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Dementia

  • 1955
  • Not Rated
  • 56m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
Dementia (1955)
This film, with no dialogue at all, follows a psychotic young woman's nightmarish experiences through one skid-row night.
Play trailer0:57
1 Video
57 Photos
Film NoirDramaHorrorMystery

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

  • Directors
    • John Parker
    • Bruno VeSota
  • Writers
    • John Parker
    • Bruno VeSota
  • Stars
    • Adrienne Barrett
    • Bruno VeSota
    • Ben Roseman
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    2.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • John Parker
      • Bruno VeSota
    • Writers
      • John Parker
      • Bruno VeSota
    • Stars
      • Adrienne Barrett
      • Bruno VeSota
      • Ben Roseman
    • 60User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 0:57
    Teaser Trailer

    Photos57

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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Adrienne Barrett
    • The Gamin
    Bruno VeSota
    Bruno VeSota
    • Rich Man
    • (as Bruno Ve Sota)
    Ben Roseman
    • Law Enforcer…
    Richard Barron
    • Evil One
    Lucille Howland
    • Mother
    Ed Hinkle
    • Butler
    • (as Edward Hinkle)
    Gayne Sullivan
    • Wino
    Jebbie VeSota
    • Flower Girl
    • (as Jebbie Ve Sota)
    Shorty Rogers
    Shorty Rogers
    • Shorty Rogers
    • (as Shorty Rogers and his Giants)
    Shelley Berman
    Shelley Berman
    • Stoned Beatnik
    • (uncredited)
    Duane Grey
    Duane Grey
    • Policeman
    • (uncredited)
    Jonathan Haze
    Jonathan Haze
    • Character
    • (uncredited)
    Faith Parker
    • Nightclub Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Angelo Rossitto
    Angelo Rossitto
    • Newsboy
    • (uncredited)
    Aaron Spelling
    Aaron Spelling
    • Nightclub Patron
    • (uncredited)
    • Directors
      • John Parker
      • Bruno VeSota
    • Writers
      • John Parker
      • Bruno VeSota
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews60

    6.72.8K
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    Featured reviews

    9jnselko

    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.
    Rockster-2

    A cult item that can't be easily dismissed.

    Never heard of it, knew nothing about, watched it on a friend's recommendation and was struck by how daring and experimental it was for the time it was made. I was expecting a real piece of 50's cheese, but the further I got into it the more I realized it could not be so easily dismissed. Some of the nighttime black and white photography of the Gamine being pursued through city streets is right up there with THE THIRD MAN, and many of the images (especially the hacking off of a dead man's hand) are shockingly indelible. I'd place it many rungs above Ed Wood and perhaps only a rung or two below Herk Harvey (director/co-star and primary creative force behind the great ultra low budget masterpiece CARNIVAL OF SOULS, recently reissued on a gorgeous Criterion Collection DVD). Included on the DVD presentation is the re-cut version DAUGHTER OF HORROR, with Ed McMahon (!) providing a hilariously pretentious voice-over that was meant to make the film more accessible to a mainstream audience. It's a real hoot, one to play at parties to give your cinephile guests a laugh.
    10sirarthurstreebgreebling

    AT Last !

    Finally after a long wait we can see the original version of "Dementia" which was re released two years later as "Daughter of Horror" , cut by two minutes and featured the notoriously bad voice over by the unknown (outside america) Ed McMahon , which was added as the re releasers thought that the public would not understand what was going on , it did the opposite and has unfairly given the film a bad reputation. Since the re release was shown , the film itself has pretty much disappeared and only terrible prints on the 1957 version have been available , giving a brief glimpse of what this film could have been. But now the full version has been released by Kino Films on DVD. The print is stunning (compared to the previously available anything would be preferable), and the restoration of the nightmarish "jazzey" score is fault less. "Dementia" and "Daughter of Horror" (it was given a more salatious title to get audiences in) are both on the disc...with some great extras its worth a look. The story itself is a living/dreaming nightmare , the boundaries are jarred from the first scene as we pan in from the empty street into the apartment window and track up to the bed. The Gammin wakes and looks as if she has just had a bad nightmare , she gets up and walks over to a drawer , opens it and pulls out a switchblade , she looks down and sneers , pockets the knife and goes out into the night. From here on we either know that she it totally insane or that she is out to protect herself or both. We follow her journey into bars and meetings with pimps and flower sellers. I wont tell you anymore about it , otherwise it will spoil the fun of finding out for yourself but this film is a must and belongs on any serious collectors shelf.
    withnail-4

    One of A Kind, Don't Miss It

    Powerful visual style highlights this noir nightmare film, originally made in 1951. Is it Freudian, Surreal, or just plain fugged up? This is outsider film making, a one of kind rarity(the director's only film)that either discards standard film technique, or is totally ignorant of it. But the photography and music are both weird, wild, and quite well done. No dialog!!

    The original director's version (Dementia)is much better than the one with some of the gore cut out, and an intrusive, idiotic Ed McMahon voiceover(Daughter of Darkness).They are both on the DVD, so don't make the mistake of watching the censored "Daughter" version first.

    Don't miss the highly suggestive "chicken eating" scene. It's hilarious!!
    9David Elroy

    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.

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    Related interests

    Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in Le grand sommeil (1946)
    Film Noir
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This is the movie playing in the theatre in the original version of "The Blob"
    • 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!

    • Crazy credits
      In the Preston Sturges quotation before the opening credits, several instances of the word "Italicized" appear, spelled out in regular type in parentheses, rather than actually employing any italic type.
    • Alternate versions
      The original version, released as 'Dementia', had no narration; that was voiced by Ed McMahon and added for the re-release under title 'Daughter of Horror.'
    • Connections
      Featured in Danger planétaire (1958)
    • Soundtracks
      Wig Alley
      Music by Shorty Rogers

      Performed by The Giants

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    FAQ13

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 22, 1955 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • None
    • Also known as
      • Daughter of Horror
    • Filming locations
      • Windward Ave, Venice Beach, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • H.K.F. Productions
      • J.J. Parker Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 56m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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