Daughter of Horror (1955) [Film Noir] [Horror] [Mystery]

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“Daughter of Horror” (also known in a slightly altered version as “Dementia”) is an American film by John Parker, incorporating elements of the horror film, film noir and expressionist film. It was produced in 1953, but not released until 1955.

A young woman awakens from a nightmare in a run down hotel. She leaves the building and wanders through the night, passing a newspaper man. The news headline “Mysterious stabbing” catches her eye, and she quickly leaves. In a dark alley, a whino approaches and grabs her. A policeman rescues her and beats up the drunken man. Shortly later, another man approaches her and talks her into escorting a rich man in a limousine. While they cruise the night, she remembers her unhappy youth with an abusive father, whom she stabbed to death with a switchblade after he had killed her unfaithful mother. The rich man takes her to various clubs and then to her noble apartment. As he ignores her while having an extensive meal, she tries to tempt him.

When he advances her, she stabs him with her knife and pushes the dying man out of the window. Before his fall, he grabs her pendant. The woman runs down onto the street and, as the dead man’s hand won’t relieve her pendant, cuts off the hand while being watched by faceless passerby’s. Again, the patrol policeman shows up and follows her. She flees and hides the hand in a flower girl’s basket. The pimp shows up again and drags her into a night club, where an excited audience watches a jazz band playing. The policeman enters the club, while the rich man, lying at the window, points out his murderess with his bloody stump. The crowd encircles the woman, laughing frantically. The woman wakes up in her hotel room, her encounters have supposedly been a nightmare. In one of her drawers, she discovers her pendant, clutched by the fingers of a severed hand. The camera leaves the hotel room and moves out into the streets, while a desperate cry can be heard.

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Directed by John Parker, produced by John Parker, Ben Roseman and Bruno VeSota (as Bruno Ve Sota), written by John Parker, starring Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota (as Bruno Ve Sota), Ben Roseman and Angelo Rossitto.

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Source: “Dementia (film)” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 4 April 2013. Web. 29 May 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Horror.

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46 Replies to “Daughter of Horror (1955) [Film Noir] [Horror] [Mystery]”

  5. 43:40 Basically Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars He is on Bass and very much still around at 97 this year, the last surviving member of the Stan Kenton 1941 Orchestra and who brought what ended up being West Coast Jazz to Hermosa Beach, CA. in 1949 this is the only part of the movie I liked.

  9. I'm noticing quite a few comments comparing this to the work of Ed Wood. You all don't realize just how close you really are. The (pretty good) expressionistic cinematography is by none other than William C. Thompson, Ed Wood's colorblind cameraman, who shot PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, and GLEN OR GLENDA. Co-producer Bruno Ve Sota acted in many Roger Corman films. Lastly, I guess that this is the movie that's running when THE BLOB attacks.

  22. Shorty Rogers and his Giants appear performing "Wig Alley" (a version of "Morpo") and the opening bars of "Manteca" in the club scene of the surreal 1955 cult film Dementia aka "Daughter of Horror"

  23. Terror de produção independente, cujo título original é "Dementia", dirigido por John Parker (sem crédito). Lançado nos EUA em 22 de dezembro de 1955, foi exibido no Brasil como "Demência" mesmo. A presente cópia é do relançamento norte-americano de 18 de fevereiro de 1957, com o nome original mudado para "Daughter of horror".

  37. The only reason why I typed in the title on YouTube is to see if someone uploaded it. Due to the fact I just recently watched The Blob on Hulu. Of course I have seen it many time, I just never paid any attention to the marquee of the movie theater in The Blob. Even when I was a kid during the 60's I never saw The Daughter of Horror or even heard about it. To this day I still enjoy watching old B & W horror movies. Does anyone remember Fright Night With Seymour on Saturday nights on channel 9 and 5 out of Los Angeles, CA.? Dbl. features. Thanks for the upload. "Now back to our scary feature. The Daughter of Horror"!

  44. Wow, very impressive! Hardly any of my film books mention DAUGHTER OF HORROR (or DEMENTIA), and I hadn't connected it with THE BLOB until reading some of the comments. Except for the narration, I give a big thumbs up to everything here, from the surprisingly good cinematography, the moodiness, the use of the city (what is the building with the grand staircase?), the variety of faces, and the soundtrack. How in the world did Parker get not only Marni Nixon's vocals but also George Antheil's score? And the jazz combo is pretty hot! Feels like b/w James Ellroy 😉 Thanks for including this film in your listings!

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