A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) User Reviews

Franco Rides Again

[suspiria10 · 6/10 · 12 April 2003]

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

Not Franco's best film, not his worst either.

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 30 December 2017]

Appears to be many different versions of this film released over the decades, the one I saw is the British 2017 DVD rated 18. Apparently this is the Director's Cut, uncut. Included in the discs extras are a couple of X-rated scenes, one show a man's erect penis, other is a rape sequence. Not sure if these were part of the original film or added at a later date, either way their absence from the feature is no loss. On to the film itself - a young girl from England (I lazily watched the dubbed version which has her with an American accent!) is summoned to Monserrat Mansion for the reading of her late father's will. Being a Franco movie we have his usual combination of gothic horror and sex. In fact the horror is pretty tame, apart from some blood drinking, ghosts & a few severed body parts. Focus is more on young, female nudity in all it's full frontal beauty. Jess Franco is a director who you either like him or you don't. Plot wise this is tricky to grasp, especially at the end, but that's pretty normal for Jess. Some fantastic camera work - the hanged man travelling backwards in particular, great musical score & nice locations. Plus a bevy of beautiful naked girls. And Jess himself plays a main character, all be it a cretin! Certainly not to your average horror fan's taste but to those of us who like Franco/Euro horror it's a worthy addition.

I had such high hopes for this one

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 3 May 2005]

• Jess Franco's A Virgin Among the Living Dead was a real disappointment to me. Based on the plot descriptions I had read on the internet and the recommendations of a few trusted movie friends, I was sure that it would become one of my favorite Franco films. The living dead family are the biggest bunch of "do nothings" I've seen. Other than play the piano, have sex, and stand around talking, they really don't do much of anything. At a minimum, I would have thought they would be creepy, but dressed in their mod 70s outfits, they look like swingers on the make. I've come to expect more of my living dead.

• Franco's camera work (or it could possibly be the editing) is especially erratic in A Virgin Among the Living Dead. The film presents random flashes of images that have nothing to do with what's taking place on screen. The movie features random shots of various trees, random bushes on the side of the road, a couple of unknown people, an unidentified lake, and an unidentified fisherman. In several scenes, it's obvious that Franco had some extra footage he took from a car window or while walking in a forest that he included in the movie. While some of the other shots are quite nice to look at, they don't overcome the chaotic imagery.

• Acting is the strong point in the movie. Even though he has one of the goofiest characters I've seen him play, Howard Vernon gives a very nice performance. Paul Muller, in a small role, is as solid as ever. But the surprise for me came from Christina von Blanc. For a relative unknown, she does a nice job in the title role of the "virgin".

Time to put you straight on a few things...

[Jasper-18 · 14 June 2000]

It's a shame that most people here seem to have seen a cut version of this film, because the actual original is absolutely beautiful, and belies the criticism that Franco was a complete hack. It is a perfect example of what can be achieved in the horror genre with an almost zero budget in what was probably the director's busiest period. However most people seem to have seen the US release print, which also circulated on video in the UK in the 80's under the title of `The Invisible Dead'. This film was marketed as being a successor to Fulci's `Zombi', and basically was padded out with scenes from Jean Rollin's `Lake of Zombies' (shot almost 10 years after Franco's original film) and had all nudity removed.

There is another version which circulated with hardcore black mass footage featuring Franco regular Alice Arno and a host of stunt doubles for Vernon, Nichols and von Blanc.

The only video release of the original film at present is on Redemption, featuring a couple of nude mass scenes, some lesbian vampire sucking, a bizarre scene where Christina knocks over a giant phallus and an effectively hypnotic score from Bruno Nicolai. The UK version is missing the rather graphic rape scene present in the Benelux versions.

Christina von Blanc never unfortunately appeared in any other Franco films – in fact only appeared in a couple of others including the giallo `L'Etrusco uccide ancora'. The delightful pairing of Britt Nichols and Anne Libert occurs again in his bizarre `Erotic Rites of Frankenstein' and `Les Demons', amongst other films of the period. If you are interested in Franco, this is one of his best of the period, very atmospheric and deserves to be seen in its original version.

