Dementia

Other Reviewers on the IMDb Site have pointed out that during a Crucial Scene near the End, a Sound Editing Problem Exists that is Unfathomable.

The Music Swells to completely Drown Out the Dialog between Characters and it leaves Unanswered Questions and a Frustration that can't be ignored. It's only One Scene but it's a Critical Scene and is Unacceptable.

Other than that bit of Clumsiness, the Movie is a Good Psychological Thriller that is Well Acted and Staged. Some Gruesome Horror and Tense Situations make for an Unsettling Uncovering of what's going on in the Mind of an Elderly Man (Gene Jones) and His Live-In-Nurse (Kristina Klebe).

There's some Fine Back Up Performances from Hassie Harrison and Jerry Lockhart and both Add to the Edgy Excitement. The Denouement is both Predictable and somewhat Surprising and the Film is Finely Photographed

Overall, Worth a Watch for Fans of Thrillers and Indie Cinema.

When an elderly Vietnam vet, George, begins suffering from dementia, his estranged family hire a live in nurse to take care of him. However the nurse harbors a sinister secret and has an agenda for agreeing to take care of the man.

The story kept me engaged the whole way through and was all around good. The ending was easily predicted but I don't feel like it was meant to be a big mystery and the story doesn't suffer at all from you knowing it. There was one element to the ending that I didn't see coming and was surprised they went that way (in a good way).

The acting is the highlight of the film for me. George Lockhart and Kristina Klebe's roles notably. Lockhart plays the role of a dementia suffering veteran convincingly and switched between the characters various emotions expertly. Between this and her role in PROXY (2013), Klebe has proved that she can play bad ass women with streaks of madness to a T. Hassie Harrison and Peter Cilella do well with their roles as the distant family members and then you have the always excellent, Richard Riehle, as George's friend.

I did feel like thinks kind of wrapped up a bit too early once things get revealed and it could have used a bit more expanding on that angle. All in all though I dug it and it's definitely worth a watch.

"Keeping him calm, will keep him alive."

Everything was there to turn this into a horrible and unnerving horror. How terrifying is it for someone who's helplessly caught in a life-threatening situation and knowing it's impossible to escape from. No possibility to ask someone for help. No ability to save yourself. Both because you are physically limited and there's someone who makes this impossible anyway. Films about forced imprisonment are countless. From "The seasoning house" and "Mysery" to "Room" recently. The reason of detention varies from film to film. You can't say this genre films is saturated. That's a bit exaggerated. Unfortunately the theme used in "Dementia", isn't really realistic sometimes. The fact that someone suffers from dementia and is trapped in his own psychological consciousness, is scarier than what is shown here.

Especially the acting of Gene Jones catches the eye. In a brilliant way he shows the various characteristics of George. On the one hand a surly man who carries a heavy burden of his past. The unbearable memories of his captivity where he was subjected to inhuman tortures. After he returned this experience was the basis for his alcohol problem, which resulted in domestic violence and terror. On the other hand, we see the chastened former alcoholic, who tries to clear things up and rectify what he has done wrong in the past. There are timid attempts to restore the broken family band with his son Jerry (Peter Cilella) and seeks a rapprochement as the father he wasn't. Also, he finally gets to know his granddaughter Shelby (Hassie Harrison), who knows nothing about her grandfather's past. Jones shows George's range of moods brilliantly. One moment we see an unruly wiseacre who's waving around with a shotgun. The next moment he reacts very aggressively because he doesn't recognize his granddaughter. But the moments George looks helpless and vulnerable, made the biggest impression.

But this is by far the most positive thing I could say about "Dementia". There is indeed a tense atmosphere at times but it's never really creepy or eerie so to speak. Michelle (Kristina Klebe) has a kind of schizophrenic personality and reacts fairly hysterical, but the predictability of the story undermines this a little bit. And there are also some facts that seem pretty stupid. The way Michelle is appointed, is completely ridiculous. I would never give a total stranger the task to take care of my father, even if I don't care much about him anymore due to his behavior in the past, without asking some information about this person. A simple inquiry at the hospital where she works, was enough. And when that person addresses me in a rude and aggressive way, I'd sack her promptly. Obviously George's past and the diagnosis of dementia counts against him.

The makers succeeded in putting the film on the screen in a solid way, by using for example the fuzzy images as a suggestion of George's mental state and the eerie flashbacks. This combined with the excellent acting, made sure it remained a fascinating film all in all. The only flaw here, is the fact that you can guess the outcome in about 30 minutes. Thus there's no need for guessing anymore. Or George's mental state really deteriorates and he could become a danger to his environment or Michelle has other sinister plans concerning this elderly man. Take your pick.

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I just picked this up because it was filed as a horror movie. Can't agree with that, for me it was 100% thriller. Not that it was bad but it doesn't have any really suspense. The saving of this flick lays in the acting.

Diagnosed with dementia it's time to bring a nurse at home and of course that nurse has dark secrets. Let that be the main story. But the darkness never really comes in for me. But I must also say that I never was bored at all, so it's above mediocre. But no red stuff really to find throughout this picture except for one shot that involves some kind of dream were a veteran is biting the flesh from his arm. Let that part be the most horrifying thing to see. It's Gene Jones (George) who makes it watchable.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

What was the point in drowning the dialogue in the end with superloud music so you couldn't even hear the big reveal?

Or was that even intentional?

My guess is that the revealing words simply was too trivial and the editors thought that the viewers wouldn't like it so let's just blast the violins.

Other than that it had it's moments I guess, the old man was a decent enough actor... Awfully slow movie though but 'horror' movies with 'nothing happening' until the last 15 minutes are very popular these days.

Yeah I don't know what more to say as I'm not sure what happened in the last 5 minutes because of the worst sound-mixing of all time.

It wasn't great before it but acceptable (you could actually hear what the characters were saying after all) but my goodness felt like I was ripped off in the ending.