Deadgirl - Dead serious

Yup, it’s another ‘zombie film.’ In a market saturated by the undead, is there really room for one more?  Actually... in this case, yes.

‘Deadgirl’ may – unsurprisingly – be about a dead girl (who, for all intents and purposes, is indeed a 'zombie'), but it’s not just another story about a plague of flesh-eating ghouls overrunning a small town, village, college, whatever while the humans spend at least half the movie working out that it takes a 'head-shot' to kill one of these creatures.  In fact, there’s quite a lot left up to the viewers’ imagination (at least in terms of plot, certainly not nudity-wise).

Two high school guys hang out in the local (abandoned) mental hospital, only to find an area with an attractive woman tied up and, presumably, left to rot.  She doesn’t talk much.  In fact, the only things that indicate she’s alive is the fact that she moves a bit (and occasionally tries to take a bite out of you).  Therefore, one of the guy’s first instincts is to have sex with her.  Yes, he’s not that likeable – we’re not expected to root for him throughout the film’s run-time!

His friend has other ideas and sees the distaste in all of this, yet he does nothing to really stop this and, before long, guys are queuing up to have a go on ‘Deadgirl.’

We never find out who she is, why she’s there or who left her.  It’s not really about her.  It’s about the boys and the choices they make.  Plus we have aspects of peer pressure and bullying, driving those victimised to extreme courses of action that they wouldn’t normally take.

I mentioned the nudity.  The deadgirl is nude at all times, so be prepared for ‘rape’ to play a major part in this film.  However, there’s not an awful lot of violence and, much of what there is, happens off camera.  It’s not an action film by any standards.  Don’t expect a fast-paced thriller.  It’s character-driven.  Sometimes you’ll agree with some of them, other times you’ll be crying out for retribution to befall them.  Some people have criticised the film over the fact that it just so happens that five high school boys all are rapists, but you’ll have to gloss over that fact to watch the film.

Just because there isn’t much action or gore, don’t be lulled in thinking that this film isn’t a horror movie.  Its horror is in the situation and the human actions to an inhuman experience.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that