“The sophomore feature from writer/director Chad Crawford Kinkle, whose 2013 film JUG FACE made waves across the indie genre scene, DEMENTER is daring, full-force arthouse horror that pulls absolutely no punches.
Katie (Katie Groshong, A Measure of the Sin, Jug Face), a young woman determined to do something positive with her life after fleeing from a backwoods cult, takes a job at a center for special needs adults. Desperately attempting to live a normal life, she is overwhelmed by signs that “the devils” are after Stephanie (newcomer Stephanie Kinkle), a woman with Down Syndrome that she now cares for.
Using writings from a strange notebook, Katie creates rituals to ward away the evil while taking care of Stephanie at the center and in her home. But nothing seems to work, and Stephanie is becoming sicker with each passing day…
Building this special project around his sister Stephanie, who has Down Syndrome and plays one of the film’s leads, writer/director Chad Crawford Kinkle has gone to great lengths to create a bold genre film that embraces and properly represents the developmentally disabled, while still being both thrilling and disturbing. The result is a singular, deeply personal independent feature unlike any before it.
DEMENTER is written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle, and stars Katie Groshong, Stephanie Kinkle, Brandy Edmiston, Eller Hall, and Larry Fessenden. It is produced by Ashleigh Snead and Chad Crawford Kinkle.”