Prior to my viewing of 'The Living Dead Girl', my only taste of the master of erotic vampire films, Jean Rollin, was the low quality and overall less than brilliant 'Lips of Blood', and because of that I wasn't expecting great things from this movie. However, to my surprise this is a surprisingly good movie! The Living Dead Girl hinges somewhere between a love story (between two women, no less) and a very gory zombie flick and while it could easily have gone wrong, Rollin has created a film that will both shock, amuse and even touch you, and that's not something that can be said of many zombie movies! The plot is like an early blueprint for the underrated second sequel to Return of the Living Dead, and it follows a toxic spill that brings a dead heiress back from the dead. Naturally, being a zombie she brutally murders everyone in the vicinity, but it gets really interesting when we find out that before death, she and a friend were very close, and now that the heiress is back from the dead; the old friendship can be rekindled.
On a technical level, The Living Dead Girl isn't all that great, but considering the low quality of the picture, it's not all that bad either. The script is rather trite, and the film is also rather oddly paced, as it starts off like any other silly zombie movie, only to mature into something much more interesting later on, which may annoy some viewers. The acting is surprisingly decent, which is good because one doesn't watch this sort of movie for great performances, so when there is one or two, it's a treat. The characters are definitely underdone, but the actresses make the best of them. Rollin makes best use of the actresses too, with numerous nude scenes, which help the erotic element of the movie no end. The lesbian undertones also help to up the sleaze level, which is fine with me! Finally, there's the gore, which is both striking and excellently done. Despite being over the top, it still manages to be realistic and the French director has proved that he isn't one to hold back the bloodthirstiness of a movie with this picture. On the whole, it's not for everyone...but if you like erotic horror sleaze with lots of blood and nudity; see this movie!
On a technical level, The Living Dead Girl isn't all that great, but considering the low quality of the picture, it's not all that bad either. The script is rather trite, and the film is also rather oddly paced, as it starts off like any other silly zombie movie, only to mature into something much more interesting later on, which may annoy some viewers. The acting is surprisingly decent, which is good because one doesn't watch this sort of movie for great performances, so when there is one or two, it's a treat. The characters are definitely underdone, but the actresses make the best of them. Rollin makes best use of the actresses too, with numerous nude scenes, which help the erotic element of the movie no end. The lesbian undertones also help to up the sleaze level, which is fine with me! Finally, there's the gore, which is both striking and excellently done. Despite being over the top, it still manages to be realistic and the French director has proved that he isn't one to hold back the bloodthirstiness of a movie with this picture. On the whole, it's not for everyone...but if you like erotic horror sleaze with lots of blood and nudity; see this movie!