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Daughter of Horror
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| Release Date: |
22 December, 1955 |
| Director: |
John Parker |
| Studio: |
Kino Video |
| Rated: |
Unrated |
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Amazon.com Customer Reviews
 Rated 5 out of 5!
Flawed yet fascinating film; DVD has everything you need
Like others, I had read about this film for years, and seen the clips in The Blob, but never actually saw the whole movie until buying this DVD. It’’s such an anachronism, coming from the early 1950s, that it took a couple of viewings for me to be able to be objective about it. Compared to 99% of movies of its time it’’s quite avant-garde, from it’’s lurid content to its circular, dreamlike story structure, its complete lack of dialogue, expressionist use of photography and locations, Freudian symbolism, etc. There are moments of brilliance, and comparisons to Bunuel, Cocteau, Lynch, and Welles are not wholly unwarranted. (Is it possible that David Lynch never saw the ’’chicken eating’’ scene?) On the downside, it suffers in some of the same ways that other low-budget indies of the time do, particularly in the pacing and the acting. The female lead in particular (the director’’s neice) just doesn’’t have any charisma whatsoever, and she and others mug broadly at times, attempting to convey emotion and plot without words. This could have been a landmark film with a capable actress in the lead. As it is, it’’s an extremely interesting experiment that also holds up to multiple viewings. John Parker definitely gets an A for effort, daring, and vision. The execution’’s just a little uneven.
Kino’’s DVD presents both the silent, unedited Dementia and the minimally narrated, edited Daughter of Horror. I found the narrated version not necessarily much worse (except of course for the cuts) but just different in tone, more ’’campy.’’ Purists will probably stick with the original cut. The supplements include a trailer (for Daughter of Horror), still gallery, and detailed production history. The prints show some light speckling, but otherwise exhibit very good tonal values, sharpness, and detail. This movie is not for everyone, but if you’’re into avant-garde, film noir, B&W 50s indies, exploitation, or offbeat horror you’’ll probably find it rewarding.
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