Dementia

If David Lynch hasn’t seen this, he should. It plays a little like the untold story of Rita from Mulholland Drive. Adrienne Barrett is the sullen protagonist, who lives on Skid Row and has a hatred of men dating back to her childhood with her drunken father and slutty mother. We learn this when a man wearing a black nylon over his head shows her the gravestones of her parents, segueing into revealing flashbacks. In the present day, the woman seems to prowl around looking for scummy men to finish off with her stiletto. She goes home with a rich guy and makes short work of him, but his hand grasps her pendant in death and won’t let go. So she takes out her blade and….Oh, did I mention there’s no dialogue? Just sound effects, an overwrought score, and the musical stylings of Shorty Rogers and His Giants. It’s custom-made for MST3K-style goofery, but I of course was riveted — I worship bizarro cinema, especially old bizarro cinema. Released to considerable controversy in 1955, it was pulled, edited, and re-released (with new narration by Ed McMahon!) as Daughter of Horror. The Kino Video DVD contains both versions.