The Deathhead Virgin

Another plodding, and ultimately boring, b-movie. There isn't much here for bad movie fans. There's no insane dialogue, directing, acting, etc. The problem with this movie is that it simply does nothing. Norman Foster (the director) spent way too much time filming scenes that have NOTHING to do with the story. They, literally, leave nothing to the imagination in this flick. We see endless amounts of footage of the main characters strolling around town, swimming in the ocean, drinking, eating, sleeping, performing menial tasks, driving, etc. This movie could have been a documentary of two idiotic Americans squandering their lives in the Philippines.

What's the movie about? Well, ostensibly, it's about a "deathhead virgin" who is awakened by our Americans (whilst exploring undersea wreckage). The "deathhead virgin" occasionally surfaces, and occasionally murders some poor sot. In the meantime, our American divers mess around on shore, and make perfunctory dives to the previously mentioned wreckage. That's about it.

Is there anything here for the bad movie fan? Unfortunately, no. Other than the aforementioned tons of useless footage/dialogue, there isn't much to sink your "bad movie teeth" into. Really the only highlight of this film, if you happen to be a heterosexual male, are the incredibly attractive Philippino women. Not enough to carry a bad movie (or a good movie, for that matter).

Bad Movie Score: 5/10 Good Movie Score: 3.5/10

I really don't understand why seemingly everyone who's commented on this film finds it to be so utterly awful. Look, it's no masterpiece - we're talking Filipino horror from the mid-'70s here - but it's a lot more interesting than a LOT of other so-called 'so-bad-they're-good' movies out there.

<>First off, you got '60s hottie Diane McBain in a bikini. Scratch that: several different bikinis. You also have any number of very hot Filipino women also in scanty swimwear, nude and/or wet. Also, there is (real) cockfighting, spear fu and various other forms of tropical debauchery. Not to mention Vic Diaz. Those are the film's exploitation bona fides.

<>Then there's the fact that it's the final directorial credit for Norman Foster, an interesting and underrated auteur ("Journey Into Fear", anyone? And don't tell me Orson Welles directed it - even he vociferously denied this). This films is very professionally put together, well-lit, well-miked, succinctly edited - far more so than a lot of comparable junk of the same pedigree.

<>And then there's it's odd, somewhat lopsided structure, what with the bulk of the first 40 minutes or so given over to a lengthy and involved flashback (I kept wondering what had happened to Diane McBain's character, if she was just a cameo or something) and then the curious denouement (did the Deathhead Virgin just wink at me?). This a highly atypical film, even for shot-in-the-Phillipines exploitation.

<>Ignore the naysayers and check it out if you're inclined.

According to IMDb the plot of "The Deathhead Virgin" goes like that:a treasure hunter Jock Gaynor finds a sunken Spanish galleon off the coast of a Philippine island.What he doesn't know is that the ship is guarded by the spirit of an ancient Moro princess-the titular Deathhead Virgin.When Jock removes an amulet from around her bleached skeleton she returns to life.The local legend states that once the Deathhead Virgin is coming back from her watery grave seven virgins must be ritually sacrificed.The action of "The Deathhead Virgin" moves at snail's pace,the acting is amateurish and there is almost no suspense.Sunny Philippine locations are nice and there is a bit of naked flesh.Unfortunately "The Deathhead Virgin" looks cheap and tiresome.However this is perhaps the only one horror film I know that features a masked,harpoon-wielding,homicidal,aquatic and naked zombie girl.5 virgins out of 10.

As a child at summer camp, the councillors were hard pressed to find an effective way to punish our cabin for out mis-doings. Well, the day that they made us watch this film in its entirety (without letting us fall asleep), was the day that they found that effective punishment. This film is actually painful to watch. I am not exaggerating!

Since, well... forever, I'm attracted to "The Deathhead Virgin" because of its lurid title, the awesome cover poster, and the promising plot-concept of an evil sea-witch guarding the treasures of a sunken Spanish galleon. But for exactly as long, I've also been put off by the low rating, harsh reviews, and the simple fact this is one of those low-budgeted Filipino-horrors from the early 70s. Curiosity always wins, in the end...

Everything about "The Deathhead Virgin" is slow, dull, and unstructured. The opening titles go on forever, and we're already 15 minutes into the film before "directed by Norman Foster" appears. Then there's a forty minutes' lasting (40!) flashback to explain why the movie begins with a funeral service. I still think the plot is interesting enough to tell, as it mixes typically 70s treasure-hunting elements with local Philippine folklore myths, but the pacing is so intolerably slow and the spectacle-level is so dreadfully minimal, that most people will give up (and understandably so). After the flashback (it lasts so long you'll even forget it's a flashback...) there's an interesting twist, but it's too little too late. The "monster" is a naked home girl wearing a ridiculous mask, the underwater footage is underwhelming, and the supportive role of Filipino B-movie hero Vic Diaz is hardly worth mentioning. Believe the rating and the reviews; - "The Deathhead Virgin" isn't worth your time.