COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - DEADGIRL (UNEARTHED FILMS BLU RAY)
Growing up is a horror show all its own, and in many ways, it is the reason younger folks will retreat to the horror genre for solace. While it might seem counter-intuitive, horror movies can help alleviate anxiety and stress. There have been more than a few studies done on the matter and there are likely a few readers out there who can relate. The shift from adolescence to young adulthood isn’t the longest stage of life, but it is when a lot of change happens to people. Not just physical changes, but finding one's interests and learning how to form social bonds. Easier said than done, as the world and the people that inhabit it can be as cruel as they can be kind. All kinds of films like Stand by Me to horror films such as Ginger Snaps and Carrie spotlight the transition from childhood into adulthood while also emphasizing how horrific it can be. Another perhaps lesser-known film from the early 2000s is Deadgirl and it has just been released on Blu-ray for its 15th Anniversary from Unearthed Films. Does this shocker still hold up after all this time?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
When high school misfits Rickie and JT decide to ditch school and find themselves lost in the crumbling facility of a nearby abandoned hospital, they come face-to-face with a gruesome discovery: the body of a woman - stripped naked, chained to a table and covered in plastic - and soon realize she is anything but dead. The boys quickly find themselves embarking on a twisted yet poignant journey testing the limits of their friendship, and forcing both to decide just how far they're willing to stretch their understanding of right and wrong.
HOW IS IT?
Deadgirl is a film you likely won’t forget. Not entirely because of its contents, although it does bear the trademark of Unearthed Films proudly, but because it is a far more moving film than the story would have you think. While it does deal liberally with taboos such as necrophilia, it also is about the difficulty in succumbing to social pressures, the desire to fit in, and the consequences of not doing the right thing. Deadgirl is a horror movie that perfectly juxtaposes literal supernatural horror against the horrors of growing up hopeless. In between moments of brutality and sincerity, you might find yourself laughing at some darkly absurd situations. In that way, it kind of resembles the sick and sometimes hilarious experience of becoming a young adult.
Rickie and JT are not just outcasts, they have little hope for the future at home or at school. What starts as an afternoon getting drunk becomes the test of their friendship and the limits to which they will allow their morals to succumb to curiosity. When stories rely so much on the dynamic between the characters it is vital that the performances deliver authentic interpretations, warts and all. To that end, Shiloh Fernandez (Rickie) and Noah Segan (JT) are thoroughly convincing. The true test is always if the characters can get under the viewer's skin, and to be sure there are moments when both of these folks will surprise, disgust, delight, and disappoint you. These flaws make them not just more believable, but also more conflicting to root for. It is hard to go into detail about how these two and the titular “deadgirl” are connected without avoiding spoilers, but use your filthiest imagination to draw the most logical conclusion.
The amount of depth in Deadgirl is a classic example of why not to judge a book by its cover. In tandem with the grotesque is also a digging social commentary about toxic masculinity and how it breeds incel-like behavior. One saying that kept coming back to me is “Hurt people hurt people” and that Deadgirl is the film version of that saying. These characters are discarded in almost every avenue of society, which never explains their actions so much as explains the conditions necessary to foster this kind of thinking. There is one scene involving the school bullies who find out about said “deadgirl”, and what follows is a hilarious role reversal where the bully becomes bullied alongside one of the greatest death scenes of the early-2000s. If there is one weakness to the narrative overall is that it is a bit bloated, specifically the back half of the second act. It doesn’t deter too much from the overall film, it just makes the film feel a little less tight in its pacing. It is hard to not recommend Deadgirl, especially if you consider yourself a fan of horror that goes deeper than just the literal and leaves you with some things to think about, even if it doesn’t have much of a solution to offer.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
Deadgirl is celebrating its 15th Anniversary, and it is hard to say if the version included in this release is a new scan or just the previously available one. There are no notes inferring that a new transfer was made, which is both a good and bad thing. The previous Blu-ray release, long out of print, didn’t have a great transfer and much of that has to do with the original source material. We can’t be sure if this is a new scan or the old one, but the picture quality doesn’t seem to be improved. Images from this disc can be seen throughout this review and below.
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Much like the video, the audio options from the previous release have been ported over here. Included are both a 2.0 LPCM Stereo track as well as a 5.1 Surround Sound track. The 5.1 has a decent range with clear dialogue and good balancing between ambient sound as well as music. Also included are English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
Where Deadgirl really shines, aside from the film itself, is in the special features. Unearthed Films really did a bang-up job for this 15th-anniversary release by commissioning a heap of brand-new special features. Alongside the newly produced, they also include all the previously released material. For the old material, we took a look at the 7-minute making-of featurette titled Exquisite Corpse. This provides some light background on how the directors and writer got together, while also teasing that the writer, Trent Haaga, was sure this film was “unmakeable”. What was most interesting was that the directors didn’t resonate as much with the horror stuff as they did the meditations on friendship. An interesting take considering the toxicity of this friendship, perhaps more of a cautionary tale on friends. It was good to see that both the directors and Trent worked closely together on a lot of the film to ensure the vision was represented correctly, a luxury most writers aren’t afforded.
For one of the new features, we watched the 24-minute Interview with Writer Trent Haaga. This was a fascinating watch largely because of how charismatic Trent is, and also how genuine his answers are. He got his start at Troma and did a lot of work for Llyod, specifically calling out the fourth Toxic Avenger film “Citizen Toxie” (read our Toxic Avenger 4K UHD Set review) that pushed him to want to start his own film career. Trent also commented on how Rickie and JT represent two parts of who he was, and how he wanted the story to focus on kids like he knew growing up who didn’t have a lot and came from tough circumstances. Trent also got to try his hand at directing on Deadgirl as he played Assistant Director at parts, and one of the standouts is a story about how Trent’s wife attended the interview where they casting the role of the “deadgirl”, not out of jealously, but to provide a same-gender lens to the casting. The rest of the supplemental features included with this release are listed below:
BONUS MATERIALS
NEW Interview with Co-Director Gadi Harel
NEW Interview with Writer Trent Haaga
NEW Interview with Actor Noah Segan
NEW Interview with Actor Shiloh Fernandez
NEW Interview with Special Makeup Effects Artist & Designer Jim Ojala
NEW Behind The Scenes Gallery
NEW Extended Makeup FX Gallery
Audio Commentary with Cast & Crew
Audio Commentary by actor Jenny Spain
Exquisite Corpse: The Making of Deadgirl
Jenny Spain's Audition
Deleted Scenes
Promotional Stills Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
LAST RITES
Deadgirl is a coming-of-age horror story that dabbles in the depraved while having an admirable amount of depth with respect to social commentary. Not only is this a great film, but Unearthed Films has really given this a great release with a huge investment in new bonus material that is sure to please fans old and new. High recommend!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends over at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt! Deadgirl is available NOW and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT!
Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following MacabreDaily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
