La Morte Vivante. Burglars break into an unoccupied castle crypt to steal from the dead and also dump some barrels of toxic waste but an earth tremor cause the waste to leak and bring back to life the beautiful Catherine Valmont, who then proceeds to kill the men and has a lust for blood. Yes, it is a little crazy but just roll with it. Jean Rollin is one of my favourite European horror directors, and here he combines gothic horror with sex, gore, love, tragedy and dream like sequences. Sadly the version that I watched was the British 1994 Redemption VHS release, cut by 2 1/2 minutes but still contains plenty of nudity and gore. However, having enjoyed this French movie I will be seeking out the uncut DVD release and I would recommend it to those who enjoy Euro horror.

I'm rather a latecomer to this movie, as I don't seek out Jean Rollin movies (based on what little I have seen), but as this is supposed to be something of a classic of it's type, I gave it a go - but it is certainly not converting me into a fan.The slim story sees a dead girl named Catherine unexpectedly revived in her coffin when disturbed by grave robbers. She quickly attacks one of them, and then seemingly in a daze, makes her way rather unsteadily back to an empty castle which is her former home. Her newly living status comes to the attention of her former best friend Helene, who seems to think the best course of action is to keep Catherine hidden in the empty mansion, rather than seek help - even despite the realisation that her friend craves the taste of fresh blood! I was really expecting something more stylish from this movie due to it's reputation, but I have to say I think it's really poorly made. Jean Rollin was no genius, if movies like this are the evidence. Several shots are out of focus, the acting is poor, the dialogue stilted and the gore effects are downright terrible. You can clearly see the tubes that squirt blood from a throat in one shot, and the bag that Catherine is squeezing in her hand to squirt gore from a stomach wound in another. All Rollin seems to be interested in is keeping his actresses nude, for as often and as long as possible. The two leads are both very attractive, and the ornate mansion is very picturesque, but that doesn't mean that Jean Rollin is using any talent to show that off. Anyone who is not part of the main cast is so obviously an amateur, and the direction of scenes involving extras is terrible - they continually stare directly at the camera, in almost every shot. I guess the lighting is pretty enough in daytime scenes, but at night, everything is floodlit by flat, harsh industrial lighting. And the castle's underground vaults seem to have enough light to grow tomatoes in!I also read that the portrayal of the relationship between the two women is strong enough to carry the film, but again, I don't think this is true either. As Catherine becomes more and more aware of what she is, things get more interesting, and there are moments that hint at some depth, but these are few. In conclusion, I am amazed that people rate this movie so highly. I think it is average at best. It has a lot of nudity, which seems to please a lot of viewers, but having acting and special effects that are as downright poor is they are here, strips this effort of any redeeming value.

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.

Prior to my viewing of 'The Living Dead Girl', my only taste of the master of erotic vampire films, Jean Rollin, was the low quality and overall less than brilliant 'Lips of Blood', and because of that I wasn't expecting great things from this movie. However, to my surprise this is a surprisingly good movie! The Living Dead Girl hinges somewhere between a love story (between two women, no less) and a very gory zombie flick and while it could easily have gone wrong, Rollin has created a film that will both shock, amuse and even touch you, and that's not something that can be said of many zombie movies! The plot is like an early blueprint for the underrated second sequel to Return of the Living Dead, and it follows a toxic spill that brings a dead heiress back from the dead. Naturally, being a zombie she brutally murders everyone in the vicinity, but it gets really interesting when we find out that before death, she and a friend were very close, and now that the heiress is back from the dead; the old friendship can be rekindled.On a technical level, The Living Dead Girl isn't all that great, but considering the low quality of the picture, it's not all that bad either. The script is rather trite, and the film is also rather oddly paced, as it starts off like any other silly zombie movie, only to mature into something much more interesting later on, which may annoy some viewers. The acting is surprisingly decent, which is good because one doesn't watch this sort of movie for great performances, so when there is one or two, it's a treat. The characters are definitely underdone, but the actresses make the best of them. Rollin makes best use of the actresses too, with numerous nude scenes, which help the erotic element of the movie no end. The lesbian undertones also help to up the sleaze level, which is fine with me! Finally, there's the gore, which is both striking and excellently done. Despite being over the top, it still manages to be realistic and the French director has proved that he isn't one to hold back the bloodthirstiness of a movie with this picture. On the whole, it's not for everyone...but if you like erotic horror sleaze with lots of blood and nudity; see this movie!