Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nasty And Nihilistic Meets "American Graffiti", 26 April 2009
The coming-of-age film is a genre that spans generations, that each era has it's own version of. Anything from oh, say "The Yearling" to "Trainspotting" qualifies regardless of barefoot-in-the-Ozarks or druggie-pouting respectively. Now, hold on to your Twitter Account folks, as we have a new one to add to that much vaunted list! We live in a world of violent teenagers, bad horror remakes and Economic crisis, so what would best sum this all up? "Deadgirl" tries, and although falters a bit with the execution, does quite a good job (actually).
Typical "outsider" templates JT and Rickie find solace in hanging around an old, disused Asylum when bored and out-of-sorts, and there one day they come across a naked, seemingly alive but unresponsive girl chained to a table in one of it's darkest recesses. JT fulfills his sickest fantasies on the girl (which I won't go into) and no matter what they do to her, she doesn't die - which in turn allows the sickos to invite in more losers to do what they wish, kind of like "Risky Business" as filtered through the mind of Stuart Gordon, perhaps. But, as you can no doubt figure out yourselves, there is a downside to this male bonding; she's a Zombie. Shock! Horror! Comatose just doesn't cut it.
It plays well on our societies apparent march towards the Cult of Dehumanization and all the questions that it implies; and, in the light of a current taste for teenagers-are-scum horror (See "Eden Lake" for clarification) no bases are left untouched when it comes to voyeurism and crass Daily Mail tut-tutting. However, the film does make us think about the limits of what people will do before they accept they've "gone too far" (and the Hubris that goes along with it). So, highly recommended, with a loss of stars for a crummy production look and slightly rotten acting. Better than the usual Slasher fare, let's leave it at that.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great idea fundamentally flawed, 13 Aug 2009
Deadgirl is a challenging and controversial movie that has more to it than may first seem. With a tiny cast, and only one zombie, it is an exploration of male teenage angst and sexuality that descends into a harrowing portrayal of the darkness that lies within us, and leaves us asking the question: who are the real zombies here?
The premise that Deadgirl is based on is razor sharp and pregnant with potential. Two seventeen year-old rebellious boys skip school one day and head to an abandoned asylum to drink, smoke, and vent their adolescent male aggression and frustrations. Soon they get bored and decided to explore the tunnels underneath the asylum in search of more excitement. As they are escaping from a fearsome looking feral dog that turns up, they come across a rusted up and barricaded door. Of course boyish curiosity is far too great for them to possibly not open the door, but nothing could have prepared them for what they find: an attractive if unkempt girl chained naked to a table. The conflict between their choices of what to do with her provides the fuel for the fire in which the rest of the movie burns, and this conflict is made even more severe when they discover that the girl cannot die.
There are a few things you really need to know before you watch Deadgirl, things which I wish I had known. Firstly, this is out-and-out a "guy" movie; it deals very much in teenage male insecurities and sexuality, which females will struggle to relate to (in the same way that no male can relate to the emotions of a teenage female). Also, although it is often described as a "zombie rape" movie and derided for being exploitation cinema, it is actually a lot more than that when you take the time to think about it.
Yes, Deadgirl is a zombie rape movie, there is no way to deny that. But fundamentally it is about the difficulties of feeling like an impotent outsider oppressed by those more socially secure than yourself, and how you pass on that oppression to the next weakest person in line in order to make yourself feel more powerful and more able to deal with your own suffering. We see this struggle quite clearly through the film as the teens manage, through their "control" of the Deadgirl, to destroy some of the things that had been oppressing them. After each of these incidents they get more confidence to take on bigger threats, but ironically they are no more powerful than they ever were. A wonderful scene at a gas station really drives this home, but I wont spoil it for you.
Reminiscent of Heart of Darkness, we are led on a journey into the abyss of the mind, driven by the question: "If there were no consequences, just how far would you go?" However the one serious flaw of Deadgirl also stems from this; and it was this problem that ruined the entire movie on my first watch-through. For the journey to work, we need to start at the beginning. However when they first find the Deadgirl, one of the boys' immediate reaction is to fondle her and say "lets keep her". This is an utterly unbelievable first response, to jump that quickly into a deconstruction of morals and ethics with no kind of build up, and we as the viewers are left unable to buy into the characters or empathise with them at all. This completely undermines the rest of the film, which is a pity because if done correctly the movie would have been a lot better understood and received than it was. Imagine for a moment what kind of a book
Lord of the Flies would have been if the boys had started killing each other as soon as they landed on the island.
Visually Deadgirl ticks the boxes without being spectacular. The 2.35 aspect ratio gives plenty of horizontal space which is well used in many scenes to build the atmosphere; however I did find that some of the shots looked quite grainy, especially in poor light conditions. The makeup of the Deadgirl herself, and what gore we do see, is convincing and well done. The director seems to have made a particular effort not to use gore and other graphic elements unnecessarily, opting for a more subtle approach overall thus increasing the impact of what we do see.
On the DVD there are a few extras: A 7m behind the scenes featurette that takes us on a very quick journey through the making of the film, an interesting if a little short make-up effect gallery with captions to each picture, and an average commentary with the cast and crew. The commentary wasn't really that interesting, especially since the main points they mentioned are in the featurette already, but also wasn't informal or chatty enough to be one of those "funny drunk guys in a room" commentaries. Oh, and there's a trailer on there too. Not an special feature (thank god DVDs have stopped calling them that!), but the animated title screen actually caught my eye; one by one three close up body shots fade from a normal look to the decayed look of the Deadgirl. Definitely one of the better menu titles I've seen.
Deadgirl isn't a film everyone will enjoy, in fact it has split the community quite harshly which isn't surprising considering it is dealing with incredibly difficult topics such as rape, necrophilia, and the violence that lurks within us. However if you can get over the fundamental flaw mentioned above and see the underlying topics then you may well enjoy this unusual movie.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dead Awesome!, 3 Jul 2009
I bought this film in the intent that it would be okay just something to fill an hour and a half of a rainy day but it turned out to be a pretty awesome film its said to have elements of humour in it which is apparent in one scene but its also quite sick humour. i really do like this film alot :) great buy!
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