A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

Directed by: Jesus Franco | 85 minutes | horror | Actors: Jesus Franco, Christina Von Blanc, Britt Nichols, Howard Vernon, Paul Muller, Rosa Palomar, Anne Libert, Thomas Hunter, Gila Von Weitershauser

“You destroyed the ebony phallus! Your fate will be miserable!” Well, such a bizarre quote can only be found in a film by Jesus Franco. This Italian filmmaker is not averse to a bit of controversy every now and then. So what do you do to give your critics enough to write again? Right, you stuff your films full of nudity, cheap horror and a whole host of curse words. Enter ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’.

‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’, or ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ in our native language, revolves around Christina (Von Blanc). The girl travels to England to attend her deceased father’s inheritance distribution. Once at her destination, it turns out that Christina’s family is just a messed up bunch. When the girl suddenly has ominous visions, she discovers the bloodthirsty nature of her kinsmen.

Although the story and the cheap cover of this film would have you believe that you are going to watch a blood-curdling horror production, in practice it turns out to be not that bad. ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ is a fairly harmless thriller full of naked ladies, suggestive horror elements and half a dozen amateur-looking zombies with decayed teeth.

What can you say about this movie? Over the years, this product by filmmaker Franco has become a cult classic and there is something to be said for that. The film is incidentally quite exciting and the design and bizarre twist of the story are also unforgettable. Of course ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ is not a good film, but this film is by no means as tasteless and sinister as the title would have you believe.

The strength of the film lies in the unintentionally funny dialogues, the exasperating acting and the amateurish way in which this production is canned. This film has two endings(!) that are simply edited one after the other. The special effects are hilariously bad and the plot is muddled and inimitable. And yet this film has something.

In contrast to Franco’s earlier work such as ‘Female Vampire’ (1973), ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ does have a sympathetic heroine. The innocent Christina is the typical ‘girl next door’ you can sympathize with. The fact that the girl is played by the beautiful Von Blanc makes the many useless nude scenes extremely enjoyable. And while most of the women in the film parade around naked, Franco saves you questionable, raunchy sex scenes this time. In short: in ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ you don’t have to expect narcissistic female vampires (as in ‘Female Vampire’) or horny SM bimbos (‘Demoniac’ (1979)).

The abundance of nudity and the cheap horror, the blood clearly comes from a paint pot, give the film a cheap pulp atmosphere. The exaggerated acting of Von Blanc and her colleagues is also so wrong that it becomes fun. Franco also stars in this film and he has taken on the noble role of a drooling uncle. With his rolling eyes and moaning voice, Franco is a character not to be missed. Add to that the fact that the soundtrack is not synchronized with the voices and you understand that ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ is not a high-quality actor’s film.

Yet. In one way or another this ridiculous horror piece is extremely enjoyable. And exciting. It is thanks to the atmospheric soundtrack that ‘Virgin Among the Living Dead’ remains a cult classic. The music is moody, well-dosed and stylish.

All in all, this film is a true pulp film that the real film fan should see. The quasi-erotic atmosphere and the strange editing make this film a particularly relaxing cult phenomenon. So go see it and who knows, you might soon quote: “You destroyed the ebony phallus! Your fate will be miserable!”