| Deadgirl | |
| Director: |
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| Producer: |
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| Starring: |
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| Music: | Joseph Bauer |
| Cinematography: | Harris Charalambous |
| Editing: | Phillip Blackford |
| Studio: | Hollywoodmade |
| Distributor: | Dark Sky Films |
| Runtime: | 101 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Deadgirl is a 2008 American sexual exploitation horror film written by Trent Haaga and directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel. It stars Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan as teenage boys who discover a naked female zombie, portrayed by Jenny Spain. When one of the boys wants to keep her as a sex slave and the other objects, their friendship is tested.
Rickie and J.T. are two high school seniors who gaze at the girls they wish they could get, especially Joann, whom Rickie has known since he was a child. One day, they cut class and end up in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. They discover a mute, naked woman in the basement, chained to a table. J.T. considers raping her, and after failing to dissuade him, Rickie leaves but tells no one about their discovery. The next day, J.T. reveals that the woman is undead, which he discovered after attempting to kill her, and nicknames her "Deadgirl."
Rickie finds that J.T. invited their friend Wheeler to join him and decides to free her. Rickie only manages to free one hand before J.T. and Wheeler arrive. As J.T. begins to rape her, the woman scratches his face.
Despite knowing she has a boyfriend, Rickie asks Joann out and gets rejected. Her boyfriend Johnny and Dwyer, Johnny's friend, beat up Rickie and Wheeler. Wheeler baits them into coming to see Deadgirl. Rickie convinces Johnny to force Deadgirl to perform oral sex on him, and she bites Johnny's penis. The next day, in the school bathroom, Johnny finds out he is infected and runs to the bathroom. His intestines burst out of his body, and he is found in a vegetative state in the bathroom, leaving him in the same undead state as Deadgirl.
Noticing Deadgirl's rotting body, J.T. and Wheeler decide to make a new Deadgirl. They wait outside a gas station but fail to kidnap a female victim. When Joann confronts them about Johnny, they capture her.
Rickie, still intending to free Deadgirl, heads to the basement with a machete. He finds Joann and Deadgirl tied to each other. J.T. tries to convince Rickie to let Deadgirl bite Joann, while Wheeler starts to feel her up. Rickie defends her by slicing Wheeler's hand off. Joann unties Deadgirl, who feeds on Wheeler and J.T.
Rickie and Joann flee but cannot escape through the locked entrance. Rickie runs off to find an escape route, and when he returns, Joann is gone. He returns to the basement, where Deadgirl knocks him down, breaks down the door, and escapes outside. Rickie finds Joann and sees that J.T. has stabbed her in the back. J.T. urges Rickie to let him bite her so she will live undead. Rickie assures Joann that he loves her and will save her. She coughs blood into his face and rejects him again, then slowly dies afterward.
Later, Rickie's life has seemingly returned to normal. However, it is shown that he returns to the asylum's basement where Joann has transformed into a deadgirl herself.
Deadgirl was the only feature film by Hollywoodmade, a defunct Los Angeles-based production company.[1] Deadgirl is rated R for "strong aberrant sexuality, graphic nudity, bloody violence, and pervasive language".[2]
Deadgirl was publicly screened for the first time at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.[3]
The film was also screened in 2008 at these film festivals:
VCR Records was to release the Joseph Bauer-composed soundtrack (OST), in summer 2015 on Vinyl.[11]
Deadgirl has a 37% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews; the average rating is 4.52 out of 10.[12] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that it "takes a disturbing adolescent male fantasy and glosses it up just enough to pass for a legitimate horror movie", though he complimented the acting and atmosphere in the early scenes.[13]
The film was controversial and has been called misogynistic. In response, writer Haaga proposed a sequel about two women who find a naked, male zombie.[14] In 2012, Complex included the film in its list of 15 most uncomfortable moments of female nudity in film.[15]