The Living Dead Girl (1982) by Jean Rollin - Printable Version +- Forums (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum) +-- Forum: Doom Arts (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=6) +--- Forum: Doom Streaming (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=21) +--- Thread: The Living Dead Girl (1982) by Jean Rollin (/showthread.php?tid=5486)

The Living Dead Girl (1982) by Jean Rollin - cranefly - 06-08-2020 Two workmen unload a heavy barrel and lug it down into a tunnel beneath an old chateau.  They set it down next to a lot of other barrels.  "You sure we should be doing this?" says one.  The other responds, "This toxic stuff needs to go somewhere.  No one will catch us."  After which he reminds the other to put on his mask, because of the toxic fumes down there.  Folded handkerchiefs seem to suffice.  But then the leader wants to do some coffin-robbing, because the mother and daughter of the chateau are in a side tunnel.  So they open the coffins, and sure enough they have on expensive jewelry for the taking.  The bodies are well-preserved despite the years, maybe because of the fumes.  And then two things happen in quick succession.  A small quake, knocking over barrels that start to leak, and the dead daughter slightly flexes fingers that end in long, soon-to-be-deadly, fingernails. Soon the daughter, heiress Catherine, is wandering the heath, white gown stained in fresh blood. This is a return to form for Rollin, who again turns the vampire genre on its ear.  The daughter doesn't have fangs and isn't a vampire.  And she stays dead, sort of, but she's also sort of alive, revived by the toxic fumes.  So despite the hoaky title, it's actually a good one. We're soon introduced to realtor Helen trying to sell the chateau, and learn (through flashback) that she was Catherine's childhood friend, and back then they made a blood pact to always stay together.  Imagine Helen's joy when she discovers that Catherine is "alive." Catherine is mostly innocent and well-meaning, and increasingly guilt-ridden.  She needs blood to stay alive, and it falls to Helen to be her enabler.  That's the intriguing twist to this one. Rollin's aesthetics never included gore, but here he was pushed to make a horror movie.  He delivers.  So does Catherine, played by one Françoise Blanchard, with such intensity that Rollin and crew almost interrupted filming a particularly gruesome scene out of concern for her mental health. Maybe three more films to go -- at least what's available on Kanopy.  Slim pickings from here on, and Rollin is getting older, and none the richer.