Customer Reviews

The Living Dead Girl

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yet another well-done, beautiful-looking Jean Rollin film. Some workers storing chemical waste in a crypt decide to moonlight as grave-robbers and open a coffin containing an astonishingly well-preserved young woman. But oops, there's this earthquake, y'see, and chemicals spill and o' course this brings the girl back to life and she starts killing (sharp fingernails!). Then she wanders off to a large chateau, of which her undead brain contains vague memories. There she meets her best friend, who's so glad to see her back among the living (sort of) that she decides to help her get the blood she craves by luring in victims. This leads to some pretty heavy gore - more graphic than what you usually see from Rollin - and o' course there's plenty of nudity, all of it beautifully, poetically filmed. Pretty extreme in all counts, and has that dreamlike suspension-of-logic that'll make you not worry about details (like why didn't the girl decay at all? and is there anything worse than the accordian-rock of The Fireflies?). Another good 'un from Rollin.

THE LIVING DEAD GIRL is easily my favorite of the 7 Jean Rollin DVD's released thus far by IMAGE on DVD and it's the only one in my permanent collection. If you like your euro-horror a little sexier, a lot GORIER, and even quite humorous, you cannot go wrong here. From the opening scene with the graverobbers being disfigured by toxic vapors (hilariously fake) to later ultra-gory scenes as our tragic zombie-female-vamp dispatches one victim after another with her long sharp fingernails or devours their necks in extra-long munching scenes, this one DELIVERS the goods! It has a very euro-horror feel to it and is not as esoteric and heady as some of the other Rollin films. Although french, it easily would appeal to fans of italian horror as well...so if you're not a big Rollin fan, you may want to give this one a chance anyway. The DVD looks great and includes a trailer with ALL the highlights of the film in it (so watch the movie first). Check it out!

I can honestly say that this is one of the most... er... unusual films I have ever seen! When a chemical spill inadvertently resurrects a young woman who died two years before, she does not appear to be very happy to have been brought back as a "living dead girl". I suppose this would account for her disturbingly anti-social behavior (i.e. gouging out people's eyes, eating people, drinking their blood, et cetera)....P>This is a thoroughly enjoyable film, although I would strongly advise watching it on either an empty stomach or a full stomach. Unless you own stock in a barf bag company, I really do not think that you would enjoy washing down your Coke and Pizza with images of blood and guts emanating from your television screen.

Anyway, this is an A +++++ film! Enjoy, everybody!

Director Jean Rollins is one crafty dude. He delivered the first notable French vampire movie(The Rape of the Vampire, '68) as well as the first French gore flick(The Grapes of Death, '78). Plus he was one of the country's early pioneers of X-rated cinema. His 1982 Living Dead Girl combines elements from all of those fantastic genres, and it has developed a bit of a cult following over the years.

Quick synopsis--earthquake, chemical spill, and a hot zombie chick is now craving Ben & Jerry's Chunky Munkey ice cream. Just kidding, she's thirsty for blood of the human variety. Let the sucking commence!

This story has some graphic nudity to accompany the ultra-bloody kills. It doesn't spend too much time fumbling around with irrelevant stuff like plot, dialogue, or character development. It's a bit gothic, pretty erotic, and somewhat artistic. But really it concentrates on the bloody visuals. The effects are maybe just a tad unrealistic looking but the insane amount of the red stuff makes it lots of fun for you gorehounds.

"I emptied these bodies of blood so that it may flow in mine. To turn me into a living dead girl."

Jean Rollin is a name instantly recognizable to hardcore horror fans, but meaningless to nearly everyone else. This ignorance is quite unfortunate because this French director concocted some of the sleaziest, most unusual films ever made during the 1970s and 1980s, films usually imbued with a disturbing mix of hypereroticism and bloody violence. I have often tossed Rollin's name around in impolite company with seeming aplomb even though I had never seen even one of the man's films. You read enough plot synopses about someone and you start to feel as though you know every intimate detail about their work. What I did hear from others about this director oftentimes did not bode well. He is apparently well versed in schlock filmmaking--which in and of itself is not a problem with me, a true lover of bad cinema--but several of his films continue to draw raves from a selected minority of genre fans. Well, I finally sat down with a Jean Rollin film, his 1979 effort "Fascination," and was pleasantly surprised with the results. As I viewed the film with a growing sense of intrigue, I began mentally composing a list of other films from this director that I should watch in the near future. First up is Rollin's 1982 gore opus "Living Dead Girl."

"La Morte Vivante," or "The Living Dead Girl," is a shocking tale of a girl raised from the dead against her will, her ravenous hunger for human blood, and the childhood friend who acts as her enabler. Catherine Valmont (Françoise Blanchard) unfortunately passed away at a young age and was buried in a crypt with her deceased mother. And there she lies still in the sleep that knows no time or space until two dolts looking for a convenient place to stash some leaky barrels of toxic waste discover the crypt and start robbing graves. Some element of the glowing green fluid has an unwholesome effect on Catherine's corpse, causing her to suddenly awake and attack the two ghouls. Valmont, barely capable of speech and deeply confused in the world of the living, begins rambling around the French countryside in an effort to relocate her old house. Initially, she only has two memories-of her house and of her childhood friend Helene (Marina Pierro). As she wanders through wide-open fields, a nosy American photographer notices her and takes a picture of the dead girl. The photographer and her goofy husband will soon play a big role in the horrific events to follow.