Stylish Trash

[claudio_carvalho · 2/10 · 20 July 2014]

The student Christina Reiner (Cristine von Blanc) travels from her boarding school in London to the castle of her family in Montserrat for the reading of the will of her father that she has never known and recently committed suicide. On the arrival, she spends the night in an inn and people tell that nobody lives at the castle. On the next morning, the mute servant Basilio (Jesús Franco) brings Christina to the Montserrat castle, where she meets her weird Uncle Howard (Howard Vernon) that is playing waltz on the piano and her cousin Carmencé (Britt Nickols) that is painting her nails and they tell that her stepmother Herminia (Rose Kiekens) is on the deathbed. She visits Hermínia that tells her to leave the castle and dies. Christina also meets her Aunt Abigail (Rosa Palomar) and a Blind Girl and while waiting for the attorney, she entwines daydreams and nightmares with reality. When she has an encounter with the spirit of her deceased father Ernesto Pablo Reiner (Paul Muller), he tries to warn her to leave that place that is evil, but it is too late.

"La nuit des étoiles filantes" is a stylish and senseless trash by Jésus Franco. The story has a promising beginning, but suddenly the plot seems to be incomplete and does not make sense at all. I believe that the problem is the different versions of Jésus Franco's feature. The DVD released in Brazil, for example, has audio only in English and Portuguese but the introduction is written in French; the lead character is Christina Reiner, and not Christina Benton; there is Death, and not The Queen of the Night; the raping scene is totally mutilated. Therefore, his movies are edited in the most different ways and this procedure certainly makes the story senseless. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "A Virgem e os Mortos" (The Virgin and the Dead")

A Virgin Among the Living Dead review

[JoeytheBrit · 2/10 · 21 April 2020]

A young girl finds that she was probably better off never meeting the family she'd never met when she is troubled by a series of nightmares. The lovely Christina Von Blanc keeps losing her clothes in this otherwise difficult watch. Euro-sleaze director Jess Franco goes all artistic and leaves us guessing whether what we're watching is reality or one of Christina's nightmares. The off-kilter atmosphere and the girls bonkers family keep it watchable for half-an-hour, but the lack of narrative momentum is fatal.

You think Manos: The Hand of Fate was bad? You ain't seen nothin' yet!

[nebbin · 1/10 · 22 February 2000]

I bought this movie at a video store near me that is closing down for $5. I got it because a) it is out of print, b) the zombie photos on the back of the box looked halfway scary, and c) the cover art was fantastic!

I got a real letdown. Actually, it wasn't much of a letdown; I expected the movie to stink, but I got more than I bargained for. There are spoilers ahead, so if you actually want to be surprised(frustrated is more like it) stop reading now.

Okay, so the whole movie is this girl being chased by zombies- actually just regular-looking people, some with really bad teeth. And the zombies' scariest mode of attack was waving their hands in front of your face like a little kid impersonating Dracula or something. "Does this bug you? I'm not touching you" was all i could think.

The movie faded from dream to reality, never knowing what was a dream and what wasn't. And finally, at the very end, the whole movie was a dream. I wish the movie had been a dream. Did the director/writers think this was going to make sense... or be scary?

And what about the title? My version was called "A Virgin Among the Living Dead." Well, the girl was never mentioned to be a virgin, and in fact virginity(is that a word?) had nothing to do with the movie. Another title for the film was "Christine: Queen of the Erotic." Was there anything `erotic' about the movie at all? No nudity... no sex... no *mention* of sex. Just dreams about stupid looking zombies. And if some zombies started waving their hands in your face, couldn't you kick the crap out of them rather easily? One other title: "Zombie 4." What is this movie a sequel to? Lucio Fulci's "Zombie" was filmed years later. Am I missing something? Please e-mail me if you know what this is a sequel to!

