blouse, pull off her panties, and proceed to pass her around like candy. It's a powerful, no-nonsense opener, one that successfully drives home the true horror of rape. After that, one is really rooting for the gal to get revenge, which she does. Sort of...

After a brief spell in a sanatorium, Linda returns home but clearly isn't over her ordeal, suffering from nightmarish visions and panic attacks. Frequently left on her own at night by her unfaithful husband Dr. Matt (Harry Reems, best known for his XXX porn/roughie movies), who has been saving his best bedside manner for aspiring actress Carol (Kathryn Clayton), Linda's grip on reality begins to slip, and when a gang of teens play a cruel prank on her in her home, she confuses them for her rapists and makes for the nearest meat cleaver.

A rather obscure rape/revenge tale, Demented starts strongly and has all the ingredients for a sleazy exploitation classic but fails for two reasons: a) big breasted star Sallee Elyse obviously wasn't hired for her acting ability, and her awful acting and shrill delivery seriously grate on the nerves, and b) the ending is undeniably nasty in tone (Linda whips one poor boy's wedding tackle off with a wire), but isn't anywhere near as graphic as it could have been (the aforementioned meat-and-two-veg/wire incident is completely bloodless) and ultimately proves disappointing.

DEMENTED is a preposterous, rather dull "thriller".

Linda Rodgers (Sallee Young) returns home after years in a mental institution, trying to recover from a gang rape. Readjusting to her marriage is difficult, due to her damaged emotions and flashbacks. Her husband (Harry Reems) is no help, since he's busy sneaking off to be with his mistress.

Poor Linda soon finds herself dealing with a whole new group of vicious perverts! She begins to mentally unravel. We know this because her whiny, warbling voice rises to ear-melting levels. Every time Linda gets worked up she sounds like a cross between a bratty 5 year old and a tornado siren! It goes right through your head like a drill!

Linda's attackers are -almost- as annoying as she is. Their deaths, though arriving too late to salvage this movie, do provide some relief.

Linda's final descent into madness is fairly believable, and is the best part of the movie. If only she'd been this good during the first two-thirds!

Special mention goes to Bryan Charles as Linda's gun-toting doctor. He's the only person who seems to care about her, and is also immune to her incessant shrieking that would turn lesser brains into guacamole!...