Review #516: 'Dementia' (1955)

Dementia is a relatively short (originally running at 61 minutes, but cut to 56) noirish mood piece that begins and ends with the camera slowing zooming into the hotel room window of a damaged woman, the Gamin (meaning street urchin - played by director John Parker's secretary Adrienne Barrett). She is stirred to awakening from unsettled, possibly nightmarish dreams, and begins a late-night descent into the more lubricious elements of modern city life. Through the hidden dirt alleyways and the jazz dens of '50's America, her night intertwines with a drunk hobo, a lascivious pimp, and a rich man (played by producer Bruno VeSota) whom she travels round with as he consumes the fruits of his wealth. The Gamin's mental state, and implied madness are signified by flashback's of a traumatic event with her parents; she kills her father in retaliation of his murder of her mother.

Shot largely with static, black and white shots by cinematographer, William C. Thompson (who worked extensively with legendary Edward D. Wood), each frame is imbued with a strange tension, and are incredible compositions of beauty and expressionist horror. An effective musical score by George Antheil is significant within the context of the film, which uses no dialogue, and minimal sound (we occasionally hear laughter, cries, and sound effects such as breaking glass). These elements, including some very expressionistic acting styles, has led to the film being often compared to Robert Weine's silent masterpiece, Das Cabinet Des Dr Caligari (1920), and whilst Dementia is certainly a competent little shocker, and has some visual flares of insanity, it doesn't really hold up against the German predecessor. 

It is easy to compare the stilted visual style of the film to the film noir cycle that was prevalent in the '40's and '50's, which shows the underbelly of the city in all of its muddied repulsion. An antidote to the predominant film style of the time, which falsely portrays the Eisenhower-era complete with the technicolor façade  With a cyclical narrative, the Gamin finds herself in the same hotel room, waking from a possible nightmare at the end of the film, leaving the mystery of her true identity and a questioning of her level of insanity: Are these visions and city excursions simply a trip through her almost-linear nightmare? Whilst the film has been largely forgotten, it is most famous for being the film shown in the cinema in The Blob (1958), it is still a very interesting "dream-narrative", and one which undoubtedly had influence on later film makers.


Directed by: John Parker
Starring: Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy