Deadgirl

Deadgirl is the sort of movie that keeps you wondering, “Will it really go there?” 

Necrophilia isn’t exactly new to the horror genre.  It was a staple of Italian gothics as far back as the ‘60s and subsequent decades gave birth to a slew of underground (Nekromantik) and prestige projects (Crash) that mixed sex with death in exploitive and artistic ways.  But co-directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel’s 2008 film is equally unique:  a zombie coming-of-age story that blends hormones and horror to shocking affect.

 

Rickie and JT stumble upon what they initially believe is a female corpse strapped to a gurney in the basement of an abandoned asylum.  But this corpse is actually one of the undead, immune to gunshots and the usual methods of destruction.  Sexually opportunistic, JT turns her into his sex slave, eventually inviting other high school outcasts to participate as well.  Despite JT’s arguments that his victim isn’t even human anymore, Rickie takes the moral high ground, refusing to join their undead orgy…but also failing to report anything to the police.  

 

Screenwriter Trent Haaga, a Troma veteran, builds his story around the bones of nihilistic teen angst films like River’s Edge, focusing on edgy outsiders spurned by society who take what they can get out of their short lives.  That Breaking Away-style class warfare is actually one of the weaker elements of Deadgirl’s narrative.  But it results in interesting characters whose choices matter.  And a script that ups its game for every act.

 

Deadgirl is a film that enjoys making you uncomfortable.  Most of that comes from scenes of sexual assault, which are shot with all the erotic appeal of dry humping a side of beef.  But it also shows just how much depth talented filmmakers can wring out of the zombie genre (has The Walking Dead really never approached the subject in 11+ seasons and multiple spin-offs?).  Haaga’s script also manages to sidestep the elevated horror label, delivering something that’s genuinely transgressive but gruesomely satisfying at the same time.

 

Deadgirl is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a new Blu-ray from Unearthed Films full of new interviews from the cast and filmmakers, two archival audio commentaries, Making Of, auditions, deleted scenes and PDFs of the original shooting script and Haaga’s unfilmed sequel!  

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