LITERAL REMAINS

High school is hell.  At least for Rickie and J.T.  Rickie is in love, or at least consumed with infatuation, for Joann, a girl he has had a crush on since elementary school.  But Joann barely knows Rickie exists, but she does notice him staring at her an awful lot.  So does her buff boyfriend, Johnny.  And J.T., well, he’s the slacker, white trash, trailer park, no expectations in life, kind of teen.  It’s the kind of high school society that most everyone will remember in some form or another.

Rickie and J.T., all hopeless and alienated and brooding as teens must be in the movies, ditch school one day, because, you know, what else is there to do?  They eventually find themselves at an abandoned hospital, the meeting place for the local misfits to hang out.  The only problem with the abandoned facility is a wild dog that roams the place wanting to take a bite, not only out of crime, but any one’s ass who dares to trespass.  The wild black dog gives chase, and Rickie and J.T. run for their lives only to find themselves lost in the old hospital.

It’s while trying to navigate the dark corridors, looking for a way out, or at least some part of the building that’s familiar, they find a hidden door.  Inside the newly discovered room they find a woman, naked, chained to a table, and draped in plastic.  Sounds promising so far, right?  She is still alive, seemingly.  They don’t know how long she has been there, who she is, or where she came from.  The woman can’t tell them because she doesn’t talk.  She was apparently left behind when the hospital closed.  The woman is a zombie, of some kind.  J.T. tries to kill her three different times.  Rickie wants to notify the authorities, or somebody at least.  J.T. wants to keep her.

Since J.T. is the unofficial leader, they keep Deadgirl (as they come to call her) a secret.  And J.T. takes her as a sex slave, keeping her bound and gagged because Deadgirl has some really violent tendencies.  Rickie is appalled at this, especially when J.T. invites their doofus friend Wheeler to partake of the living dead poontang.  More people find out, such as Johnny, and Deadgirl carries something transmittable and a little more serious than the worse case of the clap.

Deadgirl isn’t for everyone.  It has a couple of painful and gross out moments, other the guys have sex with a zombie.  There is a message here of women as objects, but it’s lost in the movie’s own raging, horny, teen hormones .  It’s better than you might think, but it’s far from a classic.  Surprisingly, though, considering the subject matter, it is handled with some restraint.  Kudos to the filmmakers for that, and for trying something different; too bad it resulted in a movie that is still fairly middle of the road.

3 out of 5
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