2009 Top Tens (part 6)

It's New Years Eve, but there still may just be a Part 7 to this series. We'll see. But for now...

E-SPLATTER / Top Ten Horror of 2009
The granddaddy of online horror sites keeps it brief: "Deadgirl. A really disturbing, edgy horror film -- the kind they should make more of."

WFMU / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"Since political correctness has fallen hard from fashion, I guess it's okay to praise a movie like Deadgirl." We consider WFMU one of the best radio stations in the country, so this was a particularly nice find.

MOVIES ONLINE / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"One of those genre defining films... Deadgirl is not for the faint of heart but its fantastic story is what makes this movie worth seeing if you can overcome the stomach turning scenes in it."

LARRY RATFLIFF / MOVIES & MORE / Ten Best of 2009
This is one of those lists where we find Deadgirl among Avatar, Up in the Air, Inglorious Basterds, and other movies more often recognized as the year's best. As the site explains: "Some critics drool when they can include something obscure on their Top 10 list. That's not the case here. I just think this sometimes comic tale of bad boys who meet their macabre match is the finest of the genre I've seen in some time."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009 Top Tens (part 5)

With just a few days left in the year, here are links to some recent additions ...

HORROR YEARBOOK / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"Deadgirl really gives us something completely different... The film is really about what horrible things one can be tempted to do and how lack of acceptance and belittlement can make you turn to find power and control in dark, twisted places."

HORROR-MOVIES / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"Truly one of the most disturbing movies I have seen in a long time and equally a truly well written and fascinating experience."

ALL THINGS HORROR / Top Eleven Horror of 2009
"Some say it's vile, unwatchable garbage, others laud it with praise for its unwavering horror... a film that horrified me, made me think, and made me want to watch again immediately with a scrutinizing eye."

WILDSIDE CINEMA / The Best of 2009

DEAD LANTERN / The Best Horror of 2009
"A well made, original flick in a sea of unoriginal zombie films... the performances are outstanding but it was this weird morally ambiguous narrative going on throughout the film that really succeeded in creating a reaction in viewers, be it positive or negative."

THE SCREAMSTRESS / The Best of the Decade

UPDATE: And already a few more have trickled in. So there'll probably be one more post before New Years. Huge thanks to everyone who continues to champion the movie.

2009 Top Tens (part 4)

Bloody-Disgusting, the web's no. 1 source for horror, has delivered a couple of year-end wrap-ups worth checking out.

Ryan Daley's list is here.
And Tex Massacre's is here.

Deadgirl was also a "runner up" on multi-hyphenate Luke Y. Thompson's site, which is here, and mostly worth pointing out because of the other honorable mentions. Sometimes it really is about the company you keep.

2009 Top Tens (part 3)

STYD's Ryan Rotten put together his list, which you can find here. It was a surprise to see Deadgirl listed since we thought for some reason he didn't dig the movie all that much. Nice to be wrong.

2009 Top Tens (part 2)

"Controversial, uncompromising and strikingly original" ... Deadgirl makes it onto About.com's end of the year horror list.

And thanks to Awkward Press for putting Deadgirl at the top of its list. While it's actually the 'Best Horror Movies You Probably Didn't See', it includes some that got pretty descent releases, including Paranormal Activity which grossed over $100 million. So not sure how much that distinction really holds true. But it's great being included. Either way.

"The level of ambition on the filmmakers’ part, along with some brave performances from its cast, permits this movie to transcend its own morally reprehensible story-line to probe something much darker, much more disturbing, and much more real… which is what the best metaphor-laden horror movies do: Allow the audience to explore the horror within themselves." - Awkward Press

2009 Top Tens (Part 1)

"First-timers proved that a great idea and a little ingenuity could transcend low-budget limitations and leave jaded fans shivering in their socks."

Okay, the writer may have been thinking Paranormal Activity when she wrote those words in her intro, but nonetheless, we're happy to see Deadgirl included in AMC's "Top Ten Horror of the Year" list. Here's the link.

