Living Dead Girl (a.k.a. La Morte Vivante)
(Jean Rollin; 1982)
(Image/Redemption)
-Overview-
When a small group of men storing toxic chemical waste in an abandoned castle stumble upon the crypt of the previous occupants, the decide to see if there’s anything worth stealing in the caskets. An earthquake occurs, shaking the foundation of the castle and dumping one of the chemical barrels causing it to spill into the crypt and bring Catherine, a young deceased girl back to life. She proceeds to kill everyone in her path as she stumbles her way back to her former home. Once in the castle, the undead maiden happens upon a realtor and her boyfriend having sex in the living room, and proceeds to make short work of them. When she receives a telephone call from her best friend Helene from childhood they are soon reunited. Helene soon discovers that her previously deceased friend now has a hunger for blood. Distraught and confused with the whole situation, Helena decides to lure victims to the castle so that Catherine can satiate her bloodlust and that they may remain together forever.
You just gotta love Jean Rollin, his films are so terribly sleazy. I am of the opinion that Living Dead Girl is one of his finest achievements (the other being the excellent Grapes of Death). Tons of gratuitous gore and full frontal nudity abound in this lovely little sleazefest from the 80’s. The gore is very well done and for the most part all of the ladies are lick-a-licious. So terribly much fun. Watch it with the whole family.
-Sound-
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.
-Picture-
Picture quality is good, with a few blemishes here and there. Widescreen.
-Special Features-
- Slideshow
- French theatrical trailer
-Packaging-
Cardboard snap case. I do take issue with these Redemption discs, because they don’t use the original poster artwork for the covers, but make their own with images unrelated to the contents of the film, being mostly made up of topless women. (Not that there’s anything wrong with topless women)
Sound: 5
Picture: 6
Packaging: 3
(Rating scale is out of 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best)