Directors: Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel
Cast: Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Jenny Spain
Dark Sky Films / Region 1 / Unrated / 2.35:1 Widescreen / Dolby 5.1 Surround / English Lanuage / 101 minutes / Official Site / Purchase
Not since I fantasized about getting into Mindy Clarke’s undead panties in Return of the Living Dead III have I thought about having sexy time with a zombie. I guess technically it would be considered necrophilia, but in my mind that calls for the dead good-time girl to not be moving, groaning or bitching that you finished too quickly (not that that has ever happened to me). There are not a ton of necrophilia-themed horror films that I can think of off of the top of my head other than the obvious Nekromantik movies and Cerda’s Aftermath (technically a short film), although there are films that feature it. Even less deal specifically with having sex with the living dead. And really, who wouldn’t like to see more flicks about zombie snogging? Well, Dark Sky Films has done their part to remedy that with their stellar release of Deadgirl.
Ricky and J.T. are high school losers who never made it with a lady (thanks, Steven Tyler) and spend their time skipping school and trashing old, closed down insane asylums. On one of their trips to the asylum, they stumble onto a secret hidden door that opens to reveal a dark, dank basement with a dead female strapped down to a gurney or something of the sort. It doesn’t take long before J.T. – the more warped and evil of the two – discovers that she isn’t dead, exactly… she’s sorta alive and can’t be killed. Her skin is cold, she acts like a rabid animal and she smells like hot garbage, so what’s the first thing J.T. decides to do? Stick his dick in her possibly putrid pussy to get his delinquent rocks off, or course! But Ricky – the more sensitive and girly of the two – just wants to tell the authorities and get the hell out of there.
Rick decides reluctantly to let his sickeningly horny friend have his fun, but he wants no part of it and instead goes home to wallow in his wussiness. It isn’t long before the word gets out to the other horny losers, namely Wheeler the Completely Retarded Douchebag (I added the last part) who soon is dipping his wick in the rotting stinkhole. And just when you think J.T. and Wheeler can’t get more vile, they devise a plan to create more zombie sluts when they find out by accident – one that the jock bullies won’t soon forget – that when the the dead girl bites someone, they become one of the “walking” dead. But oh no, Ricky the Hero has to stop all of the sick fun when he finds out that they intend on turning his high school crush into one of their dead teen spooge depositories.
Not only is this one of the sickest plots I have ever heard of, but the photography and directing style ratchets up the disturbing tone of not only the onscreen action, but the characters themselves. Every character, whether “good” or “evil” has a creepy vibe that permeates the screen and your spine. Rookie horror director Marcel Sarmiento and co-director Gadi Harel could not have done more to create the mood for the unsettling story as well as for the pitch-black comedic elements. I hope he decides to do more in the future. Veteran writer Trent Haaga (Feeding the Masses) has created one of the most well written horror movies I have ever seen. Clever dialogue and (dis)likable, interesting characters drive the absurd action to the slightly typical but satisfying conclusion. Noah Segan as the completely morally corrupt “J.T.” is outstanding. He reminded me of the young and brooding Christian Slater from Heathers (which is coincidental because producer Chris Webster also produced Heathers).
I am very happy that Dark Sky decided to pick this up for distribution. They continually pick high quality films to put out. The picture and sound quality is impeccable, but aside from the ubiquitous commentary and “making-of” featurette there isn’t much in the way of DVD extras. There are deleted scenes but they were deleted for a reason and aren’t all that interesting. The coolest thing is the reversible cover in which, in my opinion, the “Lips” cover is by far the superior cover art. This unrated director’s cut is definitely worth a purchase because you will want to watch this one more than once or twice. As the cover mentions, if you like Cronenberg’s “body horror”, you will love Deadgirl.
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