We also got some notice in the Women Film Critics Circle's 2008 Awards, popping up in their "Top Ten Hall of Shame" ... placing us proudly amongst some sure-to-be Oscar-winners like Up in the Air, and Precious.

xoloitzcuintle

At every q & a about the movie, someone would invariably ask about the dog. As in, what the hell was that thing? The answer is pronounced "sho-lo-skwink-le", spelled "Xoloitzcuintle", and abbreviated as a "Xolo" ... and you can read all about it here.

Halloween Recommendations

"Deadgirl — From newcomer directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel and screenwriter Trent Haaga comes the most original and disturbing take on alienated youth and teenage peer pressure the horror genre has ever produced... The film’s brooding, stylized physical and psychological atmospherics are reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s most nightmarish work, yet it yields some hauntingly poignant moments." — The Oklahoman [OK's "most trusted news"]

Bonus recommendation from The Scope, St. John's arts and entertainment paper. Click here for a long, spoiler-heavy review that features some fairly astute observations.

UPDATE: The Philadelphia Inquirer suggests Deadgirl as well for this weekend.

Get the 411

"You might love Deadgirl; you might hate Deadgirl. But I don't think you'll feel ambivalent about Deadgirl... In the end, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about what happened in the movie, but the very fact that I couldn't stop trying to decide tells me all I need to know about its strength as a film." — 411mania

Also this week...

We were surprised to see a great review in West Virginia University's paper, The Daily Athenaeum: "While there have been countless movies that have analyzed the troubles of adolescence and sexual development, it’s doubtful any had the same twisted spin... I spent most of the 100-minute run time in a state of severe anxiety – though for a film like this, that’s definitely a good thing."

And BlogCritics kicked off its long, very favorable review with a thought that's been increasingly common: "Deadgirl, a film that is so much better than I was expecting..." We love it when that happens.

Btw, now that the movie is out, we'll be posting behind-the-scenes photos semi-regularly. Up top's the first one: Nicest-guy-in-the-world Andrew DiPalma (Johnny) takes a moment to prepare for his big scene. If you've seen the flick, you know what we're talking about...

Attention Tech Geeks:

"Deadgirl premiered at Toronto International Film Festival as the first independent production to use a completely tapeless digital production method. Pomfort SilverStack helped the filmmakers to realize a flexible, professional workflow with the best image quality..."

Click here to read the entire case study, courtesy of Pomfort SilverStack.

Scream King & Queen

Spike TV's Scream Awards will air next week, but here's a sneak peek at the red carpet...
While Dave Navarro does point out his date, the lovely Jenny Spain, you'll have to look pretty carefully for a glimpse. But it's worth it, as always.

Consider yourself warned

"Consider yourself warned. This is strong stuff, especially if you start thinking about it afterwards. Deadgirl takes the concept of coming-of-age and attaches it to a narrative that can only be described as stomach churning... There is undoubtedly a strong statement being made about class here and the struggle we all feel as teenagers to look beyond the momentary heartbreaks that seem to utterly define our nascent sexuality. Plenty of fodder for thoughtful discussion but not for the weak of heart." — Twitch

30 Days

The plan was to do a comprehensive summary of the last month, since that's how long Deadgirl has been out on DVD. But time does not permit a comprehensive summary.

So instead, here's a half-assed one:

We're at 40,000 ratings on Netflix, which really blew away our expectations. As previously noted, since not everyone rates the movies they've watched, it's hard to know exactly how many more people have Netflixed the movie.

And it's been neat seeing the empty Deadgirl spaces in Blockbuster (at least our local one, where it's rarely been back on the shelf).

For some reason, Best Buy has it in the Sci-Fi section, so that's probably something to be aware of, just in case.

Dave Navarro was a big fan of the movie and invited Jenny Spain on his radio show, where he described the movie as "terrifying" and "compelling" and added "Not only have I seen fucked-up stuff, but I've seen really fucked-up stuff ... and this disturbed me more." Then he took Jenny out to dinner.

Universal Studios and the Chiller/Eyegore Awards gave Deadgirl a prize for "2009 Best Villain of the Year" ... that would be JT (Noah Segan).

The media response has been enormous. Lots of great reviews, from larger newspapers (Boston Globe, Washington Post), to more local ones (Tampa Tribune, Kansas City Star) to all types of blogs and websites (DVD Talk, Cinematical) and everything in between. Most of them quoted below, so won't bother re-quoting here.

