thecultofhorror Jean Rollin, French Horror Sexploitation Auteur hits hard with a Zombie- Lesbo love tale about a resurrected woman, Catherine Valmont (Fransoise Blanchard) and her long time girl friend Helene (Marie Pierro) and their exploits of lust-filled murder, kidnapping and the consequences that follow.Foolish Grave Robbing Thieves, who also dump toxic waste meet their eye- gouging demise with the beautiful Living Dead Girl after a small tremor awakens her from her coffin. After Catherine racks up a 3 man body count, she wanders the beautiful French country side barefoot and only wearing a white gown and is photographed by a tourist and her husband. The tourist woman becomes obsessed that this Living Dead Girl is the young Catherine only back from the dead and confronts her. After a few more naked dead people pile up, Helene unscuccessfully attempts to feed Catherine with a dead bird, then kidnaps a random woman and gives her to Catherine who then tears the victim apart.Most fans of Rollin expect his films to be loaded with French styled gore and nudity and also are aware of the slow pacing in between scenes. Such is the staple for Euro Sleaze.The films last 10 minutes kick in to high gear and to honest, it is pretty damn grueling to the degree of saying out loud "what other horror film can offer such goodies"?(Spoliers) Catherine then frees her next stripped bare victim and sets her loose, realizing that she is evil and hates herself. Then Helene sets a tourist on fire who flees screaming and jumps of a bridge and chops another tourists head with a midieval axe. Catherine attempts to drown herself in a lake but is rescued by Helene. In Catherine's fury she rips her to shreds and devours her with a slow backwards moving camera shot, leaving the blood-soaked Catherine alone in the dark.www.thecultofhorror.blogspot.com

Red-Barracuda This Jean Rollin feature is an erotic horror about a woman who returns from the dead due to an accident involving an earthquake and toxic chemicals. She is The Living Dead Girl and she has a vampire like taste for blood. She is drawn back to her 'blood sister' Helene, who in turn finds victims for her.This is another melancholic and downbeat effort from Rollin. Once again his vampire is a tragic one. She did not choose her fate. She feels guilt at her subsequent actions and is repulsed by them. We feel sorry for her. The film is also about friendship and loyalty. The bond between the two girls is effectively a pact that goes beyond the grave. One of the defining features of The Living Dead Girl is its goriness. It is very bloody by Rollin's standards, so in this respect it may be a little more accessible to a wider horror audience. But then again, aside from this, it's strictly business as usual. There are the usual selection of paper thin characters, weak dialogue and low production values; while the story emphasises things that are atypical for a standard horror film, such as a melancholic 'monster' and some poetic imagery. Examples of the latter would include scenes of the girl wandering through fields in a white night dress and the night time river scene. As usual Rollin does ensure the film looks interesting. There are some nice French countryside locations and a picturesque villa. While the atmosphere is moody throughout, with some delicate musical accompaniment on the soundtrack. It is a little odd though having an American couple in the movie. This, no doubt was a way of trying to sell the film easier overseas. But like all other Rollin films these characters are uninteresting, Rollin seems to be only interested in his female vampires/villains. It isn't without faults; it does drag in places but like others from the director would probably improve on re-watches. The film does, however, wrap up in one of the most effectively haunting endings Rollin ever conceived.

Boba_Fett1138 No doubt the lovers of the genre will absolutely love the start of this movie and prepare themselves for lots of more great and fun things to come. However this doesn't ever really happen, which in the long run makes this movie a bit of a disappointment.It's funny how the French seemed to be 10 years behind with these sort of movies. It's the type of horror that was popular in Italy in the '70's. The sort of horror that is being extremely gory and violent and features lots of sex and nudity as well. This movie is build up exactly in the same way as one of those Italian '70's productions and also features all of the 'classic' genre ingredients.Yes, there really is quite a lot of gore in this movie, which should definitely please the fans and was also the reason why I still am able to consider this movie to be a watchable one. There is really some hardcore stuff in this movie, which you perhaps would normally only see in a zombie-flick, for instance.I only wished the movie worked out better and more intriguing with its story and characters. There is no real 'conflict' that needs to get resolved. No villain, no hero and the gore and violence is not enough to raise this movie to an higher level, or make it an effectively entertaining one.Obviously a movie for genre lovers only, even though chances are they will also end up somewhat disappointment but at least the movie still has some redeeming qualities for them in it.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Paul Andrews La Morte Vivante, or The Living Dead Girl as it's more commonly known as to English speaking audiences, starts with three men in a white van pulling up outside the Valmont family Castle where they unload some barrels of toxic waste. They take the barrels into some catacombs beneath the Castle & dump them there, one of the guys suggests that they venture into the Valmont Family tomb, open the coffins up & steal any jewellery. While doing so a small Earth tremor cause one of the barrels to topple over & leak it's contents, the fumes fill the tomb & brings the corpse of Catherine Valmont (Francoise Blanchard) back to life & Catherine proceeds to kills the three men. Catherine heads upstairs into the Castle & starts to remember her childhood friend Helene (Marina Pierro) while touching a sentimental music box. Catherine phones Helene & plays the tune from the music box to her which instantly reminds her of Catherine so Helene sets off for Valmont Castle. Meanwhile Greg (Mike Marshall) & Barbara (Carina Barone), two American's on holiday, spot Catherine & thinking she looks weird Barbara takes some photo's of her, back at the nearby village Barbara ask's some locals who she is & they all claim that she died over two years ago. Back at Valmont Castle & Helene turns up to find Catherine & two dead bodies, Helene quickly discovers that Catherine needs to drink fresh blood to survive & decides to help Catherine in her quest for victims...This French production was co-written & directed by Jean Rollin & is OK but is maybe a bit weird for most people's taste's. The script by Rollin & Jacques Ralf moves along at a nice pace & isn't too boring. The basic premise is decent enough & had plenty of potential with with a re-animated flesh eating blood drinking zombie roaming around but in the hands of Rollin he turns it into a tragic love story. Catherine knows what she is & is guilt ridden, she tries to regain her humanity but in the end can't & it all ends in tears with a very downbeat climax, she doesn't like what she is but can't do anything about it & Rollin manages to create some sympathy for her. La Morte Vivante was shot partly in both English & French so expect subtitles although the dialogue is very sparse & minimal as Rollin, as usual, likes to tell the story through images.Anyone familiar with French director Rollin's work will not be surprised that La Morte Vivante is full of surreal images, plenty of interesting locations, some nicely lit scenes & has a nice elegance about it. Rollin doesn't forget about the gore either, a man has his eyes poked out, people have their throats ripped open & torn out, there are graphic scenes of bodily mutilation & blood drinking along with a girl being tied up & tortured. There is a fair amount of nudity as well.Technically La Morte Vivante looks basic but is generally well made. The special make-up effects aren't that realistic but at least there's lots of blood. The acting is variable but Blanchard does a pretty good job at expressing emotion & most of the ladies are easy on the eyes.La Morte Vivantes is an OK horror film with some good gore, a slightly deeper & involving story than one might expect & it passes an hour and a half easily enough. However there are very few meaningful character's, it's a bit shallow & the subtitles may put some people off. Obviously an absolute must for Rollin & Euro horror fans alike but other more casual viewers may be advised to give it a miss.