I morti viventi sono tra noi

In THE REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD GIRLS, the milk supply has been purposefully contaminated with toxic waste by an unscrupulous ne'er-do-well. We watch as various women drop dead before our eyes after imbibing the white poison. It's all part of a big cover-up!

Oops!

The same chemicals are eventually dumped in a cemetery. The very cemetery where said victims were interred! You guessed it, they quickly rise from their graves seeking vengeance!

The fetid females go on the expected rampage, slaughtering those deemed responsible for their undead condition.

While not the greatest zombie movie ever made, it does feature some rather disturbing scenes of violence perpetrated against the living...

REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD GIRLS (Pierre B. Reinhard - France 1987).

The premise of spilling some toxic waste in awakening the dead is rather similar to Jean Rollin's girlie zombie flick LA MORTE VIVANTE (1981), in this case it's the spilling of contaminated milk that awakes three slumbering girls in a graveyard instead of one. Some even suggested Jean Rollin directed this one too, and that Pierre B. Reinhard was a pseudonym. Does three living dead girls mean more fun? Well, not exactly. Now, I'm not a big zombie fan, but sometimes it can be fun, even the bad ones, but the only thing this one delivers is a couple of truly sickening - but not too convincing - gore scenes, like a woman's abortion in the shower, a sword used as a dildo and some genital mutilation. Despite this, even gore lovers or those looking for a couple of laughs, better look elsewhere. In between the occasional and quite infrequent zombie action, we're treated with a hokum storyline, wooden acting and when talking atmosphere and cinematography, Jean Rollin's oeuvre begins to look brilliant in comparison. This one is plain dull, and Brigitte Lahaie isn't even in it. The pits.

Camera Obscura --- 2/10

I really don't know why this film has gotten such a bad rap. I personally had a blast with this one. It's total trash cinema at it's "finest" and after reading all the horrible reviews, was surprised to find how much I enjoyed it.

DEAD GIRLS is a strange combination of exploit style horror/crime caper. The town's milk supply is tainted with a chemical that causes those that drink it to die. Three girls fall victim to the bad milk and are buried in the local cemetery. Meanwhile, the sleazy chemical plant manager is paying to have toxic chemicals dumped and the guy doing the dumping chooses the same cemetery. The chemicals cause the dead girls to come back to life and they want revenge...

DEAD GIRLS is a fun, gory, sleazy "zombie" film. The best part (other than the high-heel-eye-gouging, penis-munching, undead-orgy-vagina-stabbing, and spontaneous-shower-miscarriage...) is the "twist" ending that really comes out of nowhere and is sure to throw the audience for a loop. The zombies in this one aren't your average, no-brain flesh eaters - these girls plan, hide, go for a swim, and even drive cars...and in the end, you'll understand why. Definitely not high-brow art, DEAD GIRLS is pure goofy sleaze at it's finest. 8/10

Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (1987)

*** (out of 4)

Ohhh...how I love a good French horror and this one here offers up three beautiful French whores. Incredibly bizarre, surreal and sometimes disturbing film that sounds dumb but manages to pack quite a little punch. A company, not wanting to pay for their chemicals to be dumped properly, put some into a truck of milk, which eventually kills three girls. The girls then return from the dead to seek bloody revenge. There's a lot of political overtones that get somewhat tiresome but the real reason to seek this film out is due to the incredibly violent and sexual nature of the film. Men and women's genitalia are torn to shreds, eyes ripped out, beautiful naked French ladies and there's even a foursome between a prostitute and the three dead girls. The film is certainly campy but there's some terrific atmosphere. The alternate ending on the DVD is a jewel.

While a hitch-hiker seduces the driver of a milk tanker, a mysterious motorcyclist sneaks on board the vehicle and pours a bottle of liquid into the container; soon after, three young women drop dead, having drunk the contaminated milk. The three victims are laid to rest in a cemetery that just so happens to be the chosen illegal dumping ground for several barrels of industrial waste called MZ31. The toxic sludge seeps into the ground and reanimates the dead girls, who emerge from their tombs to take revenge on the living.

Despite non-stop female nudity and the occasional moment of extreme nastiness, French '80s horror The Return of the Living Dead Girls somehow still manages to be quite dull for much of its runtime, the plot dwelling too much on dreary industrial espionage and blackmail instead of gory zombie action. The script is terrible, and the acting poor, while Pierre B. Reinhard's direction is about what one would expect from a man whose movie career prior to this was... shall we say... not very demanding of style or imagination.

Trashy highlights include a woman getting a shoe heel in the eye (the wound spurting profusely), personal assistant Brigitte (Anthea Wyler) fondling herself before slipping into a jacket with massive shoulder pads, a prostitute molested by the undead before being shish-kebabed with a sword, a man having his manhood bitten off by a zombie, and a pregnant woman's stomach opening up to reveal her unborn baby. There's also fun to be had as the zombies use a doorbell before entering a house, go for a relaxing swim in a pool, and drive a car, all of which sounds daft, but can be explained by the film's twist ending, which -- trust me -- is far more ridiculous. These bits are admittedly fun, but quite a lot of perseverance is required to make it through to the end.