Deadgirl

I find myself sort of wondering why IMDb has this listed as horror. Sure, there's the titular zombie-like chick in the film, but she's hardly the focal point. Honestly, this seems to me a lot like what George Romero would've done if he was making his first movies today. Not that this will likely ever heralded like the original Night Of The Living Dead, but a lot of the points are still there. I know a lot of people who bow at the feet of the master will cry foul at that last statement, but let's face it...Romero's early stuff is rather slow paced, low on gore, and dripping with social commentary. And so is Deadgirl.

Basically what you've got here is the story of two disaffected teenage boys who come across a (sort of) dead girl in an abandoned hospital. Being teenagers, one disregards much of his humanity in favor of darker intentions while the other objects but does nothing to back up his protests. Slowly the story gathers more complexity as one teen begins essentially raping this (sort of) dead girl and eventually invites some friends in on the action. As troubling as this sounds (and it is), you've seen worse things in your life which is a bit surprising considering that in their minds this is basically a moving corpse. So eventually it's up to one guy to be the voice of reason and make everything right.

There's a lot of commentary here. Everything from peer pressure, the effects of apathetic and absent parents, and the apathy and angst of teenagers gets touched on and done quite well. All said and done I'd certainly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a horror movie with a bit more substance and a bit less gore. Sure...we all like our horror movies nice and violent, but sometimes it's nice to see one that takes a slightly different path.

Two teenagers JT and Rickie skip school and decide to go to an abandoned mental asylum.They horse around for a while destroying property before exploring the basement.In the cellar our heroes find a girl chained to a table with a plastic bag over her head.They touch her and it is revealed that she is alive.JT decides that they should keep her and use her as a sex slave.The problem is that the woman can't be killed and she is the living dead.First of all I really enjoyed "Deadgirl".The film is quite controversial when it comes to its dark necrophiliac subject matter.There are some moments of gore and violence and seriously twisted climax.The moral ambivalence of the film is actually the most disturbing thing about it.The main performances of Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan are very strong and my highest respect goes to Jenny Spain,who spends nearly every scene she is in naked and tormented.Fans of extreme cinema will no doubt enjoy "Deadgirl".7 out of 10.

I have a longer review of this, but unfortunately it breaches the 1k word limit of IMDb, so I will be rather succinct.

I had the pleasure of watching this at the Leeds Film Festival as part of Night of the Dead. At first I was apprehensive, expecting perhaps another 'torture-porn' indie film.

Instead, I got a powerful probe into the human psyche and the limits of human capability and barbarity.

The two main characters are enthralling and thoroughly explored, it is this subtle psychological study juxtaposed with the stark brutality of the films heavier moments that make this so powerful. Gritty, grainy, and teetering between realism, fantasy, and science-fiction, deadgirl is a horror that raises the bar on context, delivery, and emotional impact. It is probably the best US horror I have seen in recent memory, and its rating here on IMDb seems to reflect people taking it on at a superficial value only.

However, the film also knows is limits, it does not plunge into the sea of self indulgent artistic pretence. Instead, it stays afloat and allows you to glimpse down and take what you want from it, to empathise with who you deem worthy, and cast the sinister question of just what would YOU do in a room where society's laws are locked away in the background, your own state of nature in the metallic underbelly of an abandoned mental asylum. Would you return to the banality of suburban school life? Would you act on feral urge or try and do what you perceive to be the right thing.

Recommended.

It doesn't take a genius, or a saint to realize that rape is wrong. Whether the victim is among the living or otherwise, it just ain't cool. But are there any rules pertaining to the undead? Apparently not. Or if there are, certain individuals in this film aren't the least bit concerned. Written by the legendary Trent Haaga, Deadgirl is An utterly tasteless story about two high school chums who go off playing hookie, and drinking, ending up at an old, abandoned mental hospital. Said chums soon make a shocking discovery in one of the rooms. A dead chick tied to a table. It doesn't take long for these two genius' to figure out that she's not dead, after all. That's right! Undead. So, I guess that would make this a zombie flick, wouldn't it? An original Zombie flick. A very, very mean-spirited zombie flick. It doesn't take nearly as much effort as it should have for the bad kid to talk the wuss into not telling anyone about their new discovery... So that they can just stop by now & then (every day) for a quickie, at the expense of their undead new friend. That's not that weird, right? Wrong! Very weird, and very wrong! In other words, this movie is hilarious. I'm glad some people can see that the living dead sub-genre could use a little reinventing, from time to time. And don't get the idea that Deadgirl is just a film about rape. It's also an intriguing character-study. A coming-of-age movie. A much deeper story than one would first assume. With plenty of dark humor never too far behind. So, if you're bored with all the same old predictable Horror patterns that's been around for many a decade, you may find this particular one to be original, and quite refreshing. Deadgirl offers not one dull moment, and is no doubt a future cult classic. I'd recommend giving Deadgirl a chance as soon as possible. 6/10

I saw this at the TIFF and was expecting it to be some kind of Saw film or something of its ilk. However, it is much better than a simple horror film and really defies categorization. Deadgirl is a look into how we humanize, empathize and sympathize. It is a very provocative film and I squirmed many times. It is, however, not a film made for shock value. This is an essay on what it is to be human and where we draw the line on what we consider human. It is an exploration into where we draw the line on compassion and the hows and whys of our brutality and inhumanity. There are many scenes that affected me so deeply that I had trouble sleeping and talked about them for many weeks afterward. This is a great disturbing film.