The Living Dead Girl (1982)

"I am dead... I am dead." - Catherine

A girl returns from the grave with a lust for blood.
Starring: Francoise Blanchard, Marina Pierro, Carina Barone, Mike Marshall

Link to IMDB

This is my first Jean Rollin film, a French auteur of low-budget surrealism, but now I'm definitely intrigued for more.

Catherine

Somewhere in the European countryside a group of men have been using an abandoned mine to store barrels of toxic waste. There they find a tunnel into an adjacent tomb, and decide to pry open the coffins do some grave robbing. When a cave-in knocks over some of the toxic barrels, spilling their slimy contents upon the coffin of a dead young woman, she is brought back to life and promptly kills the trespassing men by tearing out their eyeballs and throats with her bare hands!

Her name is Catherine, and despite being dead for two years she looks immaculate; although her mind is almost completely blank. She wanders around the forest, making her way to the mansion where she grew up as she tries to remember who she once was. When Catherine finds someone already living in her old home, she kills them too, feeding on their blood like a vampire.

Besides the opening scene, things get really slow. We spend a lot of time just watching the girl wander around in a daze.

Helene

Catherine's dear friend, Helene, arrives at the house when she suspects that Catherine has returned. She is shocked at Catherine's bizarre trance-like behaviour, but these two had a profound love that keeps them together.

Not only does Helene help Catherine learn to speak again and get some of her memories back, she also lures tourists and other travelers into the mansion, so that Catherine can feed on the living blood that she desperately craves.

An American couple named Greg and Barbara are visiting a nearby village, and when Barbara sees Catherine wandering in the distance she becomes obsessed with identifying this mysterious girl. Their curiosity will lead them into danger, of course.

"Help me... I am evil." - Catherine

This first half is so slow that it becomes a distraction. It takes forever just to set-up the four characters. When we're not pointlessly watching Greg and Barbara argue, there's a haunting, ethereal atmosphere that is enjoyably fitting, but it comes at the cost of dialog, plot and other such things that keep a story moving.

As Catherine's appetite grows, so does her realization at the monster she has become and it profoundly disturbs her. It disturbs the audience too, watching her suffer is hypnotically bizarre.
The gore is usually brief (although there is a massive amount of blood spillage,) because this is less of a horror movie and more of a gothic tragedy about the loss of innocence and how evil, love and death can be intertwined.

Barbara and Greg

The relationship of the girls becomes the main focus and it is fascinating; Helene does horrible things to pacify her friend's cravings, but Catherine simply longs for death to release herself from torment.
With a devastating climax that left me speechless, it was well worth sitting through the slow parts to see what becomes of these forlorn characters.

Be sure not to miss:
- Proof that you can rock-out with an accordion.

Internet review:
"This is poetry crossed with splatter, and it warms my heart and soul that it exists." - NinjaFred

Should I watch it?
It is worth seeing, but it's a slow one.

Where can I find it?
Use the veehd link here. (English subtitles.)

Living Dead Girl gets...