A Menina Morta

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.

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).

You might think this is all smarmy and about necrophilia when two teens, Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and J.T. (Noah Segan), playing hooky find a dead girl (Jenny Spain) in the basement of a mental hospital. Well, she is dead, but she isn't. She's undead.

Soon, she becomes a sex tool for J.T and his high school friends.

The conflict between the two life-long friends simmers the entire movie until it boils over in the end as we reflect on just what it means to be human.

Lots and lots of blood and zombie action, not so much sex. But, if you are looking for a horror film, you will be disappointed, as it is more philosophical and can't be easily fit into a category.

It doesn't take a genius, or a saint to realize that rape is wrong. Whether the victim is among the living or otherwise, it just ain't cool. But are there any rules pertaining to the undead? Apparently not. Or if there are, certain individuals in this film aren't the least bit concerned. Written by the legendary Trent Haaga, Deadgirl is An utterly tasteless story about two high school chums who go off playing hookie, and drinking, ending up at an old, abandoned mental hospital. Said chums soon make a shocking discovery in one of the rooms. A dead chick tied to a table. It doesn't take long for these two genius' to figure out that she's not dead, after all. That's right! Undead. So, I guess that would make this a zombie flick, wouldn't it? An original Zombie flick. A very, very mean-spirited zombie flick. It doesn't take nearly as much effort as it should have for the bad kid to talk the wuss into not telling anyone about their new discovery... So that they can just stop by now & then (every day) for a quickie, at the expense of their undead new friend. That's not that weird, right? Wrong! Very weird, and very wrong! In other words, this movie is hilarious. I'm glad some people can see that the living dead sub-genre could use a little reinventing, from time to time. And don't get the idea that Deadgirl is just a film about rape. It's also an intriguing character-study. A coming-of-age movie. A much deeper story than one would first assume. With plenty of dark humor never too far behind. So, if you're bored with all the same old predictable Horror patterns that's been around for many a decade, you may find this particular one to be original, and quite refreshing. Deadgirl offers not one dull moment, and is no doubt a future cult classic. I'd recommend giving Deadgirl a chance as soon as possible. 6/10

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.