The Boston Globe even placed the movie high on its list of 20 Best Zombie Movies of All Time (#6).

Because it's October, many people are doing some sort of 31-day horror movie countdown till Halloween, and many of these lists include Deadgirl. Thanks to everyone who has made it part of the festivities.

Deadgirl continues to split reactions almost right down the middle, as it's done from day one. On IMDB we're at 60% positive. Same with Amazon. On Netflix it's 56%. On Rotten Tomatoes, the T-Meter Critics are at 31%, but the Rotten Tomato Community is at 66%.

And easily the coolest part of the last few weeks is reading real-time reactions on Twitter. Good, bad, confused, angry, surprised, curious, and genuinely thrilled, tweets have covered it all and have come from everywhere.

Needless to say, it's been a really exciting first month for us.

Win your own dead girl

Our Canadian distributor, E1 Entertainment, is holding a FrightFest Contest, so click here while there's still a chance to win a copy of Deadgirl (each of the five winners also picks up a free dvd of Dead Snow, too!).


[note: Only open to Canadian residents. Here are all the rules.]

Innocence Lost

"An unbelievably taunt, surprisingly poignant and harrowingly bleak picture of innocence lost... Deadgirl gets under your skin. It bothers you. It challenges you. It does things that more experienced filmmakers with more experienced actors aren’t always able to do in much-bigger-budget movies." - The Tampa Tribune (online)

Congrats to Deadgirl's Nolan Gerard Funk... front page of the New York Times' Arts & Leisure section! Ok, it's not exactly The Tampa Tribune, but still.

In honor of Zombieland, The Boston Globe made its list of the "Top 20 Zombie Movies of All Time." In the top spots were the expected ones: Dawn of the Dead, Braindead, Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead and Shaun of the Dead... but coming in at No. 7 (and ahead of a bunch of other classics) is Deadgirl! "By far the most disturbing zombie film on the list, Deadgirl is a completely different and original take..."

The Perfect Intro

Here's the Deadgirl UK DVD main menu, designed by London-based graphic designer David Byrne. As the menu plays out, you'll see he did a phenomenal job capturing the essence of beauty and decay. Thanks David for putting some real thought into this. It's a great lead-in to our movie.

We have a winner

Universal Studios kicks off the Halloween season tomorrow night with the Chiller Awards, honoring just five people. Among the winners are Rob Zombie ("Filmmaker of the Year"), SAW's Tobin Bell ("Best Villain in a Film Series"), legendary make-up effects artist Rick Baker ("Lifetime Achievement Award") and – wtf? – Deadgirl's Noah Segan for "Best Villain"! We have no idea how that happened. We're just glad it did. The kid deserves it.

Click here for the press release, via CNBC.

Your Daily Dose of Deadgirl

"Deadgirl definitely has its disturbing moments. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s just as much a story about friendship, young love and loneliness... The two directors have done an excellent job of working with their actors to portray teenagers so numb and beyond moral reproach; I was reminded of a Larry Clark film, with a touch of George Romero thrown in to make it unique... Dark Sky Films have the making of a real cult classic on their hands. Obviously the subject matter is going to scare off a lot of people, but for those of you who like intelligent horror movies that have some substance, but still make you squirm, check out Deadgirl." — PopDose

"A dark, violent satire"

On the Washington Post entertainment blog, Paul Stelter makes some great observations about Deadgirl — and calls it a "dark, violent satire" (click the quote below for the whole thing)...

"While the taut 2008 indie horror flick boasts a supremely disturbing premise and some obligatory gore, the new director's cut DVD makes clear it's primarily a fable about male peer pressure and relationships." — Washington Post

A delight!

Fantastic Fest is kicking off Austin, so congrats to Tim League and everyone else involved on what looks like another great lineup. FF is where Deadgirl had its U.S. Premiere last September and we vividly remember seeing Harry Knowles come in for our first screening at the Drafthouse. Aint-It-Cool has had a lot of great things to say about the movie over the last year, but we always wondered what Harry thought. Until now.