One last thing: The photographs of zombies on the back of the box were apparently scenes from ANOTHER MOVIE because they didn't appear in this film at all!!! The zombies in this movie were just humans with no(or little) makeup AT ALL. Apparently, the movie stunk so bad they had to use scenes from another movie on the back of the box. Ditto with the truly awesome cover art; I think they paid more for the artwork than the movie(a lot of cheesy movies have great cover art). I think the scenes from the back might be from "Zombie Lake," because the IMDB says in the `Trivia' area for this movie that it used scenes from `Zombie Lake,' although I didn't see any scenes which looked lifted from the other movie. Although I haven't seen the other movie, I assume this because reviews for ZL mentioned green face paint and these zombies had none. Then again, the zombies on the back of the box looked better than the reviewers are saying the zombies from `Zombie Lake' looked, so who knows.

I think I've used up more than my share of space for this review, but the last thing I want to say was Manos was cool compared to this film. I give this movie * out of *****(with * being the least possible stars). Manos gets a *1/2.

Final quote(from the movie!) if you decide to see it: "Don't say I didn't warn you."

A dash of Franco, a generous helping of Rollin

[fertilecelluloid · 7/10 · 21 August 2005]

Take a dash of Franco and layer in a generous helping of Rollin and, viola!, you have A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD.

This is a work of atmosphere and subtle eroticism. Although it is not a zombie film, death -- and those who wear its cloak -- is its central theme.

Christina von Blanc, an achingly beautiful creature, plays Englishwoman "Christine" who journeys to the rambling estate of her late father (Franco regular Paul Muller) for the reading of his will. Her stay is a nightmarish one as she is harassed by several socially challenged relatives (Howard Vernon being one), a muttering Igor (Franco himself) and local miscreants.

Not as technically accomplished as Franco work such as THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF or even DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER, this piece is, nevertheless, dream-like and filled with mood and unease. Bruno Nocolai's score is quietly evocative and Jose Climent's photography is low rent but brimming with inspiration. The rural locations are gorgeous, too.

Typically, the dramatic revelations are hackneyed and not everything makes much sense, but that is Franco's way, and if you can't accept that, steer clear of his fascinating, uneven oeuvre.

Ms. von Blanc makes every one of her screen moments sparkle and comes closest to possessing the magical aura of the late, great Soledad Miranda, Franco's most exquisite leading lady and muse.

Quite Dull

[Uriah43 · 3/10 · 12 April 2014]

This movie begins with a young woman by the name of "Christina Benton" (Christina von Blanc) traveling from London to a castle somewhere in either Belgium or France in order to attend the reading of her late father's will. Along the way she is warned not to go but she continues on anyway. Once she arrives, she is greeted by her distant relatives who have taken up residence there. Again, she is discreetly warned by two of them to leave immediately but she disregards their advice too. On top of that, the longer she stays the more she discovers just how weird her relatives are. Yet she still continues to stay. Anyway, rather than disclose the rest of the story and possibly ruin the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a Euro-horror film that was sadly typical of the early 70's. The fact that it was dubbed in English didn't concern me nearly as much as the overall plot which seemed chaotic and confused. Along with that, excluding the very end of the film, I thought most of the movie was quite dull. Be that as it may, I must admit that I thought Christina was absolutely gorgeous. Likewise, Britt Nichols (as "Carmencé") and Ann Libert (as "The Queen of the Night") also had their moments. But other than that, I saw nothing worthwhile in this movie. Accordingly, I rate it as below average.

Ever get the feeling this wasn't intended for the sober?

[Tromafreak · 7/10 · 26 January 2009]

I'm not implying that watching this drunk would be a great idea, I meant it in a "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" kind of way, if that makes no sense. nevermind. Back to the subject. We already have Night of the Living Dead, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, we even got a Hell of the Living Dead, so why the hell not A Virgin Among the Living Dead? They could probably use one. Although, that's not the original title, and has absolutely nothing to do with what goes on, I'm not entirely sure what to think of this one, yet, that's probably why I dig it so much. What almost seems more like some kind of shroom-dream... make that shroom-nightmare, A Virgin Among the Living Dead is director, Jess Franco's exploration into the grey area between life and death, or at least that's what they say. As of this moment, all traditional B-horror rules have now been thrown out the window.

We begin with a young woman, Christina, traveling to an out of the way, castle, in Spain. There, stay the relatives of her estranged father, who has recently committed suicide, soon, there will be a reading of the will. Once Christina arrives in town, she's looked at like shes crazy after asking for directions, she's told no one lives there. The next day, with the guidance of a mute, Christina arrives at Monserat, to find that all her relatives are somewhere between eccentric, and insane. Monserat is filled with some kind of evil/confusion/ insanity, it's just very incoherent. Although her peculiar relatives seem kind of harmless, Christina suspects that something is a little off, when her step-mother warns her to leave, seconds before her death, not to mention bizarre occurrences such as, waking up one morning to find a big, black dildo on the floor, and a blind girl sitting in the corner, walking in on blood sucking sessions, finding dead bats on her bed, just, confusion, after confusion. and not even being allowed to have friends over, also seems a bit suspicious. Besides all the random confusion, it really seems like death is hovering over everything. With this film coming off as a dream, and being about death, then, isn't this just one big nightmare? Possibly, but I think it's deeper than that.

It is said that Jess Franco made this film as a way to cope with the death of Soledad Miranda, hence, the emphasis on death. For a horror film to come off as a genuine nightmare will always be a job well done, regardless of the intended message. Whatever message Franco intended, was intended for Franco, we're just lucky that he shared it with us, because witnessing such surreal magnificence really is a rare experience. The vibe of this film is simply indescribable. For more dream on film, check out Messiah of Evil, and Death Bed, although, You really won't find anything quite like this one anywhere, not even from Franco. Above all else, A Virgin Among The Living Dead is bold, independent film-making in its purest form. 9/10

Pure cult...but not accessible to everyone.

[Coventry · 3/10 · 28 July 2003]

Jesus Franco is one remarkable director. He made tons of films by using tons of different names. Some of them are absolutely brilliant and few of the greatest Italian cult titles out there. Some of them are rather disappointing and only enjoyable if you're a die hard cult fan. Virgin among the living dead (I use the title I think it's best known as) belongs to category number 2, I'm afraid. It doesn't make the least bit impression and unfortunately, it ain't bad enough to be "good". The whole story is about a young and attractive girl. She runs around more naked than girls in a porno movie, so if you like that, you made a wise choice seeing this film. I didn't mind myself of course, but after a while it really starts to become boring. It's not of any importance to the story and it certainly ain't artistic if that's what they thought. OK, so the girl is invited to a castle after her father died. In this castle, some family members of the girl live together. These people are the living dead...zombies, but they look like normal people. Christina sees her dead father appear ( with the rope around his neck all the time, that's rather funny ) and he warns her about them and he tells Christina to get out of there. what else is there to say about Virgin among the Living Dead ? Nothing actually, these kind of films still beat the mainstream and average nowadays horror films but overall they don't mean much. Well, at least not this one. I can give a lot of other titles Jess Franco made who DID were fascinating and masterpieces. The awful Dr. Orlof just to name one. I don't really blame Jess Franco for this. Like I already said, he made enough movies to check out (about 200, almost all of them made with a different name) My advise : if you're not a true Italian cult fan, skip this one and start your search for Dr. Orloff. Next !

a bizarre masterpiece

[sangue · 10/10 · 13 June 2000]

most have only seen the cut version with added zombie footage shot by director Jean Rollin, which makes the film an irritating, confusing mess. the uncut european version is a GREAT confusing mess! one of Franco's personal favorites, which he also ha a meaty acting role as Basillio, a deranged mute. great cinematography, great weird performances from all the actors, and a kick-ass score by Brun Nicholi. best watched very late at night, but be sure to track down an uncut print.

Franco hidden gem

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 24 October 2018]

"A Virgin Among the Living Dead" is an unjustly overlooked gem from Franco's mid-period, wherein he fully embraced erotica and dreamlike narratives.

I forget who it was - maybe Truffaut, Maybe Godard - who said that the best way to criticise a movie is to make another movie. "Virgin" functions like a critique of Franco's more famous "Vampyros Lesbos". That one too had a more than average dollop of eroticism and dreaminess. However, in that movie, the eroticism failed to do anything, and the dreamlike nature of the story seemed employed to mask the fact that the script didn't make any sense.

I hazard a guess that the huge, overwhelming majority of movies given the "dreamlike" tag are such pictures. "Dreamlike" is just a polite way of saying "nonsensical". "Virgin Among the Living Dead" is a rare example of a movie that achieves its dreamlike atmosphere, and its eroticism. In so doing it is like a living rebuke to "Vampyros Lesbos". The only thing that movie had over this was the presence of Soledad Miranda. The main actress in "Virgin" is beautiful but doesn't have the hypnotic quality Miranda effortlessly possessed.

The plot is sparse and rather typical of Eurohorror. A young girl comes to stay with her estranged family in a small rural community after the suicide of her family. Yes, she spends the night in a hotel first, where she mentions where she is going and gets a predictable reaction - it really seems like practically all Eurohorror movies begin this way. However, in this case the effect is different as the hotel isn't crowded with people who shut up as soon as she mentions where she is headed - rather, the hotel is empty save for the hostess. This subtle difference foreshadows Franco's off-kilter approach to his familiar material.

Any fans of Eurohorror know that the gods of the genre - Fulci, Argento, Franco, even Joe D'amato - had a hidden reserve of talent they used to breathtaking effect early in their careers, before moving on to bargain basement slop for the lion's share of their working lives. "A Virgin Among the Living Dead" is like a call back to the early days of the '60s, where Franco was a promising director, even in the minds of mainstream critics. It is extremely well shot, and subtly effective - absent is the violence the director would become known for.

It is a must see for Franco, and Eurohorror, fans.

One for fans of pompous art-house Euro-horror!

[BA_Harrison · 1/10 · 14 March 2006]

Surreal, dreamlike, lyrical, macabre – words you may have seen used to describe this slice of Gothic Euro-horror from prolific Spanish director Jess Franco.

Having just watched the 'uncut and uncensored' DVD of Virgin Among The Living Dead, I would personally use words such as boring, stupefying, incomprehensible and pretentious to convey my feelings about this dreadful film.

Jess Franco's employs his usual 'stylish' flourishes (ie. awful zooms, extreme close-ups, bad editing) and throws in a fair amount of nudity, to tell the tale of Christina (played by the gorgeous Christina Von Blanc) who travels to her ancestral home to attend the reading of a will. There she meets the other members of her family for the first time – a group of weirdos and lunatics who spend the rest of the film stripping off, drinking blood and generally acting freaky.

Christina witnesses many bizarre events during her stay and is eventually found delirious, wandering in the woods, and is taken to the hotel where she stayed the night before. Here, she is seen reaching out to a woman, who leads her into a lake where she disappears under the surface. Is this a dream? Reality? Is she actually dead? Do we really care? By the end of the film, I was struggling to keep myself awake. As I was reaching for the 'stop' button, lo and behold, a whole slew of 'bonus scenes' popped up on my screen, featuring some of the worst zombies in cinematic history (apparently the work of French horror auteur Jean Rollin – nice job, Jean!).

Now I don't want to sound like a philistine – after all, there are plenty of people out there who laud this as a classic – but 'Virgin Among The Living Dead' really stands out as a low point in my horror-viewing history. Bar the naked chicks and one groovy scene featuring a man floating backwards with a rope around his neck, I really found this 'classic' to be a chore to watch. You have been warned.

