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A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

½ — A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

Jesús Franco was already one of the most prolific (and polarising) figures in European exploitation cinema by the time this Franco-Belgian-Italian co-production arrived in 1973, with well over fifty films to his name and a reputation built on gothic horror, sleaze, and a genuinely idiosyncratic visual style that his defenders call dreamlike and his detractors call incoherent. Shot largely at a château in the Belgian countryside, the film stars Christina von Blanc as the London girl drawn into the family nightmare, with Carmen Yazalde (familiar from Franco's concurrent work) in support. The picture exists in several versions of varying lengths and content, with additional footage shot by other hands inserted into some prints for certain markets, which goes some way to explaining why its internal logic can feel especially elusive.

I really don't understand the love for this film. It's a nonsensical mess from start to finish. Is that the point? Maybe?

Rating: ½ | Year: 1973 | Watched: 2025-05-19

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