In today's DVD roundup, he begins his mention of Deadgirl with "One of last year’s delights from FANTASTIC FEST..."

So there you go. And it was worth the wait. Thanks, Harry, and enjoy FF '09.

A common reaction

"I fully expected to despise this film, but it’s eerily intriguing."
— Real Detroit Weekly

Unrated vs R-Rated

In answer to the question: The reason both the Unrated and the R-rated versions of Deadgirl are listed at 101 minutes is that nothing was simply cut out to get the R. Not surprisingly, the MPAA felt a couple of scenes went too far. But instead of just removing the shots in question, we worked to either replace with alternate footage or digitally tweak the the original material. It was important to us that the scenes play out as intended, hopefully without feeling different.

The other difference is the bonus material. I don't believe the R version has the commentary, the fx photo gallery, the deleted scenes, etc.

Deadgirl, Live at 10

The great Dave Navarro will be talking to the deadgirl, Jenny Spain, tomorrow on his INDIE 103.1 show, Dark Matters (Wednesdays, 10pm-midnight). Can't wait to hear their conversation, as well as just finding out if the guy liked the movie or not. He tweeted a lot about getting ready to see it, but afterwards only went so far as writing: "After watching @jennyspain in DEADGIRL, I am relieved she is CALLING into the studio on Wednesday and not actually coming in! WOW!"

Hmmm...

Go Jenny! Click here for the indie103.1 site to listen live, or here for the Dark Matters homepage to catch the podcast later. And if you want to sign in to join the chatroom during the broadcast, click right here.

"What really stands out about the film isn't the shock value component, but the more tragic side of the story. The film's take on peer pressure and on standing your own moral ground makes some sense in the context of the story but underneath all of the bizarre plot elements there is a very real and very effective human element...one of those rare films that defies expectations and comes as a true surprise." — DVDtalk

And mothers, too

It's always nice to see that the audience for this movie is as difficult to define and predict as we imagined, and certainly not as narrow as some had predicted.

[Not to mention the 12,000* people who have rated the movie on Netflix in just its first week of release. Thanks to everyone who's rented or bought the movie, or tweeted, or asked for it, or blogged, or whatever. New movies are released all the time. But you all made this release feel very special.] * UPDATE: One day later, it jumped to about 14,500. Wow.

DVD Review

Fangoria reviews the DVD release of Deadgirl, including an nice look at all the extras included. Click here to read the whole thing.

"There’s no denying that screenwriter Trent Haaga and directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel have ventured into more ambitious territory than most youth-oriented fright cinema, which tends to take more simplistic views on relationships between boys and girls and sex and violence." — Fangoria

A "nihilistic teen horror film that plays as both grim morality tale and insane dark comedy." - MSN Movies

Second Impressions

"Deadgirl is a deceptive film in that it seems like a horror movie, but there are bigger issues lurking beneath the surface... The fears include loneliness, intimacy, growing up, and the realization that your dreams for your future might not be all that you imagine them to be. Though I’ll have to admit that on first viewing none of that came to me. I was just repulsed by the subject matter."
— Monsters and Critics

Monsters and Critics is one of the larger independent web-only news & review publications.

Jersey Pride!

It's nice to see some smaller, more regional papers review the Deadgirl DVD release. Here's what the Bergen County Record had to say (link to its online version, via newjersey.com here):

"This one-of-a-kind shocker takes a look at two high school misfits (excellent Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan) who encounter a not-quite-dead, not-quite-alive girl tied up in the bowels of an abandoned mental hospital. Surprisingly, directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel are less interested in spilling blood — though a lot is spilled — than in probing the adolescent male psyche. Smartly directed, the flick takes twists you won't see coming."

High School Horror They Love

There aren't many movie sites bigger than Cinematical. So it was pretty awesome to see Deadgirl (described here as "creepy, challenging stuff") as No. 2 on its list of "High School Horror We Love." Check out the whole list here.

Hard to shake

IGN didn't love the movie, but at least the reviewer added this honest tag on the end:

"Days after seeing Deadgirl, I find myself considering it, which even I can't yet determine speaks positively or negatively about the movie. It is the subject, not the quality, that's in question, and some will no doubt feel that the filmmakers have hit their mark. And if nothing else, it'll keep you talking for days to come."

