A Menina Morta

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.

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.

Two teenagers JT and Rickie skip school and decide to go to an abandoned mental asylum.They horse around for a while destroying property before exploring the basement.In the cellar our heroes find a girl chained to a table with a plastic bag over her head.They touch her and it is revealed that she is alive.JT decides that they should keep her and use her as a sex slave.The problem is that the woman can't be killed and she is the living dead.First of all I really enjoyed "Deadgirl".The film is quite controversial when it comes to its dark necrophiliac subject matter.There are some moments of gore and violence and seriously twisted climax.The moral ambivalence of the film is actually the most disturbing thing about it.The main performances of Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan are very strong and my highest respect goes to Jenny Spain,who spends nearly every scene she is in naked and tormented.Fans of extreme cinema will no doubt enjoy "Deadgirl".7 out of 10.

Two teenage boys find a deadgirl and while one makes a toy of her, the other struggles with his conscience.

I don't do zombie flicks because they are tired, played out and too many different versions of them running around to make them anything but ridiculous these days. This film however, I like.

We have just one zombie that sorta exists without all the normal zombie expectations. She isn't the main focus of the film though. The boys who take advantage of her corpse, struggle with the moral aspects of their actions and fail to make the "right" decisions are.

It is a different sort of horror film that walks a fine line between horror and a dark drama with a bit of unnatural aspects sprinkled into it. Not a bad watch though. Just be prepared for it to be a bit disturbing in terms of how far these boys are willing to go.