Mente Diabólica

I never would have guessed that a somewhat-mainstream feature film made by and starring adult film industry personalities would yield an almost impressive result. That said, DERANGED is a semi-experimental project which is not without glaring flaws(mostly in regard to its stagy presentation and the vague, inconclusive closing shot)...but a damned good college try, at any rate.

As stated in other reviews, there is heavy REPULSION influence in this grim story of an heiress who goes 'nanners in her NYC apartment. Is her lowbrow Brooklynite husband plotting to kill her? Did her loving "Daddy" touch her "wrong"? Is everyone who ever met her out to get her money? These questions arise and are half-answered in a consecution of vignettes staging paranoid scenarios ripped straight from the mind of a borderline madwoman.

Quite violent at points, and off-base enough to potentially galvanize a small cult audience, DERANGED is a film which will appeal to some and completely repel others. I'd say give it a go, especially if your personal tastes are deemed "questionable" by family and friends. 5/10.

*footnote- Rather eerie is a shot during the opening credits, of a graveyard with the World Trade Center in the distance. Quite an omen!

Adult film star, Veronica Hart, shows off her capable dramatic chops as a woman who has nervous breakdown in her apartment due to attacks by a mysterious man and a bunch of gaslighting friends and relatives. It's a gritty, low budget mix of Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby that wisely keeps most of the action inside of the claustrophobic apartment.

Compulsion rip-off about a young woman who is left alone in her apartment. An intruder breaks in and tries to kill her, but she manages to defend herself and kill the intruder. However, after killing the intruder she starts to have weird visions and starts to see things that are not there. And with each passing day she grows more and more violent. Cheaply made film with a mostly porno cast playing it straight is far better then anyone would expect. It is decently made and acted and has its far share of twists and turns, but ultimately the extremely low budget & lack of originality hampers it.

Rated R; Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

A young pregnant woman is brutally attacked by a mask intruder in her apartment, though she kills him in self-defence, but during the attack she loses her baby. Instead of contacting for help, she acts if it didn't happen. From this moment it causes a downward spiral for her when suddenly she starts losing her mind, with her drifting into fantasy and reality with dire consequences. This emotional trauma brings back many past experiences that come back to haunt her and she starts seeing things that aren't possible.

Soooooooooo, what the heck was that all about it!? Totally screwed up, that's for sure! Yep, I know we're seeing a woman whose mind has snapped, with her hearing voices and seeing things that aren't really there, but gee I was hearing voices in my head too. "Why watch it", "Stop punishing yourself"… *hmm* I'm lucky my subconscious didn't crack while watching this lousy production. Anyhow, this cheaply made film that has shades of "Repulsion" to it, has to be one of the strangest things my eyes have seen, and one the most annoying things my ears had to go through. It's all about confusion and noise! Why's that? Well, it just didn't add up at all and there's some things in the senseless story, ah what story, which eventuate into pointless excuses to stage bizarre and ridiculously stupid scenarios. These crumby moments were more nightmarish and infuriating for the viewer, than our victim. Just like the woman is in the film, it's a painfully messed up production. We find out that she had some medical problem before she goes wacko, is she a schizophrenic? Who knows? Because we don't. And how something like this could really go unnoticed by family and close people for days after recent visits, goes beyond me. It's just pretty hard to believe. And what's deal with the ending? Is it implying something about what we've seen. Uh, don't try to understand it, because you won't. If you do, gee I must of totally missed the point.

Sure, it's pure schlock, but it's hardly enjoyable on any level. How can you enjoy a film when the irritating score just comes across as a whole lotta' noise and the same goes for the pitiful sound effects. The daggish cast of no-names were rather inept (with the exception of Veronica Hart in the traumatic lead role) and so was the dreadfully loopy dialogue. Because of it's small budget most of the film except for the intro and ending, takes place in only a couple of rooms in a apartment building. It's like a stage show. The small amount of nasty surprises of blood and a few haunting shock effects were done rather nicely. Decent make-up work was provided. While, everything else was basically off the rocker, the camera work was handled in a rather flat manner. I love my unusually twisted films, but boredom just kicked in way too early. Maybe it would've work out better as a short film?

I see through the other comments, I'm in a real small minority. Anyhow, this baffling and truly out-there mix was a real chore to sit through.

A mentally unstable pregnant woman murders an intruder and goes berserk in her apartment. This movie plays out like a poor man's redux of "Repulsion" or "Images." It lacks both of those films' subtleties and expertise behind the camera. That isn't to say it is completely without merit. The set consists mostly of a small apartment and this creates an effective feeling of claustrophobia. Veronica Hart is rather fantastic. She gives a better performance than I ever would have expected and anchors this movie. The supporting cast is also very good. It's a highly entertaining and icky movie, and pretty impressive considering the lead cast and director primarily worked in porno.