Make sure you see the original uncut version!

[Infofreak · 13 January 2002]

Many of the comments here are written about the hacked up version of 'A Virgin Among The Living Dead' so ignore them. This is actually a very watchable movie, not the best Jess Franco I have seen, but still above average. More an erotic fantasy than a horror movie per se, it will appeal to fans of 60s/70s Euroschlock like 'Nude For Satan' and Franco's classic 'Vampyros Lesbos'.

The stunningly beautiful Christina von Blanc plays the lovely innocent Christina Benson, who is summoned from boarding school in England to the reading of her father's will in a spooky castle. She never really knew her father, or had previously met her bizarre relatives who live in the castle, which according to the locals is deserted. It doesn't take much to work out her family's "secret", the title tells all. Christina however, is a bit slow to catch on. She spends most of her time wandering around in a daze, often naked (great news for us viewers!), and increasingly unable to tell dream from reality.

There's not much action in this movie, and very little horror, but it has an almost Argento-like nightmarish feel to it, and like most of Franco's output, is very stylish despite the obviously low budget. The sight of the gorgeous Ms. Blanc is more than enough for me to recommend this movie. One look at her and any failings 'A Virgin Among The Living Dead' has will quickly be forgotten! An enjoyable fun movie.

snoozer

[dopefishie · 3/10 · 1 November 2022]

There are a few things going well here. The soundtrack stands out as being one of the best in a Franco film. The lead is captivating and easy to watch (even thought she's not given much to do). And the gothic setting, use of color, and cinematography are beautiful (except some of the night scenes which are too dark).

However, despite all that, this film is a snoozer. There is very little plot. There are gratuitous sex scenes that add nothing to the story. There are gratuitous wandering through the mansion scenes, wandering through the forest scenes, and wandering around and it was just a dream scenes. It just doesn't add up to anything, and it takes forever. It's a shame cuz some of these scenes are gorgeous.

What a Bore!

[davelynch16 · 1/10 · 29 September 2003]

I have the uncut version of this mess. I should have known better then to seek out this. Because I have a couple of Franco Movies, namely, Devil Hunter, Which is even worse. and Jack the Ripper. What a weird and confusing movie this is. And I don't mean that in a good way. The only reason for watching this crap is the nudity on offer by some top totty. I don't mind spoiling this for anyone by telling you that (from what I could understand) the girl is dead all along. There I have just saved you the price of a rental, and spared 90 min of your life. You have been warned AVOID 1/10 for the Nudity

One of Franco's worst movies ... and that's saying a lot.

[squeezebox · 2/10 · 24 January 2003]

The infamous porn/horror/exploitation filmmaker Jess Franco has made over 150 movies during the course of his astonishing fifty year career--and about five of them are good. A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD might not actually be his worst, but it's definitely the worst I know of.

Incoherent, unrelentingly repetitive (we see the same ridiculous dream sequence THREE TIMES in its entirety), terribly shot, horribly acted. That's not to say it isn't entertaining at times. Check out the Wizard Video version--the dubbing is funnier than anything the Zucker Brothers could have come up with. Were it not for that act of desperation on the part of some poor distributor, this might possibly be the single most unwatchable movie ever made.

Of course, there are those who will defend the original director's cut of this movie. I can't say why. A little more sex and nudity, marginally more coherent editing and the absence of the aforementioned dream sequence (which was actually shot by Jean Rollin) are about the only differences. The acting, photography and pacing all still boggle the mind. And it's still far more fun with the often side-splitting English dubbing on the soundtrack.

I will admit that there are a handful of scenes which are oddly, perversely interesting. A sequence in which the family has gathered for the funeral of a deceased clan member is darkly humorous at first, with the patriarch mumbling biblical passages and his niece (daughter?) doing her nails, while the woman's body is propped against the wall. But even this sequence goes on for an outrageously long time, as though Franco was desperate to hit the ninety minute mark.

