You won't be disappointed!

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Two childhood friends Catherine & Helene make a pact to always be together. Catherine dies and they forced to split. A toxic spill manages to bring Catherine back from the dead, turning her into a monster. Catherine reunites with her to help Catherine with her insatiable need for blood. Leave it to Jean Rollin to turn a subject like zombies into something erotic and artsy. I liked this one. It's leisurely paced like most Rollin films, but it's very interesting. The bond between Catherine and Helene is very strong and you are able to feel like they truly love one another. There are dull moments. We get many shots of Catherine wandering the halls that may get tiresome for people, but they have meaning in this one. Watching Catherine reminisce over childhood photos of her and Helene was saddening and riveting with the way it was done. Also, the slow build of Catherine's insatiable hunger for blood was well done, giving Catherine a bit of a human side to her. There is great photography as well. This movie is pretty gory. We get extremely gory puncture throats that gush blood all over the place. A woman is burned alive, somebody gets a foreign object in their head, eyes are gouged out, and more. The best part is the ending. It's a tragic gore fest. I won't spoil it, but it is both saddening and enjoyable. The acting is pretty good for this sort of thing. Marina Pierro is great as the supporter of Catherine. The show belongs to the lovely Francoise Blanchard. She gave a memorable performance with her beauty. My only real complaint is the version I watched alternated between subtitles and English dubbingFinal Thoughts: You probably won't find many better films of Rollins than this, if any. For a guy that is known for his boring eroticism, he made a gem with this one. It's tragic, interesting, and beautiful. I recommend it. This one actually has a decent story7.2/10

A toxic spill revives a beautiful, dead heiress who, with the help of her childhood friend, must quench her insatiable thirst for blood.Is this another Jean Rollin vampire film? Not really. We have the gratuitous nudity, and we have a woman who thirsts for blood. But she is not really a vampire so much as a zombie... if she can even be called a zombie (she is a bit of her own sort of creature). So, I would say this is a different Rollin.I enjoyed the film to a point. I like the claws, I like the blood, and I especially like the almost comical way that blood would squirt from victims on to surrounding people (other films of his seem to really downplay the blood). It tends to drag on after a while, but I suppose that is a risk you run.

Living Dead Girl, The (1982) *** (out of 4) French horror film from director Jean Rollin, which mixes tons of sex and nudity with plenty of the red stuff. After some toxic waste falls on her grave, a young woman returns with a hunger for blood. This is probably the best place for a newbie to Rollin to start as this perfectly captures the atmosphere of his best movies but also throws in plenty of over the top gore scenes, which will probably make a casual viewer sick. As with other Rollin films, there's plenty of beautiful women getting naked but the film does move at a snail's pace, which will probably put some to sleep.

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.