Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (1987)

Living Dead Girls

La revanche des mortes vivantes or Revenge of the Living Dead Girls is a curious title that feels like it might have a link to one of the more popular zombie movies that preceded it. Perhaps George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead? One of the loose spin offs/cash-ins like Return of the Living Dead or Zombi? Jean Rollins’ The Living Dead Girl? Nope, it’s a standalone French zombie movie with a fairly unique concept to dig into.

It’s probably best to establish the plot… it’s a little more complicated that its peers. I will delve into some clearly labelled spoilers.

Falling victim of some intentionally poisoned milk, three girls abruptly die in various states of undress. The substance used to poison the girls is then poured into the graveyard where they are laid to rest (without an autopsy it would seem) resulting in their reanimated corpses clambering out of their tombs, shuffling into a village to attack and kill various people who play a part in the larger story.

Where to begin? It’s worth pointing out that 95% of movie raises too many questions about the antics of the zombie girls. They ring a doorbell before entering a house to attack a lady. They commandeer a car, tie up the passenger, drive to a house, exit the car (remembering to turn the lights off as to not run down the battery,) brutally murder the passenger in the house and write a note the sheets the corpse is left on. They can swim, open gates, hide and keep time as they are back in their tombs before sun-up.

A lot of the movie relies on your assumption of who everyone is and has trouble clearly establishing relationships as scenes are playing out. Perhaps details were missing from the subtitles and my french is too poor to keep up, but I was lost with who was married to who and who was having an affair with who. This is further complicated by the plot’s complexity/stupidity when the big twist is revealed in the last few minutes. This is compounded by a blackmail plot tying in the CEO of the company that manufactures the poison alongside his philandering with local ladies and pretty prostitutes (I actually erroneously thought one of the sex workers was played by Emmanuelle Seigner from Frantic when I first saw her.)

Spoiler zone

The unique concept and big reveal does explain the incredibly advanced zombie actions and the exceptionally poor make-up, the girls are not dead and wearing masks to make them look like zombies to aid the blackmail heist of the central plot and avenge the wrong doings of the company. Having to suffer through the ridiculous idea that zombies can drive and other activities they get up to for the longest time is farcical. However, once the reveal explains this then it beggars the question that the girls are truly sick individuals as their methods of murdering the victims so are extreme. A stiletto to the eye, oral dismemberment and vaginal impalement, not to mention it inexplicable miscarriage in the shower sequence. The girls have a panicked discussion in their getaway car about the horrors of having to stay in the tombs for the last few days, without addressing how brutally they acted when dispatching their victims.

End of spoilers

There is quite a bit of gore and nudity here and some of the actions taken by the Zombie girls are not for the squeamish. One particular kill I remember reading about in some horror movie appreciation book years ago and it was nice to finally see it, even if it was a little less gory than I had imagined. The cast is surprisingly good with a couple of notable performances, the aforementioned Emmanuelle Seigner lookalike being a notable one. This actress in particular might be called Christina Schmidt, although a bit of research online doesn’t reveal if that is who she really is. The film doesn’t feature traditional credits so linking actors names to the roles is difficult. Several of the players seem to have histories in the adult film industry, alongside director Pierre B. Reinhard.

For a cheap and nasty horror movie, Revenge of the Living Dead Girls is unintentionally funny, but not re-watchable in the slightest. At 58 minutes I found myself checking to see if there was much more to endue as the novelty had really worn off, the plot was getting too inaccessible and zombie action was preposterous. I couldn’t recommend this for the casual viewer, as the cheeky final title card suggests, only for someone like me who wants to tick it off a list as witnessed. There isn’t enough genre elements to satisfy the horror fan and the film becomes frustratingly waffly.


Poster art is typical for the period and the original art is still delicious. More modern takes have been less inspiring and I remember having a giggle at the Redemption video cover as it looked like Muppets of the Living Dead.


My Blu Ray is an import from Europe with a runtime of around 80 minutes and I have heard tell of an alternative ending on the DVD release…

I will give myself a breather before I embark on a search for this. My Blu Ray does not feature anything other than a trailer in its special features.


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