Ruptured Review: The Living Dead Girl (La Morte Vivante)

Country of origin- France 

Year of release- 1982  

Directors- Jean Rollin
Stars- Marina Pierro, Françoise Blanchard, Mike Marshall
  

The film begins with the illegal dumping of chemical waste underneath an abandoned castle, which may sound like the plot line to gothic giant shark movie, but thankfully it isn’t. Once the guys dumping the waste have finished they decide to do a bit of casual crypt robbing, as you do. The men soon discover the perfectly preserved body of Catherine Valmont, who is played by the late great Françoise Blanchard. Suddenly, a strange earth tremor courses a spill of the recently dumped chemical waste on the other side of the crypt, which causes a toxic gas to wash over the body of Catherine. As Catherine begins to stir from her deathly slumber one of the grave robbers gets a bit too close and has his eyes gouged out by the long fingernails of the now very much alive Catherine. It isn’t long before Catherine begins to wonder the rooms and corridors of the castle that was once her home, driven with a desire for human blood.

Catherine is soon reunited however, with her lifelong friend Hélène, played by Marina Pierro. Hélène, desperate to help the friend she had thought she had lost, begins to bring unsuspecting locals to the castle for Catherine to feast upon. It soon becomes clear however that Catherine does not wish to exist in such a horrific manor, and as her victims begin to build up, so does her wish to return to the grave from which she came.

This is one of the many vampire films made by the late Jean Rollin, and it is actually one of his best. It takes what could have been a by the books sleazy vampire gore fest, and turns it into a darkly gothic story of friendship and existentialism, with a well-crafted erotic undertone. Yes, the film does feature plenty of strong gore, but it isn’t the entire point of the film, it is instead used to highlight the ever deaerating mental state of Catherine. This leads to the films oddly sickening, and extremely downbeat conclusion that is perfectly executed, along with much of the surprisingly good dialogue that also leads up to it.

The films only downside however is its tedious subplot about a holidaying couple who happen to take a picture of Catherine soon after her resurrection as she crosses the castle grounds. This ultimately leads to ham fisted scenes of Carina Barone trying to solve the mystery of her sighting of Catherine, all of which feel clunky, slow and out of place with the rest of the film. Putting aside the films one let down, this really is an overlooked gem of avant-garde gothic horror with a modern twist that has something to say, and is pretty damn well made. I highly recommend this one, and most of Jean Rollin’s other work for that matter. I give The Living Dead Girl (La Morte Vivante) 7.5/10.