A "seriously perverse twist on River’s Edge ... and it would be nice to dismiss Deadgirl as the worst sort of exploitation. Except that it’s been so well-written, well-made —walking a fine line between horror and satire— and well-acted, that you find yourself glued to the screen. It’s sick. It’s gross. It’s lurid. But you can’t say it doesn’t work." —  Kansas City Star

"A conclusion that's as spectacular and revolting as one would hope and/or fear." – McClatchy-Tribune

The verdict is in

"Not only sufficiently gory and suspenseful, but funny, perceptive, and moving, to boot. It deftly blends elements of horror with a story of coming-of-age and all its attendant angst, and gives us something unique, surprising, and wholly satisfying." - DVD Verdict

"Long Live Deadgirl" – on DVD!

So says Paper Magazine... "Trust me, it will unhinge your jaw...."

D-Day

Finally here!

Sexual Danger

"A well-executed horror film with a perverse kind of sexual danger."
- MSN Entertainment

"Absolutely bat-shit insane"

"In its conception, Deadgirl plays like a long lost Twilight Zone episode, revolving around the perfect kind of conflicted fall guys who make questionable moral choices as influenced by certain dark forces. The difference, of course, is that Deadgirl is fucking perverted... At a certain point Deadgirl finds its footing and spins itself into an absolutely bat-shit insane, yet alarmingly compelling and intelligent study of the male's uneasy relationship to its Id, peering into a certain dark corner of a 17 year old's sexual angst with open eyes..." - LAist

"It’s Stand by Me for a new, and waaay sicker, generation."
- Salt Lake City Weekly

Shining a light into the dark

"Randy adolescents open for a thinly veiled skin flick will be largely disappointed. Similarly, those sick to the back teeth of torture porn would do well not to dismiss this as just another bandwagoner, as co-directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel have far more on their minds here than simply mining a gimmick for the purposes of titillation... Succinct, intelligent and to the point, Deadgirl exhibits an intelligence far beyond that of your average genre shocker, ably given form by a superbly committed ensemble of talented up and comers. Shining a light into the dark, perverted corners of the mind it is occasionally unpleasant but mostly because, as an exercise in human nature run amok, its oddly, eerily plausible. You will never look at the creepy dead-eyed kid in the back row of chem lab quite the same way ever again." - JustPressPlay.com

"Sick, twisted and delightful"

"An interesting examination of classism, misogyny and high school cliques along with some blurred boundaries around necrophilia, Deadgirl brims with unpleasant moments that are sure to polarize audiences — either utterly repulsing them or making them laugh with discomfort ... Sick, twisted and delightful - Detroit Metro Times

There's something to it.

"Directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel lend adolescent emotional cred to taboo horror, taking the uncomfortable satire of, say, 'Teeth', and dragging it to an even gnarlier level. Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan are high-school outcasts who make a gruesome discovery while ditching – the nude body of a seemingly lifeless woman chained up in an abandoned mental hospital. Turns out she’s not exactly dead, and they’re not exactly good Samaritans. Extras: The unrated cut of the film includes commentary and a featurette. You’ll snort at the word choice when the filmmakers characterize this as a relationship story, but there is something to it." – The Boston Globe

BUSTed!

Yep, that's Deadgirl's Candice Accola on the very left, in what is probably the most gorgeous mugshot we've ever seen [click to enlarge]. Clearly, living in Georgia during the shooting of the new hit show Vampire Diaries is not keeping her out of trouble.

Three Days...

... till the release. As we turn the corner, a few more responses trickle in.

A SCREWED-UP WINNER

"The film belongs to Segan, who captures every nuance of J.T.’s steady descent into utter depravity, sinisterly posing moral questions to excuse his own indiscretions and touching on underlying themes of suburban isolation and homoerotic longing. Co-directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel, both relative newcomers, as well as camp horror writer Trent Haaga have a screwed-up winner on their hands with Deadgirl. It cuts deeper than expected... Buoyed by excellent performances and a cool soundtrack, Deadgirl is a thoroughly twisted ride." - Home Media Magazine

WITH A WARNING

"It’s hard not to reveal everything about the movie. If you can get through the sex with a corpse part, you’re really gonna enjoy this one... This one is gonna make people feel uncomfortable and someone may end up cursing me that I suggested they watch it but I enjoyed it enough to recommend it…..with a warning of course!" - The Film Reel

GUILTY THRILL

The Orlando Weekly highlights the "guilty thrill" of Deadgirl in its list of "OW-approved titles" out on DVD this week.

