A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

Following the death of her father, a young girl visits her estranged family at their sinister castle in the countryside, and comes to realize her eccentric and morbid relatives are not quite alive.

Directors:

Jesús Franco (as Jess Franco), Pierre Quérut (uncredited)

Writers:

Jesús Franco (as Jess Franco), Paul D'Ales (French dialogue)

Stars:

Christina von Blanc, Carmen Yazalde, Anne Libert

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christina von Blanc	...	Christina (as Cristine von Blanc)
Carmen Yazalde	...	Carmencé - Abigail and Howard's Daughter (as Britt Nickols)
Anne Libert	...	The Queen of the Night
Rosa Palomar	...	Abigail - Howard's Wife
Howard Vernon	...	Howard - Christina's Uncle
Jesús Franco	...	Basilio - Mute Servant (as Jesus Manera)
Paul Muller	...	Ernesto - Christina's Father

Storyline

The student Christina travels from her boarding school in London to the castle of her family in Montserrat for the reading of the will of her father Ernesto that she has never known and recently committed suicide. On the arrival, she spends the night in an inn and the owner tells that nobody lives at the castle. On the next morning, she is taken to the castle by the mute servant, where she meets her weird Uncle Howard, his wife Abigail and his daughter Carmencé and Linda, a blind girl. They tell that her stepmother Herminia is on the deathbed. When she visits Hermínia, she tells her to leave the castle and dies. She starts entwining daydreams and nightmares with reality. When the will is read, she inherits the mansion. She asks them all to remain there and live with her because she is lonely. When she has an encounter with the spirit of her deceased father, he tries to warn her to leave that place that is evil, but it is too late.

---

Plot Keywords:

sex horror | castle | softcore | blood | erotica | 

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Footage shot eight years later, for Zombie Lake (1981), was edited into this film for subsequent releases.

---

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.

---

Quotes

guy: [after seeing Christina swimming nude] You shouldn't go around showing your ass!
Christina Benton: And why not?

---

Alternate Versions

The 1985 UK video featured the longer print and was passed uncut. For the 1993 Redemption release the shorter version was used and was cut by 1 min 19 secs to heavily edit the rape scene. The Arrow DVD features the same cut print as the Redemption video.

---

Connections

Featured in The Cinema Snob: Los Ritos Sexuales Del Diablo (2007)

User Reviews

The Uncut Version is great~

The viewer that purchased the movie in a sale bin for 5 bucks, said it sucked!! Well with the entire movie on the cutting floor I can wonder why. I just finished the movie tonight, and saw the complete uncut version. It is the complete version with all the scenes. The FULL VERSION is great, spend some time to find the right copy, and then write your summary.

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

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) 105 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1