Utterly bizarre film, whose reputation is known in the annals of 'weird cinema', veritably a silent film, with rib-tickling narration from none other than Ed McMahon(!)has a mute woman(Adrienne Barrett) we follow during a dark journey in a city, as she encounters possible danger and dementia in equal doses. We learn that she is haunted by a traumatic childhood thanks to her rotten, abusive father's murder of her mother. This woman stabbed her father in the back and this perhaps was the beginning of what she would soon evolve into..a knife murderer. Bruno VeSota(an Orson Welles lookalike)is a portly man of wealth who "acquires her services", expecting, obviously, rewards for taking her out on the town, instead becoming another stab victim. Richard Barron is a grinning sleazoid who leads her into the dark abyss. Ben Roseman both portrays her father and a cop who protects her from a drunkard.
There is a protracted sequence in a club where she retreats from police after stabbing a victim, cutting his hand off to retrieve a necklace he pulled from her before falling stories to the street below. VeSota was awaiting his prize for treating Barrett to a night on the town, her not particularly willing to go the extra mile to satisfy his desires. What I think works for DEMENTIA/DAUGHTER OF HORROR is the way director John Parker presents it as off, an odd atmosphere where nothing seems quite right. It's as McMahon's narration points out to us, we are taking a trip into what seems to be this woman's nightmares, her madness. I watched the DAUGHTER OF HORROR version, but I enjoyed McMahon's narration myself because I think it gives the film a oddball charm. I thought it was beautifully shot in the noir tradition, with some very interesting faces photographed in weird angles. Considered controversial in it's time, this film is quite tame today, but I could see why it might've ruffled some feathers.
There is a protracted sequence in a club where she retreats from police after stabbing a victim, cutting his hand off to retrieve a necklace he pulled from her before falling stories to the street below. VeSota was awaiting his prize for treating Barrett to a night on the town, her not particularly willing to go the extra mile to satisfy his desires. What I think works for DEMENTIA/DAUGHTER OF HORROR is the way director John Parker presents it as off, an odd atmosphere where nothing seems quite right. It's as McMahon's narration points out to us, we are taking a trip into what seems to be this woman's nightmares, her madness. I watched the DAUGHTER OF HORROR version, but I enjoyed McMahon's narration myself because I think it gives the film a oddball charm. I thought it was beautifully shot in the noir tradition, with some very interesting faces photographed in weird angles. Considered controversial in it's time, this film is quite tame today, but I could see why it might've ruffled some feathers.