Review of Deadgirl (2008) by Al M — 19 Dec 2009
Deadgirl is a rough film to watch even for a seasoned horror/exploitation cinema veteran like myself. It's like a teenage drama zombie version of Jorge Buttgereit's Nekromantik. In this film, the "deadgirl" is not actually dead but undead--she is some sort of zombie who has a virus she can pass on to others by biting them.
The story is failry simple. Two lower-class, misfit teenage boys who don't fit into any cliches but are best friends with one another enter an abandoned mental asylum to get drunk and break stuff.
In the basement, they discover what at first appears to be the naked cadaver of a young woman. But they soon discover that she is actually not entirely dead--she is undead and cannot be hurt. The girl soon becomes the sex slave of one of the duo who brings in another friend.
Deadgirl wastes no time getting disgusting and uncomfortable--it offers no exposition or build-up. It simply offers the plot set-up to us in a manner akin to the absurdist literature of Kafka, Beckett, or Borges.
Eventually, as we are introduced to the Rickie's object of desire (Joann) and her jock boyfriend, the film becomes something worth watching. What begins as nothing more than a disgusting sexploitation-necrophiliac flick becomes a comment upon cliques, class hierarchies, alienation, and even the effects of easily-available pornography upon the youth.
In other words, Deadgirl uses its revolting story line to offer us a glimpse of the revolting underbelly of our society.
This review of Deadgirl (2008) was written by Al M on 19 Dec 2009.
Deadgirl has generally received mixed reviews.
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