Customer Reviews

A Virgin Among the Living Dead

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

WARNING -- This is NOT, I repeat, NOT a Zombie movie. If anyone out there typed "Living Dead" into the Amazon search engine and come up with this little golden nugget Of Jess Franco weirdness, click the back button right now!

I know this movie has been re-titled "Zombie 4" and "Zombie 5" when intercut with footage from the 1980 film "Zombie Lake." But the "Living Dead" of the title refers to Vampires. The original title was "Cristina, Princess of Eroticism," but for some reason, they chose to mislead unsuspecting Zombie movie fans, as well as to reveal cause of the strange goings on we are meant to be wondering about.

I'm a great admirer of Jess Franco. I like to watch his movies, but unfortunately, it's impossible. Not only because he has made over 200 movies, and each one of them has about 5 different titles, but because the overwhelming majority of his films are crap. From what I read about Jess Franco, he would not argue with me on this particular point, because he allegedly believes ALL of his films are crap, whereas I actually like some of them.

The DVD has options to watch the film in its original language with English subtitles (which I didn't do, so I don't know what language that actually is, although I would assume it was French.) or dubbed in English. Most people probably think the preferred viewing option would be subtitles. As you can imagine, the dubbing is pretty atrocious, but there is a very specific reason why someone would want to watch the film this way. This film has been famous for several years (well, famous in a cult-like way) for being the source of many prominant and more lengthy samples on My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult's classic album, "Confessions of a Knife." Long time Thrill Kill Kult fans remember the eerie, "I hear her...she's calling me tonight.." and of course, "I'm blind, but I can see the color of souls, and yours is white," which is still used in their live show today. We've sought after it for years, and it's finally available on DVD! Although, sadly, my fellow TKK fans, the now legendary, "I'm gonna find her! And I'm gonna kill her!" sample is NOT in this film, but if you found that, don't you think you'd only end up disappointed?

Cristina is traveling to visit her extended family in a mansion, and everyone tells her not to go there, because no one lives there. Unless you blocked out the title of the movie, you can probably guess why they think this, even after Cristina arrives, and meets her family members. This movie doesn't have a lot of gore, but plenty of nudity, and general Jess Franco weirdness. The people who live in the house, and some who just hang around for no apparent reason, like to come into Cristina's room while she's sleeping. This never stops her from sleeping naked above her sheets, however, and if it did, it wouldn't be much of a Jess Franco movie.

One such person is Linda, a blind woman who says she wants to help Cristina, although it is never really explained how or why. One morning, Cristina wakes, naked of course, to find a big black dildo on her floor. When she flings it away, Linda says, "Oh, no, you've shattered the great ebony phallus! You are now doomed to eternal misery!" I haven't exactly figured out how Linda knew that Cristina shattered the great ebony phallus, since she is blind. But, since it is never mentioned again, I have to assume one of two things: 1) Linda knew Cristina was doomed to eternal misery anyway, in a mansion with the living dead, and shattering the phallus had nothing to do with it. She just put it there because she knows that a girl who sleeps naked when strangers keep coming into her room might find it useful or 2) Jess Franco wanted to shoot a scene with a naked girl sitting in front of a big black dildo, and wrote in Linda's line in a failed attempt to incorporate it into the plot.

Did I say, "plot"? I didn't mean to. Don't watch this expecting a story to unfold. Like most of his best films, it's a lot of weirdness and very little story. But if you're interested in Jess Franco enough to have looked this up, I would recommend it. It's also a must-see for Thrill Kill Kult fans.

Remember those supernatural gothic films of the 70s?Here's a good one from the legendary Jess Franco.Gratuitous nudity and an oft-times muddled plot temporarily take points away from this poetic,atmospheric meditation on life and death.Gosh,I miss the atmosphere those 70s gothics generated so well.A beautiful woman goes to visit family that live in a dark mansion that seems to drift in a netherworld and it all leads to an ulra-creepy ending.
Forget about the zombies,people.The title was coined to make the film appealing to fans of zombie films.This is still a brilliant film,though.

Franco's 150+ films can be divided into two types: crude, deritive films he quickly cranked out in order to maintain an income, and those into which he poured his heart and soul. The fact that most of his films fell into the former category, that he had low budgets and short filming periods, his films are often poorly translated, and ill-advised cuts were often created by his american distributors, has led to an underappreciation of Franco's skills. Although most of his films deserve all the criticism they receive, this disk should help lead to a reevaluation of Franco.

This film, despite the unfortunate title imposed upon it by the producers, is one of Franco's better films, although those looking for a horror film or one of Franco's more fun-filled movies, such as The Girl From Rio, will likely be disappointed.

After the death of his favourite star, Soledad Miranda, in a tragic accident, Franco spent about a year cranking out lousy films in order to quickly fulfill his contractual obligations with a German distributor. Afterwards, he created this film which is a very personal, poetic, surreal and melancholy rumination upon death, most likely inspired by Soledad's death. One of the themes touched upon is how death is especially tragic when it happens to someone who is young and innocent.

Attempting to describe the plot only does this film injustice. Without conveying the film's actual mood created through image, music, and acting, the story sounds absurd and simplistic. Fortunately, Image has for the first time released Franco's true vision of the film. As another reviewer notes, you should watch this in the original language. Previously the dozens of different cuts available in the american market were bastardized versions with inserts created by different directors. Some of these schlocky inserts are included on the disk as an extra, including some by Jean Rollin (from whom I would have expected much better).

This is one of best Franco's films: a poetical, surrealist, oneiric and tragical tale of an orphan girl who so much absorbs people's sorrow that she becomes insane and dies.
However, my review's aim is to make clear some mistakes: 1) it is NOT a zombie-film: the zombie-scenes are included in the dvd only as extras and have been shot by Rollin. So, if you are zombie-fans, avoid this film. 2) The original title was obviously different: A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD is only the producer's title. 3) Avoid the English soundtrack, because the dubbing is bad and the music, which in the original version is very beautiful, is totally different. The French soundtrack (with English subtitles) is absolutely great. 4) The film isn't uncut because when producers added the awful zombie or erotic scenes (which are not included in this dvd) they cut off other sequences or footage, which unfortunately haven't yet been recovered. Nevertheless this is one of the most personal Franco's film. It was shot for Cannes Festival, but its destiny was to be spoilt by producers, in order to sell it in the B-cinema-halls.

It's time to party in the dumpster of broken screams! Jess Franco's A Virgin Among the Living Dead undeniably qualifies as trash cinema for many horror fans, possibly even to some cult underground horror fans. It's definitely low budget with some sloppy drunken storytelling, and it often dry heaves on the dirty curb of absolute nonsense. This ain't for the kiddos or your typical Hollywood horror fans. But for the craziest of cult horror party animals, this head-spinning disorientation might somehow wake up in bed next to brilliance. Not exactly sure what I'm saying here, but just like this flick, you gotta be willing to just go with it.

Cristina is a hot little vixen (probably a virgin I'm guessing) that is paying a visit to her extended family in their old mansion of Montesserate. She is warned to stay away from that old deserted place, but she insists her fam is waiting for her there. So she gets to the house and kicks it with her blood, kinda sorta literally.

The title of this movie hints that Cristina's kin are a bunch of zombies, but that isn't really accurate. No dead flesh, shambling or moaning here. Other reviewers claim that they are vampires, but the sunlight doesn't seem to bother them either. Maybe they are ghosts with a thirst for blood and naked chicks? Whatever you wanna call them--maybe Franco is making a sly profound stab at in-laws--who knows? But these folks can definitely cause some mayhem.

What can you the viewer expect?

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS
Well, there is some gratuitous full frontal nudity after about thirty minutes in. When a hot woman goes for a stroll in the woods and sees a lake, you know the skinny-dipping urge is just uncontrollable. Additionally, there are some weird conversations with bloody human parts being hidden. Women who sleep naked while other family members sit and stare. What else? Oh, a big black phallus that controls the fate of the world. Plus, there is a little lesbian blood sucking bedroom endeavor involving scissors.
**


Yeah, this is a Jess Franco film. Nothing adds up. Not a lot of blood or gore. No real story with every loose end getting tied up nicely. But love it or hate it, it does have some crazy stuff that you just won't see anywhere else. Recommended to those who think about the box from outside.

Like many have said before me, this is not a zombie movie, so don't go into it expecting it to be. But hey, who says "living dead" has to mean zombies? Anyway, I like the film quite a bit. It's very surrealistic and doesn't exactly have a typical linear plot (lots of Franco's films don't), but it is very enjoyable if you are open to these types of film. But really, I just wrote this review to correct a few mistakes made by another reviewer before me.

There is a lot of confusion with this film since it has been cut, re-edited, and released under so many different titles over the years, but here are the real facts about the film that have been mistaken in some other reviews:

"A Virgin Among The Living Dead" is the original title of the film, not a re-title. "Cristina, Princess of Eroticism" was actually a later title given to the movie when they were trying to sell it as an "erotic" film.

Later on video, it was re-titled "Zombie 4: A Virgin Among The Living Dead" or just "Zombie 4" at times. This was to cash in on the success of Lucio Fulci's 1980 film "Zombie", which was released on video as "Zombie 2" many places (because "Dawn of the Dead" was released as "Zombi" in Europe). The video release titled "Zombie 5: Monster Hunter" was actually the Italian film "Absurd", also known as "Anthropophagous 2".

Lastly, the zombie footage edited into the film is not from Jean Rollin's film "Zombie Lake". It is extra (really boring) footage shot later to be inserted into this film when they were trying to cash in on it as a zombie movie. However, the extra footage is often attributed to Jean Rollin as director.

It is in French with English subtitles and the French audio track sounds much better than the English one so I recommend it.

So there it is. Give it a try if you feel so inclined. If these kinds of bizarre Euro-horror movies aren't your thing then I would stay away. Your choice.

Anyone who likes Franco or who is curious about a Franco movie should enjoy this one---typically weird, er, insane characters in a sleazy setting. Not exactly horrifying, but gratifying with its black humor, e.g. Franco's and Vernon's characters, and its creepy story of a woman sucked into insanity.

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (Jess Franco, 1973)

Typical Franco dreck (co-directed, IMDB tells me, by fellow schlockmeister Jean Rollin) about a hot chick (The Dead Are Alive's Christina von Blanc in her final big-screen appearance) who goes to Montserrat to attend the reading of her father's will and finds out that her family is... not quite what she remembers. I'm sure, given the title, it's not a spoiler to tell you they're all undead, and she has to figure out how to get away before they ensnare her in... well, okay, that WOULD be a spoiler. Not that the plot is all that important to Franco' vision, as it usually isn't; he's way too busy plotting ways to get the actresses he's filming naked as much of the time as possible. While this is usually a laudable goal, and when you're dealing with von Blanc, Britt Nichols, and Anne Libert (both of whom return from Franco's '72 hit Dracula's Daughter), there's nothing wrong with that at all. But when turning it into a movie you're planning on releasing, you should probably either couch that nudity in a plot that actually works or simply turn the thing into a softcore flick and be done with it.

Giesen and Hahn's infamous (and highly entertaining) book The Worst Films of All Time lists this. I don't agree. Hell, I'm not even convinced it's the worst film Jess Franco (who is still active, and just directed his 192nd film, Paula-Paula, with the indefatigable Lina Romay) ever put out (I haven't seen a tenth of the guy's output, but as far as I'm concerned that would be Oasis of the Zombies). It's certainly not the worst thing I saw this weekend. If you're familiar with Franco's work, you know what you're getting with this. If not, just be warned that Franco is obsessed with naked chicks to the detriment of plot, character development, etc., and you'll be ready for it. *

this is art house horror flick, in which Jess Franco tries to deal with the recent loss of his own lover Soledad miranda , who was killed in a car crash. This type of flick is a aquired taste though and if you don't like art films then this isn't for you at all. It is part of the
style of movie that was popular back in the sixties and early seventies and occasionally today. The nonlinear plotless type of movie, there is a general plot in which a girl returns to her household and everyone in it is dead and cursed. Is she insane and imagining everything? the movie like many films of this type including fellini's films bounces around and doesn't stick to a storyline between the womans strange experiences. There was a zombie scene in the movie that was shot ten years later and is included as a extra scene but it wasn't part of the movie originally. (jean rollin shot that scene) There is lots of nudity though and the movie ends suddenly, This is about atmosphere and like other movies of this type (which are for me only occasionally watched because I want a straight storyline) you may be confused. However the last scene does give you a ending which seems to be about them crossing the river styx. (this is the river where the dead must cross to the afterlife). it's the pond of the dead. So if you like image laiden movies that wax poetic and don't worry about scenes connecting but does give a ending, something many other movies of this type don't even bother with. As if to say: "you wanted images and ideas now you figure it out, or in the case of some who cares about endings this is a modern art movie. And modern art is not bad in some cases at all. But a traditional horror fan may not be happy with this art house type of ghost movie at all. I think as a art flick it deserves four stars but for horror fans that may not be enough so I gave it three. But for non fans of this type of art movie, this may be a two or less star.

I was dying to see this film after reading about it in "Images in the Dark" ( a must have book on gay and lesbian films) The film is a lot better than I expected. Yes it does suffer from a low budget and atrocious English dubbing; but director Jesus Franco creates some haunting images that will stay with you after the final fade out.