Deadgirl

I would have rated this film a full 10 out of 10, but I have to admit, it was so disturbing to me that I couldn't give it the full score.

Imagine, one zombie-girl being held captive by teenage boys. The zombie isn't the monster here, it's the boys.

This is most definitely NOT a date movie. This is more a flick that a person sees on their own and discusses later on internet message boards.

Not much blood and guts, no dystopian future... so why is it so disturbing? A quick perusal of the plot/synopsis should tell you why, I'm not going to give away any spoilers in this review.

I will say that this movie does a great job explaining the motivations of its male characters. I think it captures the angst, drives, and suffering of teenage males. Granted, the movie throws all of it to extreme contrast... but that only helps underline and illuminate those things.

The movie does a great job with cinematics and pacing. I expect to see great things from the directors.

I'd also like to comment on the movie poster (showing a woman's lips at a 90 degree angle). Brilliant movie poster on several levels.

I saw this at the TIFF and was expecting it to be some kind of Saw film or something of its ilk. However, it is much better than a simple horror film and really defies categorization. Deadgirl is a look into how we humanize, empathize and sympathize. It is a very provocative film and I squirmed many times. It is, however, not a film made for shock value. This is an essay on what it is to be human and where we draw the line on what we consider human. It is an exploration into where we draw the line on compassion and the hows and whys of our brutality and inhumanity. There are many scenes that affected me so deeply that I had trouble sleeping and talked about them for many weeks afterward. This is a great disturbing film.

I have had a lot of trouble with this film. There are a lot of elements and actions in this film that could be considered ridiculous and flawed.

But you cannot mistake this film for just a brainless display if depravity.

There arn't many films that examine warped sexual desire with such efficiency. There are a LOT of boys in this film, and all of them do some...questionable things, to put it mildly. On the one hand, they are faced with something that they cannot comprehend, on the other they are faced with opportunity to do wrong. And they exorcise this to the fullest extent. The result is vile, repugnant and horrifically believable considering real world cases of gang rape such as was the case with Junko Furuta.

This film examines group mentality, and the conflict that arises from allowing terrible things to happen. And what it looks like to turn a blind eye.

Though, I do have respect for this film, I cannot recommend it.

This movie will grab you, if you let yourself into it. It's disturbing and might haunt you, if you are willing to take the "ride". Fun it's most definitely not. But in a weird way it's grossly compelling. An exercise in human behavior (of course not meant to be understood as a blueprint for everyone), this movie is definitely an unsettling watch and weird experience.

While the main actors here can be seen in smaller roles in bigger pictures (one of them plays a blink and you'll miss him role in Cadillac Records for example), they do convince and play their roles as straight as they can. It's not a perfect movie, but it's a small little picture, that might be a stepping stone for it's director, if he can take this experience from this movie and continue with bigger things. I think he the ability to do so ... This one definitely is not for those who can't bear watching "torture" (be it of physical or psychological nature).

I have a longer review of this, but unfortunately it breaches the 1k word limit of IMDb, so I will be rather succinct.

I had the pleasure of watching this at the Leeds Film Festival as part of Night of the Dead. At first I was apprehensive, expecting perhaps another 'torture-porn' indie film.

Instead, I got a powerful probe into the human psyche and the limits of human capability and barbarity.

The two main characters are enthralling and thoroughly explored, it is this subtle psychological study juxtaposed with the stark brutality of the films heavier moments that make this so powerful. Gritty, grainy, and teetering between realism, fantasy, and science-fiction, deadgirl is a horror that raises the bar on context, delivery, and emotional impact. It is probably the best US horror I have seen in recent memory, and its rating here on IMDb seems to reflect people taking it on at a superficial value only.

However, the film also knows is limits, it does not plunge into the sea of self indulgent artistic pretence. Instead, it stays afloat and allows you to glimpse down and take what you want from it, to empathise with who you deem worthy, and cast the sinister question of just what would YOU do in a room where society's laws are locked away in the background, your own state of nature in the metallic underbelly of an abandoned mental asylum. Would you return to the banality of suburban school life? Would you act on feral urge or try and do what you perceive to be the right thing.

Recommended.