Eine Jungfrau in den Krallen von Zombies (1973)

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 (as Jess Franco), Jean Rollin

Writers:

Jesús Franco (as Jess 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:

will | nightmare | castle | remote | bats | 

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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

Filming Locations:

Parque da Gandarinha, Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal

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 (DVD) 79 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Listed among "The worst Movies of all Times" by Giesen/Hahn (Giesen, Rolf / Hahn, Ronald M.; Die schlechtesten Filme aller Zeiten ; BVA, Berlin, 2002)

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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

Referenced in Brunnen (2005)

User Reviews

one man's trash is another man's treasure. . .

And does that EVER apply here! I have a really soft spot for this crapper. Long, long ago, I saw it under the title "A Virgin Among the Living Dead". It made no sense! Then, years later, in my pursuit of obtaining bad films, I found an almost-uncut version. There are so many different edits of this film, it's hard to find the definitive cut. The one I currently have makes much more sense than the usual rental version.

To clear things up, zombies were not part of the original film (titled "Christine, Princess of Eroticism"). The zombie footage was taken mostly - if not entirely - from "Zombie Lake" (1980), which means they were spliced in well after "Virgin" was released (1971). Anyway, "Virgin" is about a girl named Christine, who journeys to her uncle's chateau for the reading of his will. What she finds is both revolting (to the squeamish) and humorous. Jess Franco does his job of playing the disheveled freak rather well. He just looks like a sleazebag. He also does an adequate directing job. The movie is very stylish as is typical with Franco's work, but also rather visually stunning, with the shots of the lush forest surrounding the chateau. There is even some strong atmosphere, particularly when, in one scene, Christine's uncle is drawn back into the shadows after speaking to her.

The film culminates in a sexual ritual that is severely--not to mention ridiculously, at least with the "Zombie 4" version--edited on any of the American prints. In fact, many of the scenes that help make the film more cohesive are also excised from American prints. The (as close as possible to) uncut version is really good if given a chance. Though not necessary, outside. . .influences can only help the viewer (and no doubt were used during the making of this trash classic). "Virgin" + melatonin + dank fun dreamy state.

Unfortunately, as so many others have mentioned, you won't see Christine nude unless you can find a completely unedited tape. She sure is hot! Shame she was only in three films (at least according to the IMDb). So that's it. I like it, but most don't. It's worth seeing just because it's better than any given American slasher flick.