A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD
A young woman receives a strange welcome from her relatives when she returns home for the reading of her father’s will.
Director: Jesús Franco, Pierre Quérut (additional sequences), Jean Rollin (additional sequences)
Writers: Jesús FrancoPaul D’Ales (French dialogue)
Stars: Christina von Blanc, Carmen Yazalde, Anne Libert
Rating: 4 / 10 Stars
REVIEW – I think some companies should love their marketing teams. How many of us look at a picture of a food and have to have it because of that image? Better question, how many of us get that food item and after eating or during the chomping thought it lived up to the image or expectations? How many dvd or blu ray boxes do you go to a store and see, and knowing nothing about the film have to buy that film because that box appealed to you? Look at the title of this film, the box art and know it is a Jess Franco picture; god does this film just reek of things that can get someone to buy this film. I will not say this film is bad or a waste of time, this film though is misleading. I must have blinked or something because I was expecting with the title some kind of zombie, and needless to say all I got from this cover was a virgin named Christine. If you are familiar with 70’s euro-sleaze horror that came out in droves, then the plot may seem familiar. Christine is the main character and she is a virgin, she travels after hearing the death of her father to the family estate. She stays while she is there at the inn, and while she is there she is warned about what may be coming. She then meets relatives that she has no memory of which is never good, unless you have relatives like mine that seem to have everything on some Polaroid cameras in a closet waiting till this blogging deal makes me a million. From there we get her having hallucinations and nightmares, and things just going in weird directions. At least with her hallucinations we get introduced to some lesbianism that seems to have no meaning to the story or plot, but it will keep your attention. This film really tries hard to balance so many genres; it tries to be a solid haunting ghost story, and then some kind of vampire lesbian and then tries to rely on the characters and script to help carry the lack of substance. This film is all style, it is beautiful to look at but it just fails as a horror film, and could pass for some late night sleaze film if you cannot commit to porn. This film is predictable and judging by the cover you know where the finale could be heading in terms of the title and what this film emphasis is. This film is a mess, and I am a huge Franco fan. The only saving grace to this film is that it had shades of good at certain times that you think the film could pick up and get better at any moment. The women in the film are utterly beautiful for this era and I just wish they would have really concentrated on one genre and really tried to excel at that. When you mix different genres, you really have to at least succeed in one or the other, and this film failed. This film offers more sexual than horrific, and if you feel like you want to try a Franco film, why not try the one that fans have been either a fan of, or hating it to anyone who will listen.
A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD | Official Trailer: