Deadgirl (2008)

Two high school boys discover an imprisoned woman in an abandoned mental asylum who cannot die.

Directors:

Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel (co-director)

Writer:

Trent Haaga

Stars:

Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Candice King

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shiloh Fernandez	...	Rickie
Noah Segan	...	JT
Candice King	...	Joann (as Candice Accola)
Eric Podnar	...	Wheeler
Jenny Spain	...	Deadgirl
Andrew DiPalma	...	Johnny
Nolan Gerard Funk	...	Dwyer
Michael Bowen	...	Clint
David Alan Graf	...	Mr. Harrison
Susan Marie Keller	...	Nikki
Timothy Muskatell	...	Wes
Kelle Cantwell	...	Brit
Dustin Hess	...	Walter
Kathleen M. Darcy	...	Ms. Flynn
Steve Dean	...	Gym Coach

Storyline

On a hot day, two rebellious high school friends, Rickie and JT, decide to skip class and hang out at an abandoned, derelict Asylum for the mentally ill for some beers and fun. After breaking into the place, the fun begins with some bashing and smashing, in the maze of half-lit corridors, dark rooms and narrow pathways of the institution, when all of a sudden, JT discovers the body of a young, naked woman covered with a plastic film. In the light of this grotesque, yet, unexpected finding, unresolvable questions will begin to rise, as this seemingly unresponsive girl will start growling and gnashing. Who is this girl? Was she a patient here, or was she some sort of a guinea pig that a scientist used to perform some crazy experiments on it? In the end, how human is this girl that simply cannot die?

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Plot Keywords:

necrophilia | zombie sexuality | sex with a zombie | zombie love | sex slave | 

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Taglines:

Audacious... Unsettling.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong aberrant sexuality, graphic nudity, bloody violence and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Screamworks Records [Sweden]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 2013 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Dead Girl

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywoodmade

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shiloh Fernandez was nominated for the 2009 Fright Meter Award for Best Actor for his performance.

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Goofs

After Rickie gets hit by JT, the split on his lower lip keeps erratically changing shape, consistency and placement for the rest of the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rickie: [Rickie asks JT a question while between classes at school] Hey, yo, JT.
[Rickie asks JT while they're both on lunch at school]
Rickie: Man, what word starts with 'F' and ends with 'U-C-K?' Come on. Fire truck, man.
JT: [Rickie chuckles] What are you eight?

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Connections

Referenced in Birth of the Living Dead (2013)

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Soundtracks

I Want More
Written by Holiday / Everhart / Miley / Cobby (BMI)
Performed by The Black Summer Crush
Courtesy of AudioNest

User Reviews

Powerful, Brilliant and Relevant.

Like "River's Edge" 23 years ago, youth's normal curiosity about death and sex becomes unhinged and grows unspeakably perverse within a social climate which favors unconscious, desire-based consumption over fixed principles. These observations employ a darker and more relevant conviction here.

Whether intended or not, the ideas at work in "Deadgirl" are so complex that calling this a "horror film" is perhaps not really accurate given the limitations by which the genre is judged. The film employs standard horror grammar, but through economy and purpose, the directors avoid pitfalls and cleverly make the genre's limits work in their favor.

For example, the girl in question, an "object" in strictly horror terms, is carefully crafted to be something other than a person - she seems less an external creature than something within the characters themselves. A cipher onto which alternative meanings can be projected. Unlike typical "horror girls," she evolves into the most profoundly disturbing idea that contemporary horror has given us: a fever dream of narcissistic-sexual pathology, trauma-based-attachment-porn made flesh.

Also, the context of the story, an abandoned asylum is rendered abstractly enough that one may read it equally as a metaphor than as simply a place in the real world; an image of the rotting mind where deviance waits - normally it's just a spooky old building when used in horror.

The characters enter such a bottomless pit in terms of real human behavior that whether intentional or not, a sense of allegory provides grounding for the audience. Grounding is desperately missing in the world these characters occupy, which is perhaps the point.

The film's male protagonists are are certainly of their time; they seem quite real to me. As with many kids today their sensitivities seem bleached away by what we all encounter: a relentless, post-narrative media blast from earliest childhood and an education without adequate social breadth. Their personal, familial inadequacies seem to be the seedbed for a hunger focused on effortless, narcissistic attachment. These are familiar kids. Placing them into this particular tale and intelligently imagining an outcome is what the directors have done. It is startling how effective it is.

While "Deadgirl"could easily have come across as a simply ghastly spectacle, the film transcends genre, as well as outflanking the need to simply entertain, shock or titillate. By its solid execution, its restraint and primarily through the indigestible, dark brilliance of its idea, the film rises to the level of art.