Deranged (1987 film)
| Deranged | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Chuck Vincent |
| Written by | Craig Horrall |
| Produced by | Chuck Vincent |
| Starring | Veronica Hart Jamie Gillis Jerry Butler |
| Cinematography | Chuck Vincent |
| Edited by | James Davalos |
| Music by | Bill Heller |
Production companies | Platinum Pictures, Inc. |
Release date |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | <$200,000.[1] |
Deranged is a 1987 horror film directed by Chuck Vincent.
Plot
Joyce has been suffering from schizophrenia ever since the death of her father. When Joyce is brutally attacked by a home invader, she kills the intruder by stabbing him with a pair of scissors. She later has a miscarriage as a result of the attack. As a result of her mental state, she does not call the police and instead stays isolated in her apartment, living on delivered food from and having visions of her therapist, her mother, and her father.
Cast
Production
Chuck Vincent had long developed the idea of doing a single set film with flashbacks and compared it structurally to a stage play. He also cited the Pornographic horror film Memories Within Miss Aggie by Gerard Damiano as an influence. Vincent shot the film in continuity over the course of five days following a three day rehearsal. In order to avoid an X-rating, the MPAA required Vincent to cut out some violence and eliminate a scene in which an intimate couple in bed was in the same shot as a baby. Vincent acquiesced as he did not feel the cut content was especially important. Vincent was unaware there was previously a 1974 film with the same title, as the MPAA never told him. He was able to keep the title as the producers of the 1974 film never registered the title.[1]
Veronica Hart was credited under her real name Jane Hamilton in the film.[3]
Release
Deranged had its premiere at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival on May 10, 1987.[4] A release in the United States followed on October 30, 1987.[4]
Reception
Rob Winning, writing for Cinefantastique, praised the direction and ending, but called the acting "abysmal".[1] Caryn James, in a review for The New York Times, gave the film a negative review, writing that "None of this is very suspenseful or convincing."[5] Michael Weldon's The Psychotronic Video Guide described the film as "pretty unwatchable" and "one of those pretentious reality-vs-fantasy plots that allow the director to get away with all kinds of nonsense."[6] The film has been compared to the 1980 rape and revenge film Demented.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Goldman, Lowell (July 1989). "Chuck Vincent on directing horror in DERANGED". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Staff, TLA Publication; Publication, Tla (1996). TLA Film and Video Guide, 1996-1997. T L A Video Management, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-880707-02-9.
- ^ Nash, Jay Robert (1988). The Motion Picture Guide: The Films of 1987. 1988 annual. CineBooks. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-933997-16-5.
- ^ a b "Deranged (1987)". TCM. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ James, Caryn (1987-10-31). "Film: 'Deranged,' Suspense, With Visions and Killings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
- ^ Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film. Macmillan. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
- ^ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2021-04-12). Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-4766-8649-3.