Every now and then a low budget horror movie comes along
that not only surprises you but also turns out to be one of the strongest
movies you’ve seen in a while. Don’t get me wrong, Deadgirl will likely turn
off as many viewers as it turns on (if not a little more), but there’s something
about this twisted tale that keeps you hooked until the bitter – not to mention
tasteless – end.
Rickie and JT are high school misfits; they rarely attend
class and the other kids won’t give them the time of day. One uneventful
afternoon they check out an abandoned mental hospital and come face to face
with a gruesome find; a naked girl covered in plastic and chained to a table.
More intriguingly perhaps, it turns out she’s still alive. This is where the
movie takes a disturbing turn for the worse.
Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) wants to get the hell out of Dodge
but JT (Noah Segan) has other ideas. Coming from the corner of the mind that
most people are afraid to visit, JT decides to keep the helpless prisoner as
his pet; a secret hideaway with his very own sex slave to boot. If you find
that thought process unappealing, look away now. Deadgirl takes us to a dark
place indeed, stopping off at some unnerving and surprisingly poignant places
along the way.
The filmmakers throw in a zombie like twist when the two
friends discover that their free lunch can’t actually die; JT has killed her
three times all ready after all. The rest of the movie tackles the complexities
of right and wrong, and just how far you can push the boundaries of acceptance
without bitter consequence. It’s all going to end badly of course, that goes
without saying, but none of the characters have redeeming qualities anyway, so
it really wouldn’t hurt if a sense of justice prevailed in the end.
Rickie is a weak-minded fool and JT is messed up beyond all
recognition. It’s the type of role Christian Slater would have picked off in
his sleep way back in the day. The rest of the cast don’t fare much better,
except maybe Rickie’s unsuspecting love interest. Red is just about the most
attractive person in the movie, even if she does have a soft spot for
unrelenting assholes. Like I said, Red is pretty much the most attractive
person in the movie. Her appearance adds emotional weight to an affecting
denouement, that and the gripping performance of mad-as-a-hatter Noah Segan.
While penning the script Haaga claimed that Rickie was based
upon one half of his persona, the part of a person that always wants to do the
right thing. JT encapsulates the other side of that coin, the part that likes
to bathe in moral shades of grey, embracing unflinching desire for absolute
control. Two things soon become clear: Segan has hit the bent-out-of-shape nail
on the head with his exhilarating performance and, chances are, you wouldn’t
invite Haaga over for dinner anytime soon.
Deadgirl is hard to watch at times, but for once that has
nothing to do with excessive gore or superfluous violence. Most of the carnage
is kept off screen but the power of suggestion can be a devastating tool. The
real torment is psychological, deeply depraved and haunting throughout.
Deadgirl is fresh and surprising, if not a little too contrived at times.
Not everybody is going to enjoy this movie – dog lovers will
have a particularly hard time – but Deadgirl remains an absolute triumph for
the most part. Sick, twisted and deeply disturbing throughout, this tantalising
oddity remains deeply compelling despite some edgy subject matter. Even though
it raises more questions than it answers – we never fully understand how things
came to be – Deadgirl is a satisfyingly sinister night in. Happy ending
Hollywood will do well to steer clear. AW
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