Deadgirl (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Marcel Sarmiento
Gadi Harel (co-director)

Writer:

Trent Haaga (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Coming Of Age | Teen Show | One Word Title | Asylum

Cast

Shiloh Fernandez	...	Rickie
Noah Segan	...	J.T.
Michael Bowen	...	Clint
Candice Accola	...	JoAnn
Andrew DiPalma	...	Johnny
Eric Podnar	...	Wheeler
Nolan Gerard Funk	...	Dwyer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christina Blevins	...	Amanda
Kelle Cantwell	...	Britt
Shushig DerStepanian	...	Elizabeth
David Alan Graf	...	Mr. Harrison
Dustin Hess	...	Walter
Susan Marie Keller	...	Nikki
Christina Masterson	...	Rosie
Casey Morgan	...	Riley
Timothy Muskatell	...	Wes
Jenny Spain	...	The deadgirl
Dawson Van Pelt	...	Kurt Lars
Luke Van Pelt	...	Chris Lars
Jessica Lynn Wilson	...	Student (as Jessica Wilson)
Crystal Young	...	Kris- Student

Runtime:

Canada:101 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:18

Company:

Hollywoodmade

Troubling, but sadly realistic (as horror movies go)

I find myself sort of wondering why IMDb has this listed as horror. Sure, there's the titular zombie-like chick in the film, but she's hardly the focal point. Honestly, this seems to me a lot like what George Romero would've done if he was making his first movies today. Not that this will likely ever heralded like the original Night Of The Living Dead, but a lot of the points are still there. I know a lot of people who bow at the feet of the master will cry foul at that last statement, but let's face it...Romero's early stuff is rather slow paced, low on gore, and dripping with social commentary. And so is Deadgirl.

Basically what you've got here is the story of two disaffected teenage boys who come across a (sort of) dead girl in an abandoned hospital. Being teenagers, one disregards much of his humanity in favor of darker intentions while the other objects but does nothing to back up his protests. Slowly the story gathers more complexity as one teen begins essentially raping this (sort of) dead girl and eventually invites some friends in on the action. As troubling as this sounds (and it is), you've seen worse things in your life which is a bit surprising considering that in their minds this is basically a moving corpse. So eventually it's up to one guy to be the voice of reason and make everything right.

There's a lot of commentary here. Everything from peer pressure, the effects of apathetic and absent parents, and the apathy and angst of teenagers gets touched on and done quite well. All said and done I'd certainly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a horror movie with a bit more substance and a bit less gore. Sure...we all like our horror movies nice and violent, but sometimes it's nice to see one that takes a slightly different path.