Hey gang, Valkor here. So I was chatting with a friend who happened
to mention this movie about two guys finding a zombie and having
their way with her. Needless to say I was quite intrigued by the
concept and immediately sought the film out. And what I found…
wow, just wow. The film is called "Deadgirl" and while it deals
with a taboo subject matter (necrophilia), it isn’t the most disturbing
film I’ve ever laid eyes on.
In the movie Deadgirl, best friends JT (Noah Segan) and Ricky (Shiloh Fernandez) ditch school to hang out in an old abandoned insane asylum. While traversing the halls and dodging a vicious, stray dog the two happen upon a woman who is naked, tied up, and covered in plastic. They both think that she’s dead, but upon closer inspection, she’s very much alive. The two boys struggle about what they should do about her, with JT getting the upper hand and the woman stays tied up for him to have his way with her. Ricky leaves, but JT brings him back later that night to show him something peculiar about the woman – she can’t die. Or rather she’s the living dead. Both agree that they should keep the girl a secret until they can figure things out, but JT lets the cat out of the bag and invites his friend Wheeler (Eric Podner) for a slice of the zombie pie. In the midst of it all, Ricky not only has to deal with his own infatuations with the beautiful corpse, but also has feelings to be for his long time sweetheart Joann (Candice Accola) who, unfortunately for Ricky, has a beau named Johnny (Andrew DiPalma). Things go from bad to worse as JT becomes overly obsessive with the zombie chick and all the sex they're having, Wheeler reveals to Johnny and his jock buddy about the dead girl, and let’s just say the shit really, but not literally, hits the fan. And it ain’t gonna be pretty.
The idea of a film about a bunch of dudes raping a zombie, sounds incredibly made up and stupid; seriously, when it was explained to me what the film was about, I thought it was joke and I was expecting some sort of demented parody such as “I Am Virgin”. It’s dark, there are some chuckles, but overall it’s a psychological thrill ride that has to be seen to be believed.
The Good:
The story of Deadgirl is very unique, unsettling, and may be a bit of a controversial subject matter, however it’s handled quite maturely and pretty well done. I thought I was gonna see something campy, hokey, or something outright silly. Imagine my surprise when it really wasn’t anything of that at all, but something more intense, more thrilling, and much more… enjoyable? Yes, I liked the film way more than I had expected, as disturbing as that may sound. A large part of the film’s overall entertainment quality stems from the performances, especially by Segan and Fernandez, but especially Segan; he reminds me of Ben Oxenbould’s “Bull” from “Caught Inside” – he starts out enjoyable, but then spirals into insanity. As for Fernandez, I think he might have overplayed his role and came across a little too whiny, but I still found his performance to be exceptional. And Major league kudos must be given to Jenny Spain as the “Deadgirl”, who spends the majority of the film naked, tied up and humped, I hope you were given the biggest payday possible because daaaaaaamn you deserved it! Also, even as a zombie… I’d still give her the tip. Just sayin. Finally, the level of gore isn’t as extreme as I would have expected but there’s lots of blood, and there’s one intense moment that’ll make many a men cringe. And given the subject matter, I think you can take a guess what that moment entails.
The Bad:
The film isn’t perfect, but it isn’t terrible. For starters the pacing is a drag especially for a film with a runtime of 97 minutes; you’d think it was well over two hours long. Next, what was the purpose of the stray dog? You’d think these guys would have dispatched of the mutt early on so as to not be “disturbed”, yet the dog remains until its demise. Finally for a film dealing with zombie rape, you don’t see much of it and I was expecting things to go a bit further, wilder and crazier than what was given; seems like there were a few missed opportunities to really have some fun with the subject.
The Ugly:
Poor Johnny will never be the same…
Deadgirl is available now on DVD and blu-ray, and as far as zombie films go, this is truly one of the best out there – and this is from a guy who’s not the biggest fan of the genre. Though disturbing, I found the film to be wildly entertaining and I highly recommend it. So, out of TOV 5 stars, I give Deadgirl a 4. And with Halloween not too far away, this is one film you should definitely add to the horror film queue.
