You Never Forget Your First Tee

Thanks to the fine folks at Cryptic Cotton, you can now purchase the first Official Deadgirl T-Shirt. Click here to see the sweet-ass model these guys "dug up" ... and while you're there, make sure to check out their other designs too!

Moore Thoughts

We never tire of seeing Deadgirl pop up on Twitter ... the good ("That DeadGirl movie was a trip..that movie is crazy as hell..but good" - Asali14; the bad ("Deadgirl is the shittiest thing ever" - CaptFunk) and the uncertain ("Just watched Deadgirl. Wtf was that!?" - Scarielley). But this was an especially exciting morning, seeing that Tony Moore, illustrator and co-creator of the phenomenal The Walking Dead (soon to be a kick-ass AMC series), watched the movie and dug it enough to share his thoughts. Very, very cool.

Well it's been quite a few months, so it's time for some assorted updating. As always, links included.

COMPLEX MAGAZINE / 10 Grossest Movies of All Time
"Fucking disturbed."

TOTALLY TOP 10 / Top 10 Horror of '09
"It’s morally and visually the most disturbing movie I think I have ever seen. "

HORROR VILLA / Top 10 Zombie Movies
"While not a traditional end of the world flesh eating saga, Deadgirl is more of an intimate look at the detachment of male teens and the objectification of the female body. More akin to River’s Edge than Night of the Living Dead."

Also, it was nice to see Eva Tushnet, a rather Conservative journalist who's written for the National Catholic Register and National Review, stick up for our little movie: "I defended Deadgirl for being about misogyny, and said it wasn't itself misogynistic. No women really have agency in the movie. And yet it still seemed to me to be a movie I could understand, enter into, relate to as a woman, because it never once presented the dead girl's violation as anything other than a horrific encroachment by human monsters. When she was simply touched, the camerawork and color control and acting made it clearly a desecration--if you're Catholic, a desecration of the temple of the Holy Spirit, this creature's body. In the end I didn't think Deadgirl, despite its advertising, presented rape as titillating or deserved or natural."

And while we're quoting:

"This shocking film builds organically, stacking on the tension scene after scene in a dark and frightening experience that will haunt you for days after watching." - CINCENTRAL

"This movie also projects a side of sexuality we are not commonly confronted with. A must-see film." - ODE TO HORROR

"To zombie movies what Unbreakable is to comic book films." - COOL SHITE

"It is the central message of the film which trumps all else. The casual acceptance by several otherwise 'normal' people of a warped situation in which they can forget all social boundaries and norms, regressing into a demi-monde of their own making. This is what packs the punch, and - although the film plays this out in an admittedly grotesque fashion - it's not quite as fantastical a phenomenon as we'd like to think. " - FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD

"I hated this movie. Most films that feature necrophilia are tongue-in-cheek. This one isn’t. My distaste for damn near everything in the film aside, I can’t help but admire the unique spin the obviously fucked-in-the-head filmmakers put on a common trope." - I LOVE HORROR

Did we just sell out?

We've been hearing from fans all over the country that Deadgirl is now available in Walmart stores. The unrated version, no less! It's pretty cool news and this awesome new video review says it all...

V-Day

Austin 360's list of Worst Date Movies Ever.

Turkey Day

According to Google Analytics, we've had 3 site visits from Turkey within the last fews weeks. So whether that means there's one, two, or three of you out there, this post's for you ...

Deadgirl has a couple of surprise midnight screenings this week at the Istanbul International Independent Film Festival. The first is tonight (2/12) and there's another next week (2/19). More info here.

Last Lists

It's 1/10/10, so these could be the actual final 2009 mentions.

JADED VIEWER / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"Deadgirl is like a depraved, warped up horror version of Stand by Me... when a movie like this comes along, you have to give it a standing O."

HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE / Top Ten Movies You May Have Missed
"Yes, this is eww-gross horror at its grossest, but it’s also a horror film that actually deals with its insane subject — a zombie woman tied in a basement who is sexually abused by adolescent boys — and the psychological dirt it digs up. And, despite the resurgence of quality horror in 2009 (Drag Me to Hell, Paranormal Activity, The House of the Dead), this is one of the few that took real chances."

DVD SPIN DOCTOR / Top DVDs of 2009
"In a mostly lame year for new horror films, "Deadgirl" returns us to the days when viewers could be equally repulsed and fascinated... Directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel belong on any horror fan's watch list."

FILM STALKER / Top Ten Horror of 2009
"If you can get past the nasty subject matter, it's really highly recommended; horror should make you feel uncomfortable and push boundaries."

HORROR DOSE / Top Ten DVD Releases of 2009
"Dark, chilling, intense... a good revisit to twisted, macabre roots of horror."

SHOOT FOR THE HEAD / Best Zombie Movies of 2009
"Dead Girl will turn your stomach but its strong writing and deep moral message will have you transfixed."

DAILY ATHENAEUM / Top Five Underrated Films
West Virginia University's student paper calls Deadgirl "The best independent horror film I’ve seen in years."

And ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT put together it's "Five Brutal Horror Scenes" of the year... but unlike the others on the list, included ALL of Deadgirl. "The whole movie."

Still closing out '09 ...

Seems a few people are frantically trying to clear their desks of the past year before moving on to '10...

ROUGH CUT REVIEWS / Top Five Movies of '09

EXAMINER.COM / Best DVD of the Year
At #1, Deadgirl "definitely takes the home-viewing horror cake!"

TRUST MOVIES / Year's Most Special
"This genre-jumper takes misogyny to new heights/depths -- and knows it -- forcing you to think, as well as wince."

EXPLOITATION NATION / Best of the Year
"Ugly, unpleasant, filthy, smart, sad, and at times really beautiful, this is what independent horror should be aspiring to. When most independent zombie films play for laughs, this plays for keeps."

and some other mentions ...

Posters of the Year
Best Films from Cats and Dogs
Exploding Heads Top Ten
Three "WTF" Movies of the '00s
Honorable Mention from Seattle Gay News
No Room In Hell's Decade of Horror

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