DEMENTIA/DAUGHTER
OF HORROR (1953)Director: John J. Parker
Kino
DEMENTIA/DAUGHTER
OF HORROR (1953)In this 50s curiosity piece, we are invited to explore the horrors of the demented mind of a young woman referred to as The Gamine (Adrienne Barrett), who stares in a mirror in her cheap hotel room. She pulls out a knife and drifts off into a seedy world of wife-beaters, winos, beatniks and pimps. We see a nightmarish flashback to her youth; a domestic occurrence set in a graveyard where her father (Ben Roseman, who also appears in the nightmare as a hard-nosed cop) shoots the trampy-looking mom for not catering to his advances. He is then stabbed in the back by his daughter who later appears to carry a stiletto with her at all times.
At one point, a pimp pawns her off with a rich fat cat (cult fave Bruno VeSota) who escorts her to a fancy nightclub. After gawking at a showgirl's gam's, VeSota takes The Gamine back to his place, and the poor girl watches him stuff his chunky face with pieces of greasy chicken. When he makes a move on her, she stabs him, causing him to fall out the window to his death. Realizing that he grasped her pendant as he fell (and is still holding it), she crawls up to the body and proceeds to sever the tightly gripped hand. But her bizarre ordeal continues for the duration of the film.
DEMENTIA is a really odd, avant garde flick that's part "Carnival Of Souls," part "Twilight Zone," part Ed Wood, and part film-noir (the noirish cinematography was even done by Ed Wood regular William Thompson). The whole thing is silent, so there is no dialog whatsoever. Several years after it failed as DEMENTIA, it was re-released as DAUGHTER OF HORROR with sinister narration by Ed McMahon! In this version (also included on the disc), Ed's talking head appears on the screen briefly, wearing what looks like a black stocking, and his campy narrative is heard periodically throughout. This is years before "Hioooohhhh" and "You are correct sir" would be household phrases!
The original DEMENTIA cut is slightly longer, mainly due to a more graphic cutting of DeSota's hand, revealing his portly, blood-soaked head shaking about, and the girl shoving the severed extremity into her coat. This print is taken from the original negative, with attractive black and white detail. The full frame picture is smooth with little grain, but there are some markings and spots about. The quality on DAUGHTER OF HORROR is slightly inferior in terms of detail and print condition, and is a tad bit darker. The mono sound is fine on both prints.
Kino's DVD is truly a special edition. Not only do we get two renderings of the film, but also there is a lengthy, frame-by-frame illustrated essay called "Dementia: A Case Study." This relates the history of the film, spotlighting its two-year battle with censorship, and is mostly comprised of actual documents and newspaper clippings. There is also a trailer, portions of the pressbook and a short still gallery.
Some interesting notes: Director John J. Parker never made another film besides DEMENTIA. Also, cult dwarf actor Angelo Rossitto (THE CORPSE VANISHES) appears as a newspaper salesman. Ironically, Rossitto had a newsstand in real life to support himself in between acting jobs! (George R. Reis)