Review of Deadgirl (2008) by Alex C — 18 Nov 2008

For a general film fan to read about this film in passing, it would be very easy to simply pass this film off as yet another American 'torture porn' flick, another attempted cash in at the recent re-emergence of the exploitation film in the underground and mainstream circuits.

Deadgirl is anything but this. Bursting onto the screen, we follow two bored teenagers looking for a kick in their mundane daily life. They decide to explore an abandoned mental asylum, whilst drinking, and in general smashing whatever they find. It is territory tread many times before, the archetype of the suburban American teenager gripped in an unbearable ennui from the tedious and seemingly pointless affairs of the school life, which is sparked by an event that leads to horrifying affairs. And, it is this generic set up which is part of deadgirl's charm, it has a subtle wit to it that probes itself under the juxtaposing abruptness of the later scenes, the shock of what we see on screen later flows with the subtle psychological profiling and exploration that we see grow to an impressive, and broad spectrum.

As the two teenagers find themselves chased by a guard dog into the metallic and dirty underbelly of the asylum, we find ourselves slowly ebbing away from society, moving towards a state of nature in which laws created by the boys apply, the final plunge into the room and its prize takes us to the moral dilemma of the entire film: the deadgirl.

Here we see the characters explode in depth, gone are stock stereotype and characters for storyline sake. No, instead we have a extremely morbid man played by the impressive Noah Segan. He is the instigator, the character who allows himself to accept this room and its contents outside the constraints and rules of society, here in the surreal nature involving the deadgirl, he makes his own opinions, he surrenders to his own dark subconscious, allows the anima to flow out and absorb all it can take; first feral rage, and then the lust of taking - forceful sex.

And while all this occurs we have our protagonist, the man we follow throughout the film, Ricky. Ricky is an interesting character as, throughout the film, he is torn between doing the right thing and taking what could be his, trying to accept the impossible as possible, and in doing so must accept the impossibility of what might happen if he leaves JT (Segan) to his own devices. Slowly, as we follow Ricky back into the social world of normality as he attempts to return to his banal lifestyle, we see JT more and more obsessed with the deadgirl. Soon it has completely overtaken him, he sees her as his property, he is attached to her on a higher level, he sees her as bound in a social contract with him; he owns her, and Ricky is a hindrance.

It is this tactful portrayal of the human psyche at work, the psychological profiling of the two main characters that runs alongside the gritty scenes, the shock moments, that make this film effective. Shocking for shock sake is ineffective and boring, always seen through and brushed away with cynicism (see hostel 2). However, it is through the slow escalation, the brooding atmosphere as the film gets grainier and the characters get paler, obviously effected by their experiences that make the shock moments so much more uncomfortable, so much more intensified. During the showing, many people in my audience were constantly laughing, not at the darkly comical moments, as there were a few, but it was a nervous laugh, an artificial laugh - one that covered the fact that were didn't know how to act or what to do as the film was indeed bothering them and they were not entirely sure why so (my guess anyway).

Despite all these things, the film manages to stay afloat and avoid drowning in self indulgent artistic schlock. I feel the director and writer wanted to make it abundantly clear that this was more than jst your simple horror film with edgy and risque content, but didn't oversell the cleverness of the piece. It is all too easy for a film to go overboard on the messages, to double check that you indeed understand that this is more than just a one-dimensional film. Here we have all the elements of a strong story, but also dabbles in the supernatural, the fantasy, and indeed science fiction. And in these genre hops is its genius. Where things are usually explained in an infodump, we have nothing. By the time the ending rolls we are left to make up our own mind of the overall story, yet through I found myself pondering the characters more than the final events, curious as to what I felt and if I was satisfied with the conclusion.

Deadgirl is a dark horse in the US horror scene. Slated by numerous critics who may have seen this only on the superficial level as something intended to shock, a teen cash in on the violence and nudity front, the film is deeply probing into not only the psychology of its characters, but of us, the viewers. It makes you think of what you would do in the situation, the empathy you feel for characters that could never have sympathy bestowed on them. It also has one of the best romances in film history imo, that is, the portrayal of the romance, of what you expect to happen and what does happen.

Ricky and JT are perhaps two of the most explored teen horror characters in recent history, and it is this perfect blend of horror and story that makes the film so effective, makes it so claustrophobic and nauseous.

Deadgirl rises above the line of your typical horror and then some. It is a brooding, dark piece that covers controversial subject matter, and handles it in a surprisingly complex, and clever way. Released in the USA during 2009, I recommend anyone who is into their horror to go watch this with an open mind, and see how they feel about it. I personally, would love to see this again, to find out if I pick up on anything I may have missed on a first viewing.

8.5/10.