The Living Dead Girl (1982)

aka La Morte Vivante

If you're not already a fan of Eurosleaze, along the lines of such directors as say, Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato (just to name a couple of the more infamous ones)--Jean Rollin's LA MORTE VIVANTE (aka The Living Dead Girl) is probably not going to do much for you. Unless, of course, all you need to enjoy a movie is nekkid chicks, gallons of blood splatter, and you don't mind a slow paced film; this one might work for you! Now, after years of watching slow moving (dare I say artsy) Eurosleaze flicks, I have become accustom to their taste--I don't mind a slow boiling movie, as long as it gives me something in return...like nekkid chicks and gallons of blood splatter--and this film has that, in spades. To be honest, it's not an all out gore fest, but the gore it does have is plenty gruesome, and pulls no punches.

Jean Rollin's films are not going to be every body's cup of tea. As it seems with most European directors, they make movies that they like, and if you like them as well, great, if not--fuck off. I like that attitude, personally. When you start making movies for the masses, the "art" in cinema gets watered down, and looses all it's flavor, which leaves you not wanting more, but wanting the next it thing (i.e. Hollywood's bread and butter). Anyways, not to get carried away on a mainstream movie rant--back to Rollin. I've not seen a whole lot of Rollin's films, in fact this is only the fifth film of his that I've seen, the others being, ZOMBIE LAKE (the only one I didn't care for, so far), NIGHT OF THE HUNTED (loved it!), FASCINATION, THE SEDUCTION OF AMY (saw them both on Skin-O-Max, back in the day, probably need to revisit), and now LA MORTE VIVANTE, which may be my favorite after NIGHT OF THE HUNTED. So far, LA MORTE VIVANTE may be the most linear of Rollin's films that I have seen as of yet, and it seems way more enthralling as far as pace (it's slow, but not slooooow), unlike some of his other films.

The plot is fairly simple; a toxic spill in an underground tomb causes a deceased young woman named, Catherine Valmont (the very pretty, Françoise Blanchard) to re-animate and naturally, have a craving for human flesh/blood. Catherine's tomb is located under the chateau that she grew up in, so she returns there to "haunt" it, so to speak (is she a ghost? A zombie? A vampire? I don't know, but she sure is hot). First, she kills the men that were robbing her coffin, and then she kills the woman that is selling the house (along with her very ugly boyfriend). She ends up being able to contact her best friend from when she was alive, Hélène (the also pretty, Marina Pierro), who comes to the chateau at once, and pretty much becomes Catherine’s keeper (seems the two made a blood bond when they were little girls, and damn if they don't stick to it). Meanwhile, there is an American couple vacationing at the town nearby, the husband is a painter/sketch artist (couldn't tell), and the wife, a reluctant photographer. The wife sees Catherine roaming in a field (after her initial awakening), and takes some pictures of her. Soon the wife becomes obsessed, and wants to know who the woman is. She asks around the town and is told the woman in the picture looks a lot like a woman who just recently died--Catherine Valmont.

Meanwhile, Hélène starts collecting victims for Catherine to feast on, and the line between who the real monsters is, Hélène or Catherine, becomes blurry. Hélène seems to have no problem killing innocent people for Catherine's nourishment, but Catherine on the other hand just wants to be dead again, and sees herself (and her insatiable hunger) as evil. Predictably the American woman pokes her head where she shouldn't, discovers the chateau, and a final confrontation is had, that really benefits no one, but the films finale is very well done.

Reading some IMDb message boards, some people really hate the American couple, and call them out on their acting abilities--this really surprised me because I really like the couple, and found them (and their dialogue) to be very realistic. They talk and argue like a real couple does--not to mention they speak to each other in English, as two Americans really would. I hate when everybody in a film, regardless of their country of origin speak the same language. They both seem to know some French, and speak it to the natives, which again, brought a sense of reality to the film. I also like how the scenes Catherine and Hélène, offset the scenes with the couple. With the couple the film has a happy-go-lucky kind of vibe, and over at the chateau, there's a dark, depressing, well...um, French vibe. The French are known for being quite gloomy, hate to perpetuate a stereotype, but you know...

The film does drag along at a snail's pace, unfortunately, but not as bad as some other Euro films. You might be drawn to the fast forward button a couple of times, but all in all, I found the film entertaining. The score is nothing to get jazzed up about either, but I've noticed that's kind of a trend in Rollin's films, unlike his Italian counterparts, whom seem to have a better understanding of how a great score can heighten a film's entertainment value on a sonic level. On the other hand, a lackluster score is better than a shitty one.

Disregarding some stern warnings against it, I look forward to delving farther into Rollin's work. So far so good, I can't even say I hated ZOMBIE LAKE, I just didn't care for it. I've yet to see any of Rollin's lesbo-vampire movies, which I plan on seeking out son. Though some may consider LA MORTE VIVANTE a vampire film, I see it as more of vampire/zombie film--a ghoul film, if you may.

Lastly, I'm not sure if the film, REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD GIRLS from 1987--also a French film (directed by Pierre B. Reinhard), is supposed to be a sequel to LA MORTE VIVANTE (or connected to it at all), but that movie was pure shit. There are not many movies I have stopped watching in the middle of, but that movie had a storyline that was so batshit stupid (not to mention so many continuity errors that I lost track) that I just didn't have the will to give it anymore time from my life. Needless to say, LA MORTE VIVANTE was way more enjoyable than it's sequel/knockoff.

So, LA MORTE VIVANTE is not for everybody, but if you’re looking to get into some French styled Eurosleaze, there's no hurt in giving this one a try. If not, que sera, sera.

LA MORTE VIVANTE trailer