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Released by: Shout! Factory/IFC
Released on: May 17th, 2016.
Director: Mike Testin
Cast: Hassie Harrison, Gene Jones, Steve Agee
Year: 2015
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The Movie:
George Lockhart (Gene Jones of THE HATEFUL EIGHT) has the same problem James Caan dealt with many a moon ago in MISERY - he's trapped in a home with the nurse from hell.
After suffering a stroke, Vietnam vet Lockhart is forced by his estranged son to get live in care while he recuperates. That "help" comes in the form of nurse Michelle (Kristina Klebe) who shows up one day at the house ostensibly on orders from the hospital to check on George's progress. While George's son Jerry (Peter Ciella) and his granddaughter Shelby (Hassie Harrison) come by the house on a daily basis to keep abreast of things, they fail to believe the older man when he starts to claim that his new nurse is abusing him when no one's around. This abuse takes the traditional form of "gaslighting" (where the abuser tries to trick the victim into believing that they are losing their mind) and horror staples like messing with the house cat and screwing around with medications. Far be it from me to spoil the twist but let's just say that George has a history relating to his combat in Vietnam. Captured and tortured by the Vietcong during the war, he exacted a terrible revenge related to someone who had betrayed him. And now a chicken has come home to roost.
IFC Midnight/Scream Factory have been pumping out these original DTV horror films at a steady clip for quite a while now and while most of them manage to avoid being outright awful, "meh" seems to be the usual order of the day. The real problem with DEMENTIA is that it's a movie that works reasonably enough when you're watching it but falls apart with any real analysis. It's got a single truck-sized plot hole that almost kills it and some unnecessary characters that just muddle up the proceedings. On top of that, the central mystery is so easy to solve that the viewer feels cheated. The acting is uneven with Jones being so good you wish he was in a better film and Ciella doing an emotionless flatline. Klebe just screams CRAZY CHICK so when she starts mumbling and playing with Barbie Dolls it's not exactly a "whoa - never saw that coming" moment.
The only thing to really recommend DEMENTIA is Jones. He's playing a really interesting and complex character - a once very bad man who in his old age is trying to change is ways. It's also nicely ambiguous. The viewer is forced into the uncomfortable position of having to understand that bad people can nevertheless sometimes suffer cruelly at the hands of other evil people. Lockhart was a brave soldier tortured brutally. He was also an alcoholic prick who beat his wife. He'll defend a child from a bully and be a loving grandfather but he'll also pull a gun on someone for absurd reasons. Watching him struggle after his stroke you feel pity but when this "dry alike" is pushed back to the dark side you realize his vicious tendencies weren't quite as dormant as you thought.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Visually, this 2.35:1 AVC encoded 1080p transfer looks fine. For a movie with a lot of dark and weirdly lit scenes clarity and detail are strong. Facial closeups are particularly strong and some tricky scenes shot in lower light never lose detail. Transfers like this are hard to write about because they are simply unremarkable in their professionalism. This one looks quite nice.
The audio, on the other hand, is a bit more problematic. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 DTS-HD tracks suffer from some sometimes sloppy mixing that makes the occasionally overbearing musical score swamp the dialog. This is a major problem in a crucial late scene where key dialog is being delivered. I had to actually activate the subtitles. General fidelity is good but the mixing is a problem.
Extras? Aside from some trailers for other Shout!/Scream products, none. A DVD version is also included.
The Final Word:
Aside from the fine work here from Jones, this isn't a very good film. It's got a shopworn plot, crowded narrative and pedestrian presentation overall. Jones needs a better vehicle to star in next. Recommended only for a rental.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