Of course, there's the infamous reading-of-the-will scene, which is so completely off-the-wall and bizarre, I defy anyone to watch it without either laughing the ass off or scratching their head in bewilderment.

Overall, this has got to be one of the worst movies ever made. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is better than this, no joke. But, as a fan of bad movies, it is fairly entertaining, even if it is in a way the filmmakers never intended.

Franco may be the only filmmaker in history who deserves to appear on both a list of the ten worst and the ten most productive. His movies may be terrible, but he's made at least 150 of them over half a century. You can't argue with that.

An above average 70s outing for Euro-cult favourite Jess Franco.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 15 October 2020]

Note: this review and rating will apply to the 80 minute original cut known as "Christina, Princess of Eroticism".

The lovely, luminous Christina von Blanc plays a character named Christina, who returns to the old family mansion upon learning of her fathers' death. She's never actually met the old man, nor has she met her relatives, who turn out to be a pretty weird and kinky bunch. She has to face the possibility that none of them may really be alive, and may have nefarious plans for her.

Apparently, the 90 minute re-release version, utilizing footage from Jean Rollins' zombie film "Lake of Zombies", does this interesting tale absolutely no favours. In this original incarnation of Franco's vision, we get doses of elements typical to his work - sex, nudity, perversions - but we also get an effectively ethereal, poetic little film. It has a solid atmosphere, with some gore here and there, as well as a Bruno Nicolai score that alternates between jaunty compositions and more haunting ones. And the father-daughter relationship that plays a part in the story definitely has some appeal, with Paul Muller, a familiar face to any fan of European genre and exploitation titles, doing a nice job as Christina's ill-fated father.

The performances are just right, from Franco favourite Howard Vernon (as Christina's uncle), Rosa Palomar (as his wife), Anne Libert (as a mysterious "Queen of the Night"), and Carmen Yazalde (as the outspoken Carmence). Franco himself co-stars (using the pseudonym Jesus Manera), as Basilio, the creepy mute servant.

Overall, this viewer found this to be one of Franco's most nicely realized films from his 70s output, as it does a good job of balancing sleaze with more traditional and poignant aspects.

Another version of this exists, a 105 minute "uncut" version with even more erotic footage (including Alice Arno, and various body doubles) added.

Seven out of 10.

Did I miss something?

[ZOMBlE · 1/10 · 7 March 2006]

I rented this piece of junk years ago, with the impression I was going to see sexy women and hungry zombies. At least that's what the video box suggested. Not only is it difficult to accept the skanky lead actress is a virgin, but there are no zombies. Nothing even remotely resembling zombies. Some loser North American video distributer got the rights to release a cheap Italian film, let's say it was originally titled Fully Clothed Girl Walking Around On Boring Island For Ninety Minutes, he blew twenty bucks on cheap zombie poster art, retitled it Virgin Among The Living Dead, and then he took my two dollars! There should be a law against deliberately deceptive advertising. I have nothing against idiots who make cheap lousy movies, only I like to know what I'm paying for. Anyone who watches this movie won't walk away a virgin, and the dirtbag video distributer won't respect you in the morning.

Virgin Among the Living Dead

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 2 February 2022]

Originally filmed as La nuit des étoiles filantes (The Night of the Shooting Stars), Jess Franco felt that this movie was one of his favorites and he even appears as Basilio, a man who wanders the movie speaking to a chicken's head, and his wife Nicole Guettard is also on hand as a nurse.

But then, remixes started happening that had nothing to do with the original work Franco created.

It was released twice - as Christina, Princess of Eroticism in 1973 and in Italy in 1978 as The Erotic Dreams of Christine, both versions cwith porn inserts directed by Pierre Querut - before Jean Rollin was hired to shoot zombie footage, the porn inserts removed and a new title A Virgin Among the Living Dead.

