Dementia

i gave this title a 5 as it was kind of entertaining, there are a few films i have rated 0 and ended up turning of and this did not warrant that.

One thing i will say which is along the same lines as the other reviewers thus far is that it seemed more like a TV movie and within the first twenty minutes i had kinda worked out the plot. having said that it was nice to just chill out with a film that required not a lot of focus, it did the job.

An annoying point is the classification and Genre labelling of late on here and many other sites that put a film into the Horror category and this was labelled this as well as a Thriller. This was no more a Horror than ET and Thriller is what it was.

its mediocre at best hence my 5 rating.

You may well recognize Gene Jones from any number of movies ("The Sacrament", "No Country for Old Men") but you likely don't know his name. Such is the lot of a character actor. Jones is exceptional as he takes the lead in the horror drama "Dementia". His interpretation of George Lockhart, a crusty codger with a horrifying past, is both affecting and ultimately chilling.

Other than that Hassie Harrison as Lockhart's granddaughter is unbearably adorable. And we get further substantiation that Vietnam irrevocably f'd up the lives of far too many.

Like every other damn war before, since or that may ever be.

It builds you up and gets you somewhat into it (not much) and then has a terrible ending. I don't recommend wasting your time. It's a let down!

What was the point in drowning the dialogue in the end with superloud music so you couldn't even hear the big reveal?

Or was that even intentional?

My guess is that the revealing words simply was too trivial and the editors thought that the viewers wouldn't like it so let's just blast the violins.

Other than that it had it's moments I guess, the old man was a decent enough actor... Awfully slow movie though but 'horror' movies with 'nothing happening' until the last 15 minutes are very popular these days.

Yeah I don't know what more to say as I'm not sure what happened in the last 5 minutes because of the worst sound-mixing of all time.

It wasn't great before it but acceptable (you could actually hear what the characters were saying after all) but my goodness felt like I was ripped off in the ending.

Sometimes I wonder when I read reviews here if anyone actually even enjoys movies anymore or if everyone is, as Beckett would lovingly call, a CRRRRITIC (a "critic" for those of you who have not read Waiting for Godot). Waiting, however, seems to be a virtue of the past.

Honestly, the biggest criticism should be that this movie was erroneously marketed as a horror movie when it is actually a psychological thriller.

Dementia is a slow burn that first and foremost is anchored by two outstanding performances by veteran actor Gene Jones (The Sacrament & No Country For Old Men) and sadly far too unknown character actress Kristina Klebe (Rob Zombie's Halloween & Proxy). The supporting cast is equally talented and Steve Agee is hilarious in his appearance.

As a New Yorker, I take a NY Times Review and especially a critic's pic very seriously. And I was not wrong to trust the Times on this one.

I recommend this movie if you enjoy refreshing, truth-based performances, layered characters and a good story that keeps you on your feet from beginning to end.

*The only reason I gave this a 9 is because there is a strange sound mix issue in the last 5 minutes that made hearing some of the last scene difficult - I hope they fix this.