TIFF Review: Deadgirl

Deadgirl tells the story who two friends, Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and JT (Noah Segan), who skip High School and break into a local abandoned mental hospital. In the boiler room they find a dead woman strapped to a gurney and covered in plastic. But it turns out that the dead girl is alive, and JT wants to turn the naked zombie into their personal sex slave. Rickie wants no part of it, and tries to distince himself from the situation. But when word of the discovery begins to spread, he gets pulled back in.

Perverse and just plain fucked up, Deadgirl is the next evolution of sex-infused horror genre, which regained traction a couple years ago with the Sundance hit Teeth.  For example, at one point, when the dead girl’s body begins to dry up, its insinuated that they begin to have sex with the warm gooey wounds in her stomach. About 15-20% off the press in attendance at my screening walked out of the screening before the climax.

But don’t get me wrong, Deadgirl is steps above the typical torture porn horror film. Directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel have an incredible attention of mood and tone. Deadgirl floats smoothly between dark comedy and horror, and the result is a coming-of-age film like you’ve never seen before (or will likely ever see again).

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

About the Author

Peter Sciretta is a film geek and popcultured fanboy living in San Francisco. He created /Film in 2005.

  • more like a cumming of age film am i right fellas?
  • vidzblog
    thats hot
  • REAL6
    Damn i cant wait. I forgot this other movie but it was this guy that got off by cutting holes in womens legs or stomachs or arms and would fuck the cut while they were alive. thats how he got off/cum. It was a japanese movie. Cant remember the name. Maybe like 10 years ago.
  • i think i just threw up in my mouth. i'll be skipping these types of movies.
  • JB
    Fucking. Sick.
  • BeyondtheTech
    Oh, so it's another Japanese remake then? And, for once, I thought they were getting creative with the genre again. Those Japanese think of everything. "Have sexual penetration in bodily wounds? Why didn't I think of that?!" LOL
  • Jim
    The actors were too old for the movie. In fact the characters they were playing were also to old for the movie. Should have been 12-13 tops. Doing that they could have got away without the gore and actually earned the coming of age tag. At 17 they have already come of age.
  • Jim
    It's like Stand By Me, only in this version they find the body in the first five minutes, and then spend the rest of the movie fucking it.
  • Ahaha: "walked out of the screening before the climax"

    That wasn't nice of them to start the job and not even see it through the "climax". What a tease.
  • April
    I vote they put Jim's quote on the box cover.
  • kingdarius
    I'll pass so my track of making it in the pearly gates stays on course
  • LOL @ kingdarius

    Yes...watching this movie earns you direct access to Hell.

    Avoid if you value your soul!

    I'm sorry, but people who think up these sorts of plots have some serious issues. Can you imagine dating someone like that?

    "Hey honey, I have this idea for a great movie! What's your stance on fucking dead women, zombies or open wounds? By the way...I brought you some champagne & flowers. Let's have a romantic evening..."
  • Tobi
    I think I'll see this with my Grandma.
  • orange cinema
    i've been an avid /film reader for about 1 1/2 years, and this is the funniest response board i've seen on this site. you guys are making me cry im laughing so f-ing hard!
  • Helena Mainbasquet
    Gotta disagree. This film is a mess. Or at least a miss. As in a swing and a miss. The premise is sickly fascinating--an opportunity to explore the systemic misogyny of our culture and our horror films. A couple of teenagers (who in this case look like 30-somethings playing teenagers) find a hot zombie and use her as their sex toy. It's brave and "audacious" (as festivals like to call every single film in their programme). But in this case, it's also really, really stupid. Nobody behaves in a belieavable fashion. At least not for the first half of the film. The dialogue is atrocious. It's ham-fisted and obvious. On the nose and contrived. The second half of the film picks up momentum. People talk less and it gets pretty cool. With a major re-write and re-shoot of the first hour, it might be a 7/10. But given that I don't think they're planning a rewrite and a re-shoot, it's a 5/10 tops...and 4 of those 5 points are for the last 40 minutes of the movie.
  • Helena Mainbasquet
    p.s. Oh, and the fairly obvious question of misogyny (they're gang raping a (not exactly dead) girl over and over) is never addressed in the film. It's like the film doesn't recognize that the issue is there. I don't care if they want to portray how sex-crazed teens become depraved. Depraved might be good. But RECOGNIZE on SOME level that it's depraved, and then I could enjoy the trip.
  • Epon
    Helena only seems to chime in her in order to complain (check the site). Her complaining is only matched by her poor grammar.
  • GregoryV
    So which is better: Deadgirl or Serbis?
  • Leafy D
    This movie never needed to be made-or reported on in my opinion-this is a level of sickness that is just plain wrong.
  • mark
    Marcel and Gadi are my friends. Please! That is enough now.
  • Elissa
    Gawd, some people are so uptight! Sure this movie sounds depraved...so what? Having just enjoyed Teeth for the first time, I'm excited to see another warped--but artistic--take on burgeoning sexuality.
  • Helena Mainbasquet
    Elissa, I only wish it were artistic in some way. If it were depraved art, I'd be there with bells on. It's not.

    Epon, glad to hear I've made an impression--especially since I've only ever made three posts on this site. Honestly, I can't recall anything you've ever written on here. Like, nothing memorable at all. Sorry.

    (In consideration of Epon, the grammar in this post was vetted by my 6th Grade school teacher. Thank you Mrs. Rumsey!)
  • Mandy
    I had to read the comments on this post. Once I read the description, all I could think was 'oh, that is just wrong'
  • Mike
    "It’s like Stand By Me, only in this version they find the body in the first five minutes, and then spend the rest of the movie fucking it."

    Greatest Comment Ever
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