I gave this movie an eight mainly because of the dark subject matter and all the taboos on display: necrophilia, pedophilia, murder, infidelity, gay pedophilia, etc. I'm glad to have lived this long to see a film like this. That it even came from the US is a wonder.Why, oh, why can't they do films like this anymore? How did society get so...lame? Of course, with today's production values, 'Love Me Deadly' could never be made because a more graphic representation would clear the cinema, leaving behind the sickos like me who don't mind being challenged visually and psychologically.Instead, Hollywood continues to unload derivate, unoriginal tripe like 'Huff' ('Big Bad Wolf') and others of its ilk. To be sure, this movie tends to be melodramatic, but to me that's okay. That was pretty much the style at the time - cheese. Still, what other bit of celluloid can you find that touches upon all those taboos? The cinematography was good with lots of colour, but not great because quite a few frames were out of focus. Minor complaint, though. It's the themes that matter and it'd sure be nice if they made movies that pushes the envelope like this again.

Wow, an obscure early 70's horror movie dealing with the topic of necrophilia! How provocative and controversial does that sound? Well, judging by the sound of the opening theme song, it's not provocative or controversial at all! The song, albeit lovely sung and catchy, sounds more like a prototypic Bond movie tune. Luckily enough that impression quickly fades away with the introduction of some very peculiar characters, like a psychopathic mortician who embalms a male prostitute when he's still alive and a peculiar woman who hangs around funerals and mortuaries just because she gets aroused by the sight of corpses. We learn that it all started at the burial of her beloved daddy. She approached the coffin when everybody else and started kissing him on the dead lips. Ever since that magical moment, she also gets sepia-colored flashbacks in which he plays with her when she was still a little girl. Okay, so what happens if these two completely demented individuals meet at a funeral? The mortician invites her to become a member of a secret cult of necrophiliacs and it's the beginning of a wonderfully twisted and perverted friendship! I can't believe there actually existed a movie with such a tremendously disgraceful plot outline and I didn't know about it until now! Of course, this is a zero-budgeted 70's grindhouse flick, so don't expect any vile sequences of gore or sleaze. The tone, atmosphere and suggestive stuff in "Love Me Deadly", on the other hand, are quite shocking and disturbing. Further in the film, the woman tries to build up a normal family life with a living and breathing male species (the brother of one of the corpses she tried to make it with), but she's forever drawn to the dead like bees are to honey. As strange and deeply alarming as it may sound, "Love Me Deadly" is a gentle and respectful portrait of people with … um … socially unaccepted sexual cravings. Necrophilia is automatically associated with filthy perverts exhuming bodies or climbing atop of half-rotten cadavers, but it looks as if this film single-handedly tries to general perception. You know, like 'necrophiliacs are normal people with jobs and friends like everybody else' or something like that. Up to you to decide whether that's sick or noble. This movie is nothing like "Lucker" or "Nekromantik", obviously, but still quite unpleasant to watch. There are numerous powerful sequences, like when Lindsay's husband follows her around to mortuaries and daddy's tomb. For you see, she's a very troubled girl with more than just one screw loose, but still you continuously feel sympathy for her. At least I did. She's not a monster, a murderer or a sex-addicted freak. She's a tormented soul with needs she can't openly express. I'm not familiar with 70's exploitation that make you contemplate about stuff, but "Love Me Deadly" does and that's truly unique. The gathering sequences are exaggerated, though, making it look as if the necrophiliacs are some sort of satanic cult. The character of the mortician is also made extra sinister and creepy to appear more to horror fans. The fantastic climax left me in a state of nausea, perplexity, disbelief and mild shock.

I have a theory that this film got Lyle Waggoner dismissed from The Carol Burnett Show (he left the series the following season, by mutual agreement).Regardless, by today's standards, it's not that shocking. The copy of the film I have seems to have been carefully edited, and not as violent or graphic as I recall it being in the theater production.By 1973 standards, it was quite a shocker...very graphic and gory, complete with a gay subtext. As I recall, it was loosely based around a real-life Los Angeles "cult" of funeral home "lovers of dead" psychos. The story is fiction, but, who knows what goes on behind the closed doors at funeral homes? The acting isn't too bad, and it's fun watching Lyle play against type. The star is quite pretty, too, and she plays her role well. Her hunky boyfriend does a good job of...well, being prepared for cold sex (and so does poor Lyle).In the right frame of mind, this comes across well. In fact, I'd love to see the original, uncut version one day, on widescreen DVD, but I ain't holdin' my breath. This is lurid stuff, and it ain't likely to see the DVD "light of day".If you do see this "sicky", just don't take it too seriously, and it might be fun to watch.

To be honest, when one reads the synopsis of this film one expects the worst. Surprisingly, this is an engaging and frank study both of necrophilia and of a daughter's inability to let go of the past.Helped along by a very professional sounding theme tune (sung by Kit Fuller), and a lively score echoing films of much more mainstream cinema, this is a shocking film that will make you think for a long time afterwards. Unfortunately, the good acting and imaginative story is let down by some chronically bad editing - particularly when we are suddenly introduced to the character of Alex - but this aside, you should find much more to enjoy about this movie than you will find to dislike about it."Love Me Deadly" is to necrophilia what "Max Mon Amour" is to bestiality: one of the last taboos to be tackled in an grown-up fashion, but which can be appreciated by an audience without needing to visit a seedy sex-shop; where story comes first, and titillation is far down the line.