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REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD
GIRLS (1987)
aka La Revanche des mortes vivantes
Directed by Pierre B. Reinhard
Retromedia DVD
Reviewed 05.03.07
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Mes joues sont rouges!
Translation: Boy, are my cheeks
red!
Lurking beneath the fingernails
of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin,
there exists a petite group of delirious
French horror films. Decidedly American
in content, but clearly inhuman
in all other aspects, they run the
gamut of trash entertainment. Ogroff
was revelatory. Devil
Story was hilarious. Seven
Women For Satan was pointless.
Yet, raison d'etre aside, these
Frenchie freaks are always dependable
for one thing: New kicks. They show
us things. Things we've never seen
before. Take porn director Pierre
Reinhard's Revenge Of The Living
Dead Girls, for instance. Have
you ever witnessed a four-way lesbionic
orgy between a prostitute and three
female zombies -- zombies who drive
cars, ring doorbells, enjoy swimming
pools, and push swords into exposed
vaginas?
I do believe I'm blushing.
Revenge Of The Living Dead Girls
is obsessed with perversion. Therefore,
the film refutes the shackles of
basic storytelling. It's far too
French for that. Like Devil
Story, Revenge establishes
a half-assed, illogical plot, then
promptly explodes in a grimy rhapsody
of deviant sleaze. Poisoned milk?
Toxic chemical dumps in a cemetery?
Crooked business men? Please. Gross-out
is the intent. That goal is met.
Revenge tags along with
three chincy female zombies for
73 minutes while a series of bizarre,
semi-related vignettes provide the
foil. Several affairs. Hershey-squirt
gore. Frequent full frontal nudity.
A nasty pregnancy flub. Religious
zingers. And yes, the vag-stab.
It's ridiculous, unrefined, and
sure to offend your mother if she
ever sees it. But there's no need
to worry.
International or not, a fine line
in no-budget trash exists between
overt callousness (God's
Bloody Acre) and friendly
sleaze (Don’t
Go Near The Park). Revenge
is not jaded or angry. It pushes
buttons, but does so within the
context of an absurd, one-track
fairy tale. That base level of stupid,
congenial shock-for-shock's sake
is what makes the film so harmless...and
therefore enjoyable. Easy-sleaze.
Yes, even after one of the zombie-women
bites a man's penis off. It's just
that charming!
After a quick sex scene, a naked
woman declares, "Now, I need
to go to the bathroom." Don't
we all? My color has returned.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Revenge makes its North
American home video debut with a
plump non-anamorphic widescreen
print. The colors are muted, dirt
and specks occasionally pop up,
and some very slight ghosting is
present. It looks like The Benny
Hill Show; the perfect bedfellow.
The English dubbed, mono soundtrack
(a French track is not included)
worked fine for me. Also of note,
this is the first Retromedia DVD
in quite awhile that doesn't suffer
from severe compression issues.
C'est merveilleux!
EXTRAS
Short, but oh-so-sweet. If you don't
enjoy the utter nonsense of the
original ending, the alternate ending
(3 minutes) should clear things
up a bit. But probably not. I liked
'em both. Also included is the film's
terrific theatrical trailer, which
includes a few alternate angles
and scenes, and some nice back cover
notes from Mirek Lipinski.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nasty! Confusing! Preposterous!
FRENCH! Revenge Of The Living
Dead Girls is no Ogroff
(what is?), but it provides nonsensical
satisfaction for those interested
in fresh examples of gross-out 80s
trash. You know who you are. Just
keep it away from your mother. |
I wish they all could be French
girls
Death Spa
Love hurts
Nightbeastin'
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