BFI Releasing Dementia

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Coming 10/19/20:

A woman's nightmare of murder, maiming and mistrust proves to be more than a mere dream, in John Parker's influential horror.

Stripped of dialogue using only sound effects and an unnerving score Parker combines horror, film noir and expressionist methods to depict a mind descending into madness. Shocking audiences upon its original release, the film was initially banned by the New York State Film Board, who deemed it 'inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness'.

Featuring music by George Anthiel (Ballet Mecanique) and foreshadowing the techniques of future psychological horrors, Dementia is now available on Blu-ray for the very first time.

Special Features:

Daughter of Horror (1957): Dementia was picked up by producer Jack H Harris and re-released as Daughter of Horror in January 1957. Whilst also featuring music without dialogue, Harris made a number of edits and added narration by actor Ed McMahon
Newly recorded audio commentary by film critic and editor-in-chief of Diabolique magazine, Kat Ellinger
Other extras to be confirmed

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

This is a good one.

[marker28 Member Find all posts View Profile Close marker28]

A sleazy film noir made with maximum artistic pretension and a minimal budget. I'd given up on expecting this one ever making it to Blu Ray (Kino released a DVD decades ago), pleasantly surprised

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Here's the official BFI press release:

Dementia

A film by John Parker

Blu-ray/DVD release on 19 October 2020 with simultaneous release on iTunes and Amazon Prime

A woman's nightmare of murder, maiming and mistrust proves to be more than a mere dream, in John Parker's influential 1953 horror film DEMENTIA.

Foreshadowing the likes of Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965), the film comes to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time in the UK, released in a Dual Format Edition by the BFI on 19 October 2020, just ahead of Halloween. An extensive package of extras includes a newly recorded commentary, and an alternative cut of the film, retitled Daughter of Horror (1957) which has added narration by actor Ed McMahon.

Stripped of dialogue and using only sound effects and an unnerving score by George Anthiel (Ballet Mécanique), in DEMENTIA John Parker combines horror, film noir and expressionist methods to depict a mind descending into madness. Shocking audiences upon its original release, the film was initially banned by the New York State Film Board, who deemed it 'inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness'.

Special features:

Presented in Standard Definition and High Definition
Newly recorded audio commentary on Dementia by film critic and editor-in-chief of Diabolique magazine, Kat Ellinger
Daughter of Horror (1957, 55 mins): after being picked up by producer Jack H Harris, Dementia was re-released as Daughter of Horror. Whilst also featuring music without dialogue, Harris made a number of edits and added narration by actor Ed McMahon
Alone with the Monsters (1958, 16 mins): a study of people's unconscious cruelty to others, this bold experimental film was directed by Nazli Nour with cinematography by the great Walter Lassally
Trailers From Hell: Joe Dante on Daughter of Horror (1957/2013, 2 mins)
Before & After: Restoring Dementia (2020, 3 mins): a series of short clips from Dementia that illustrate the work done by the Cohen Film Collection for their 2015 restoration
Dementia trailer (2015)
Daughter of Horror trailer (1957)
Stills and publicity gallery

***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** illustrated booklet with new essays by Ian Schultz, William Fowler and Vic Pratt
Product details

RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1395 / 12

USA / 1953 / black and white / 56 mins (+ extras) / optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.37:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 dual mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (320kbps)

[Darcy Parker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Darcy Parker]

Man, kinda freaky that the director's name is the same as my dad's.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

I was hoping they might include the soundtrack by Boyd Rice.