Catherine eventually stumbles over her house, which is obviously no longer the Valmont residence. The living dead girl starts killing off people who come to the house-a real estate agent, a couple of young kids fooling around on a couch, Jimmy Hoffa-you get the idea. It turns out Catherine must drink the blood of the living in order to remain animate. If she goes too long without quaffing the red stuff, she suffers excruciating aches and pains. Moreover, the more blood Valmont drinks, the more she remembers about her former life. She soon recalls more details about Helene and a strange blood pact the two made as children. By the time Helene appears, and after living dead girl's bestest friend expresses astonishment that her late pal is alive, the two team up to help Catherine cope with her newfound existence. Helene lures a series of people out to the house so Valmont can carve them up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Each encounter between Catherine and a hapless individual is truly gross, a bone crunching, sauce spraying adventure in graphic Technicolor. Then, tragedy strikes. Remember the photographer and her husband? They both arrive on the scene when they learn about Catherine Valmont's death and mysterious resurrection. At the same time, living dead girl begins to express a sense of remorse about the people she kills for food. The movie ends on an especially gory note.

"Living Dead Girl" is a great horror film. I liked nearly everything about Rollin's nasty little gorefest: the French scenery, the actors, and especially the squishy special effects. The director lets the camera linger over the carnage in super close-up, just so you don't miss out on any of the unpleasantness. And it is unpleasant, extremely so. The sound effects alone turned my stomach. Just in case you weary of living dead girl munching on yet another victim, Rollin throws in a hatchet in a head and a person on fire to liven things up. Even the plot going on between the gory horrors is interesting for a low budget Eurotrash horror flick. The acting isn't all that bad, although I can't completely confirm that for sure since most of the dialogue is in French. Sure, the whole thing's a bit contrived, but what horror film isn't? If you like bloody shriek cinema, you should pick this one up right away.

The DVD version of the film is an entry in Redemption's Jean Rollin Collection, which means you get to see a rather racy intro involving two female vampires before the gorefest starts in earnest. Extras on the DVD include a widescreen picture transfer, stills, and a French language trailer with the dialogue replaced by screams. I've only seen two Rollin films up to this point, but "The Living Dead Girl" is the better of the two. Apparently, this one is the best Rollin film, period. I hope not; I like to think more treasures from this director await me in the future. If not, I'll simply watch this one and "Fascination" again. "La Morte Vivante" is a must see for gorehounds specifically and horror fans in general.

French auteur Jean Rollin contributed one of the best Zombie films ever made with 'THE LIVING DEAD GIRL'. Using his touches of surrealistic horror and eroticism, the film emerges as a tragic love story between two women, one living and one living dead. Francoise Blanchard is magnificent as the woman who comes back with a penchant for human flesh and blood and Marina Pierro her best friend trying to keep her satisfied by supplying her with living beings. Rollin wraps the surroundings with incredible images and when the shocks arrive, they almost become poetic. Along side his two vampire films 'REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE' and 'LIPS OF BLOOD', this just may be his masterpiece and one of the most original Zombie variations up to that time. The quality and color are above average. Highly Recommended.

HORROR in France is as old as well OLD!
Jean Rollin you either Hate him or Love him.
I love him! He may have a cheap budget,but
when you find a great Rollie film it shines!
Are Jeans films cheap? Yes they are!
Are Jeans films slow? UGH! HUH!
Are Jeans films full of naked woman
and GORE! You bet your boots they are!
The Living Dead Girl is about two morons
who spill chemical waste on a coffin containing
a dead girl. She rises from the tomb and sticks
her long fingernails in eye sockets(yes I love it)
She than is taken to a home of a woman her age
that tries to take care of her and feed her blood
from dead/living animals. But she needs blood from
humans! The plot is far from good,but you have
plenty of blood spray in this. This is my 2nd
fav.Rollin film after the Grapes of Death(I did
a review for Grapes of Death and like my review
for 1986 Night of the Creeps Amazon did not post?)
So if you like to dip your beak in uncharted blood.
Try HORROR from Paris! I really enjoy Grapes and
Living Dead Girl!
Happy Hallow's Eve!

A wonderful introduction to the films of Jean Rollin, The Living Dead Girl manages to be gory, sweet and sad all at once. Despite its low budget the film has an elegant gloss and the two leads are wonderful, their death pact revealed through flashbacks as the story progresses. Highly recommended. Marina Pierro, where are you?

The strange, surreal films of Jean Rollin are unique and addictive, and The Living Dead Girl is my favorite of the bunch. A chemical spill brings a recently deceased girl back to life as a vampire. She stumbles back to her childhood home, slaughtering and drinking the blood of any and all unfortunate enough to cross her path. Once home, her mind and memories slowly returning, she makes contact with a beloved childhood friend. So close and intense is this friendship that her friend willing entraps and tortures victims to keep the reluctant vampire well fed and healthy. The blood drinker suffers from such anguish that the viewer is sooned asking just who is the real monster in this sad and ultimately tragic tale. Highly recommended.

This is the first French horror movie I have seen and I must say ..wow. Director Jean Rollin really captures you with this film It begins with some guys going down a shaft to drop off some chemical waste (ilegally) when we see 2 coffins. Well these are mother and daughter, these guys then proceed to rob the corpses of their jewelry. All at once this poor shcmuk gets his eyes gouged out while the other one nearly **** his pants. Katherine (living dead girl) is supposed to have been dead 2 yrs
she looked quite beautiful to be dead that long. She then wanders around,thru this field where this busybody photographer starts snapping pix of her. (Wait till you see what happens to her!) Katherine's childhood friend Helene discovers her to be alive what happens next in the movie is bloodcurdling definitely a must see for all us horror fans topnotch enjoy! oh yeah The movie is French speaking but with English subtitles