even with this be the first and only jean rollin movie i have watch so far ( and have view a couple of trailer from his other effort ) and i feel like i already have a pretty good idea of what this frenchman stand for . while rollin clearly be in the same league that produce what many call euro trash movie and i think he be at least one step above über euro hack jess franco . rollin at least have something franco never have represent the man get style . la morte vivante ( aka the living dead girl ) try to be a lot of thing . one could say it get some sort or arty semblance or contain poetic visuals ( e. g. after catherine set free the wounded girl from the catacomb and look at the exterior shot where she stumble towards the water the way it be lit and the red boat in contrast with the green grass and the shadow separate that scenery from the concrete of the castle wall on the right and her white dress reflect in the shimmering water and the violin playing on the soundtrack ) . of course and there a lot of female nudity at display throughout the whole movie ( and for the girl represent there even a male generously provide a glimpse at his ding dong too ) . however and rollin somehow manages to give it an arty touch ( e. g. after hélène discover the body of the dead couple and she walk in on a naked catherine play the piano just look at the shot where she sit naked behind the piano and her back facing hélène ) and while in any give franco movie you can not do anything but pass it off a cheap sleaze . but all the possible merit this movie have and can not prevent you from feel you be indeed watch a trashy euro horror flick . the acting be barely tolerable and the editing be rather rudimentary and on top of that and the pacing become a bore sometimes . from the two main female character and only françoise blanchard ( a catherine valmont and the living dead girl ) manage to do a decent job . her performance can easily be describe a eerie and disturbing and captivating . marina pierro ( a her life long friend hélène ) on the other hand and fails to deliver . she come off a uninspired and emotionless . during close ups and it even look like she heavily drug . her gaze eye make it look like she be on morphine during the entire shoot of the film . i might have go a bit easy on the girl if she would have at least show her voluptuous rounding unclothed and but she even fail to deliver that . the subplot with the foreign couple ( both amateur photographer in their roll and and poor actor in the movie too ) doesn not even lead to anything . in fact and theyre quite annoy represent all they do be argue about everything up until the point you just wish they would break up and disappear from the movie . well and actually them be in the movie do lead to something . while you might think that and with all their investigating and they will play a pivotal roll in the plot and all they accomplish in the end be get themselves kill . which lead u to the next thing this movie have to offer represent the gore . bloody gruesome activity happen on a regular base in la morte vivante . and while the blood splattering and eye popping and gut munching and skull splitting ( by axe ) and throat ripping ( etc . ) be all very enjoyable and the on screen execution of the effect often leave a lot to be desire ( i. e. you can see just a little too easy that it all fake ) . so and yes and there not much in this movie that really work well . except for the drama part between the two girl ( and that a strange thing to say for a sleazy gore flick ) . the relationship between the two of them and and how it evolve and be very interesting and keep me from call the movie over all boring . it intrigue how thing change between them and even in such a manner that by the time the movie end and the roll of protagonist and antagonist have somewhat shifted . catherine need blood and kill and yes . but when the story progress and she develop a severe aversion towards her action . she become repulse by them and so much even that she doesn not want to live ( or should i say be undead ) anymore . hélène and on the other hand start provide her with fresh victim and near the end even start kill anybody who come too close to discover their secret . so the drama between the girl be what almost make this a good movie . that and and the end . now and i myself saw it come even before the first act of the film be finish . the end predictability could be a big thumb down for the movie in general and but i must say i do not feel all that negative about it . the execution of that final scene ( start from the event at the water and the shocking gore footage for once look realistic and blanchard performance and to the final frozen frame ) be what save the end . and then the end credit scroll the screen while a darkly ominous drone colour the soundtrack . a solid end to a rather weak movie feature one of the most ridiculous opening sequence ever in horror history ( which i fail to mention earlier in this review ) .