"Seek this one out."

"This movie serves as a bit of a twisted form of social commentary in a way, and is a bit of a coming of age tale. This one's about storytelling, mixed with good acting. It's hard to watch at times, violent and somewhat unexpected. I absolutely recommend it!"

JoBlo.com gives Deadgirl another great review today, and we especially appreciate the spoiler-free ending: "If you can dig a plot that is a little out there (and I'm dying to tell you about it, believe me), you should seek this one out."

Awesome. Also, here's JoBlo's first (and perhaps slightly less spoiler-free) review from July.

Synergy!

Make sure to check out Candice Accola's new show Vampire Diaries, debuting tonight on the CW. Here's a quick 411 interview about the show in which Deadgirl actually gets a mention. Thanks!

Back from Lisbon

Here we are with two living legends — Stuart Gordon and John Landis — after the screening of Deadgirl at MotelX (Lisbon's International Film Festival of Terror) this past weekend. On Friday, the four of us went to see Re-Animator on the big screen, and having them check out our flick the next night was even more of a ridiculous thrill.

As it happens, the screening was exactly one year to the day we premiered Deadgirl in Toronto, and – with the movie coming out on DVD on the 15th - also marked what will probably be our final screening with a festival audience. What an unbelievable experience it's been.. and ending in Lisbon with some of the coolest people around was the perfect way to go. Thanks to everyone who was there.

A Country Divided

Go figure...

The Republican defends Deadgirl and
The Liberal wants it destroyed.

[warning: spoilers at every link]

Dead & Loving It

Make sure to pick up the new issue of Scars or just go to the website and get one (order the issue or download it there). Some great coverage about Deadgirl including the standout piece, an insightful two page interview with the dead girl herself, Jenny Spain.

"Spain's role of the Dead Girl has risen above normal zombie cinema, and opened up the sort of debates horror movies were first meant to invoke." - Scars Magazine

To sleep with a dead girl

The price some people are willing to pay to spend eternity laying on top (somewhat suggestively) a pile of bones that were once called Marilyn... [LA Times]

And according to this Reuters article, the man currently buried there is positioned face-down. Nothing perverse about that!

"Spectacular"

That's what Buried.com calls the unrated DVD of Deadgirl, complete with "a raft of must-see extras." You can pre-order it now by clicking here.

"Bored teens looking for trouble, an abandoned building and a naked woman. These are the ingredients that combine to form one of the most terrifying and disturbing American movies in years." - Buried.com

Makes us want to believe in Heaven

While Wisconsin has only recently decided that rape laws should apply to the dead, we were surprised to learn that a few remaining states still haven't quite come to that conclusion.

Found these online, from a Moving Pictures magazine photoshoot right after our Toronto premiere. Left to right: Candice Accola, Noah Segan, and Shiloh Fernandez. [click pic to enlarge]

Just by their names alone, these all sound like people we're glad to have on our side:

Necrotic Cinema
Liar's Society
Exploitation Nation
Wildside Cinema
Horror Society

Plus-Sized Praise from the U.K.

FOUR STAR REVIEW / DVD OF THE MONTH!
Deadgirl is "a rare beast... an intriguing coming-of-age movie... so deliciously dark and unsettling, you may have trouble scrubbing it from your head."
(DVD on sale in the U.S. on 9/15)

Women vs. Women

As with every demographic or group, Deadgirl splits Feminists right down the middle (wow, didn't mean that to sound so gruesome). Over at Feministing.com, an interesting debate is taking place – but there are massive spoilers within, so be aware and read carefully.

Click to read "Deadgirl" (Or, The Most Feminist Horror Movie I've Seen This Side of 'Teeth')