Christina von Blanc (The Dead Are Alive) is Christina Benson, who has come to Europe for the reading of her father's (Paul Muller, a Franco regular) will. Soon learning that her relatives - like Howard Vernon as Uncle Howard - are all the living dead, she sees them as a way to avoid her loneliness and invites them to stay. But her father committed suicide, so the Queen of the Night (Anne Libert, The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein) owns his soul forever unless she can save him.

You know how Lisa and the Devil has another world that takes over our own? Franco does that here but, being Franco, it's filled with zooms, nudity and a gigantic phallus that all live in their own world, a place where things like logic, pace and common sense are cast aside much like the clothing of his actresses.

We should all commit to the joys of walking into the ghostly swamp.

Is there *any* original footage in this movie?

[laze-2 · 2/10 · 5 June 1999]

I've never seen a movie flashback and use the same footage so many times in an hour-and-a-half (I wouldn't doubt there's under an hour of original footage here). On top of that, the plot was nearly non-existent... sure, maybe it was "abstract imaging" or "non-linear storytelling," but I was lost. Period.

One interesting note is that this was released as "Zombie 4: Virgin Among the Living Dead" despite the fact it was released a full six years before "Dawn of the Dead."

Perhaps notable for its cinematography, but certainly not for its overall effect.

Dream-like and stylish erotic horror, one of Franco's best

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 29 May 2013]

A Virgin Among the Living Dead was directed by the mega prolific Jess Franco at a period when he was delivering his most consistently interesting work. It's definitely one of his better films. It's another low budget sexploitation flick that was obviously cheaply made but there is no denying that this was one of the movies where Franco took a bit more care. The result is an effectively dream-like and quite stylish erotic horror.

The story revolves around a girl who travels to a remote mansion for the reading of the will of her recently deceased father. While there she encounters her very strange relatives and pretty soon a series of bizarre events start to occur, including strange supernatural happenings.

This is one of the movies that really shows that Franco definitely had something interesting to offer. His filmography was wildly erratic and uneven, which is really to be expected for a director responsible for two hundred films. However, on occasion his left-field, slightly surrealistic style produced movies that were amongst the best in the erotic genre. There is definitely an interesting ambiance to this one. The selection of weird characters and the strange events experienced by the heroine are all successfully dream-like. There is a fair bit of striking imagery such as the seated man who is pulled slowly backwards into a black void, a strange night-time walk through the woods, a vampiric lesbian coupling and the occult ceremony near the end. The latter is scored by cool music by Bruno Nicolai whose soundtrack is very good throughout the film and helps sustain the mood. Franco regular Howard Vernon plays a lecherous uncle but best of all is Christina von Blanc in the title role. She was very beautiful and this is one of her rare appearances.

How can you shatter the Great Phallus?

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 16 June 2009]

This was certainly one strange movie: Carmencé (Britt Nichols) is doing her toenails during a funeral service, and a head as a flower vase is in her room. Christina (Christina von Blanc) even drops in unexpectedly while Carmencé is licking blood from a blind girl (Linda Hastreiter).

Everyone keeps telling Christina that no one lives in the castle she is visiting. One has to wonder as they do not eat with her. Maybe they are ghosts. They certainly don't object when she inherits everything from her father.

She not only sees her dead father (Paul Muller) several times, but he talks to her. Is she dreaming? Is she dead and just doesn't know it? Death runs though this film.

I have to say for a low budget film, it was beautifully done; the scenery and music were very good, and it was strangely interesting.

TERRIBLE.

[245 · 1/10 · 26 December 1999]

The zombies are stupid looking, the plot is boring, the movie is so boring you'll stay on the fast forward button. The actors are impossible to care about, because you can't help but hate them. I found this at a video store and the box said, "Zombi 4: A Virgin Among the Living Dead" I didn't like the fact that zombie was spelled "zombi" I finally rented it, and me and a friend started to watch it, the beginning scenes we're stupid, and it stayed that way, we got through a lot of it, and then we had to fast forward, luckily the tape was messed up and the last 30 minutes or so had horrible lines all over the screen, it was more fun watching the lines than watching the movie.