Product: The Dead Girl (2006)
Rating: 5.0
12:13...
THE DEAD GIRL takes the typical serial-killer movie and turns it inside-out. Rather than show us the eeevil stalkers and the bloody mess they make, TDG allows us to witness the aftermath. We are given five separate tales showing the effects of murder on family, friends, and total strangers. Brittany Murphy (Sin City) is the doomed title character, Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist) is her devastated mum, Jerry Washington plays her girlfriend, and Josh Brolin is her boyfriend. The rest are strangers who are involved in the story in various ways. Toni Collette (The Night Listener) finds the body. Rose Byrne examines it. Mary Beth Hurt is married to the hollow-soul who just might be responsible. Giovanni Ribisi (The Gift) Mary steenbergen, Piper Laurie (Carrie), and James Franco round out the cast. With so many movies that make serial-killers out to be unstoppable, homicidal genius' and / or anti-heroes, (which I fully admit to enjoying), It's refreshing to see the actual pain they cause and the lasting effects of their actions. I also like the few rays of hope within the hopelessness here. Though some lives are destroyed, others are reborn. THE DEAD GIRL isn't just a faceless victim, she is actually missed...