* spoilers *
Two men break into a crypt to dump toxic waste and steal the jewelry off of the dead. The spilled toxic waste awakens a beautiful heiress named Catherine Valmont from her grave. She kills the graverobbers and drinks their blood. Afterwards, she wanders to the Valmont mansion where she used to live and is photographed by Barbara. Catherine then attacks the real estate agent and her boyfriend in the midst of their lovemaking in the middle of the night. Catherine remembers her childhood best friend Helene and answers the phone when she happens to call, playing the music box and refusing to answer. Barbara wants to find the mysterious woman she photographed and Helene drops everything to see what's happening at Valmont Mansion.
When I watched The Living Dead Girl, I was expecting an exploitative, gory movie with few merits. However, it's one of the most emotional zombie films I've seen with some flaws mixed in. Catherine Valmont is resurrected (of course looking beautiful and perfect despite being dead for years). At first, her demeanor is flat when she isn't hungry and she wanders back to her home almost in a trance. The more she drinks blood, the more she remembers about her life. Her first real connection to humanity comes in her childhood friend Helene. As children, they took a blood oath and promised to love each other even to following the other to death. Their love, whether platonic or not, has endured and gives Cathering an anchor to the human world. This relationship is portrayed so beautifully and emotionally that it elevates the entire film.
Helene loves Catherine no matter what. So many say that, but she saw the people Catherine murdered, cleaned up the mess for her, and sought out more to keep her alive. Helene would move heaven and earth for Catherine, which makes it so much more heartbreaking when Catherine refuses to go on living on other people. Helen tries to change her mind and fails, sacrificing herself instead. When Catherine becomes aware again, her heartbreak and anguish seem to drive her to madness. This relationship is in contrast with Barbara, an actress, and her boyfriend Greg. Greg pushes Barbara into being a photographer when she hates it and wants to continue acting. Also, he dismisses things that interest her and doesn't pay much attention to her at all. They aren't even married and they already seem bored, fed up with each other, and constantly at odds. The more conventional relationship is lackluster and hollow in comparison to the intense connection between the two women.
This isn't a perfect film and it suffers from problems such as the treatment of nudity. Women are exclusively nude in this film. Catherine has some random moments of nudity that may imply a less than platonic relationship with Helene. I didn't really have a problem with the choice until the scene with the real estate agent and her boyfriend in Valmont Mansion. During their night tryst, the woman is fully nude the entire time while the man's nudity is only implied. When he gets up to investigate a noise and dies, he is completely covered by a blanket while she is killed spread eagle on the front steps of the mansion. This uneven treatment shows how sexualized violence seems to be only acceptable when women are the victims. Even when not being murdered, women are unabashedly nude (even when killed) while the one man is purposefully completely covered up.
The Living Dead Girl or La Morte Vivante is a surprisingly emotional movie about the love between two women. The intensity of their relationship and the tenderness with which it was portrayed made the film so much better than expected. The film does have troubling elements, especially with the nudity, and the effects are laughably bad. However, it was a worthwhile viewing of a film I took a chance on and had never heard of.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
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