A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)
"La nuit des étoiles filantes" (original title)

A girl arrives from London to visit her estranged relatives in a remote castle for the reading of her father's will. After a while she discovers that they are all in fact dead and her ... See full summary »

Directors:

Jesús Franco, Jean Rollin

Writers:

Jesús Franco, Paul D'Ales (French dialogue)

Stars:

Christina von Blanc, Britt Nichols, Rosa Palomar

Cast

Cast overview:
Christina von Blanc	...	Christina Benton (as Cristine von Blanc)
Britt Nichols	...	Carmencé (as Britt Nickols)
Rosa Palomar	...	Aunt Abigail
Anne Libert	...	The Queen of the Night
Howard Vernon	...	Uncle Howard
Jesús Franco	...	Basilio (as Jesus Manera)
Paul Muller	...	Ernesto Pablo Reiner, Christina's father

Storyline

A girl arrives from London to visit her estranged relatives in a remote castle for the reading of her father's will. After a while she discovers that they are all in fact dead and her decision to live with them turns into a nightmare. Unable to leave she's drawn into a macabre underworld through visions of nude satanic rituals and her own impending sacrifice.

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Plot Keywords:

nightmare | castle | remote | will | playing footsie | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Belgium France Italy Liechtenstein

Language:

French

Release Date:

26 October 1978 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Zombie 4: A Virgin Among the Living Dead

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 7,494,043 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prodif Ets., Brux International Pictures, Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 92 min (DVD) 79 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Footage shot for Zombie Lake was spliced into this film for subsequent releases.

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Goofs

Just past the nine-minute mark, when Christina stands next to the guy playing piano, she casts a shadow on the right side of his face, which appears and disappears in each shot.

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Quotes

Blind Girl: What did you do that for? Poor soul! You shattered the big ebony phallus! Poor soul! Misery is now your lot!
Christina Benton: Misery? I'll be miserable?
Blind Girl: Poor soul! Beyond words! You must get away from here. You'll fry in your own hell, believe me. Ask me no questions, just get away from here.

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Connections

Featured in Zombiethon (1986)

User Reviews

Franco Rides Again

Jess Franco brings to us another one of his Eurocine specials. This zombie/softcore entry introduces us to Christina a youmg girl who has been raised in boarding schools her entire life. Her mother died when she was very young and she hasn't seen her father since she was a child. When Christina (the titular Virgin in the title) is summoned to her ancestral home for the reading of her father's will she meets her twisted relatives who expose her to their strange lifestyles. This is basically a witches' brew of a film. Add an easily coruptable virgin,twisted family perverts, a french castle, a pinch of zombie pathos and a generous helping of skin and presto. This is one of Jess Franco's better looking films with good photography and decent camera work. The movie was recently released in a director's cut dvd version by Image and is well worth a look for fans and the occasional Jess Franco virgin. 7/10