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