Hello readers, and welcome to a new monthly post in which I will be reviewing a Scream Factory release. Each month I will pick either a new or previous release from the line of collectible horror releases which are released each month under the Scream Factory name!
Dementia
Director:
Mike Testin
Stars:
Gene Jones, Kristina Klebe, Hassie Harrison, Peter Cilella, Richard Riehle, Steve Agee, Marc Senter and Tony Denison
What’s It About?:
“After being diagnosed with Dementia, an elderly war veteran is forced by his estranged family to hire a live-in nurse, only to find she harbors a sinister secret.” – IMDB
THE FILM:
Let me just start by saying I love seeing Gene Jones in movies. He is such a phenomenal force. The movie starts off introducing us to a young George Lockhart (Gene Jones) during his time in Vietnam in 1974. After this brief introduction, we now meet modern day George and see him get involved in an incident with some young bullies, and then right after, suffer from a stroke. George wakes up in the hospital and the plot of the movie is set up as the doctor reveals he is suffering from dementia as a result of his stroke. We soon meet George’s son Jerry (Peter Cilella) and granddaughter Shelby (Hassie Harrison) and see that George is “losing his shit” as he forgets Shelby and freaks out on her before Jerry is able to settle him down and explain who she is. A nurse from the hospital, Michelle (Kristina Klebe), stops by the house to check on George and soon Jerry and Shelby decide to hire Michelle as an in-home nurse.
After this initial setup, strange things quickly start to happen and the viewer is torn between believing George is crazier than we thought, or that his new nurse isn’t quite what she seems. Throughout all the chaos the viewer is also treated to several flashbacks, giving us a glimpse of what kind of man George is and hinting at the things he may have done in the past.
All the performances were pretty solid and the two standouts for me were obviously Gene Jones, whom I’ve loved ever since seeing him in No Country for Old Men and also his breathtaking role in The Sacrament, and Hassie Harrison, whom I’ve only ever seen in Southbound. She gave a great performance for someone so young and I’m excited to see her in more things in the future.
The effects work is pretty solid in the film as well. There are some pretty gnarly scenes with lots of blood and violence that looked great. The film also does a great job at creating some very tense scenes and many thrilling and memorable moments.
THE EXTRAS:
Unfortunately for this film not a single extra is available on the disc. Not sure if they just didn’t shoot any extra footage, behind the scenes or even record a commentary, but it’s not anywhere to be found. Most of the IFC Midnight releases usually include at least a few extras, but just not this time around. This is the only downfall of this release.
CONCLUSION:
Overall I really liked this film and thought it was an extremely solid debut feature from director Mike Testin. The suspense was there, the acting was there and so was the story for the most part. I’d definitely recommend giving this one a watch if you have a chance to pick up a copy. At the very least give it a watch on Netflix as it is currently streaming.