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Dungeon Girl (2008) DVD Review
Dungeon Girl (2008) DVD Credits:
Dungeon Girl (2008) Directed by:
Ulli Lommel
Dungeon Girl (2008) Written by:
Ulli Lommel
Dungeon Girl (2008) Cast:
Wendi Jean Linn, Gunter Ziegler
Dungeon Girl (2008) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Dungeon Girl (2008) DVD Release Date:
7th July 2008
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Dungeon Girl (2008) Synopsis:

A kidnapped girl begins to care for her captor.

Dungeon Girl (2008) DVD Review:

Dungeon Girl is allegedly based on the story of abducted Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped and held captive for a prolonged period of time.

This film tells the story of a young girl taken by an unnamed kidnapper and the sort of victim and keeper relationship that eventually, while remaining platonic, develops into some semblance of a relationship.

It is sort of up in the air as to what the actual film is about because its story is so muddied by the painful editing and horrific storytelling. The film is an unclear combination of surrealism and a thriller with flashes of various story elements. There are a large number of recurring scenes that help to muddy the film, including a repeated visual of the naked kidnapper using a child’s doll as a sex toy as he violently and viciously pounds into it. There is another scene that seems to last for several minutes where the naked kidnapper, pressed tightly against a wooden door, flexes and releases his buttocks repeatedly. In fact, the kidnapper does not seem capable of keeping his clothes on, yet he never touches the young girl. Another image that is repeated throughout the film is a witch burning, the near naked witch being taunted and tormented by a group of men dressed as pilgrims.

Dungeon Girl is incomprehensive in its story telling. There is absolutely no call or reason for most of the imagery used in the film. Meanwhile, the principal plot line appears to have been shot on a Best Buy loss leader Hi-8 camcorder. The actress in the film does not say a single word, but instead has a narrator tell the entire tale. The most oppressive aspect of the film is the terrible editing. Apparently the editor, a wedding videographer/editor, really loves the picture over picture crossfade, and it is used a whole lot!

Dungeon Girl is the latest film to be released by the prolific writer, director, producer Ulli Lommel, whose other work include Black Dahlia, Zodiac Killer and The Boogeyman. It is important to note that while these films and so many of his projects have very similar titles to major Hollywood films, and often even have close release dates, these films are not the major films but is instead a much lower budgeted and significantly worse constructed version of the film, banking on name recognition alone. Even the cover on the Dungeon Girl DVD boasts that the film is from the director of The Boogeyman, presumably, by most people to be the moderately successful horror film starring 7th Heaven’s Barry Watson, a convenient mistake that the producers, are banking on to bolster sales. It is a cheap and deceitful trick that is sure to catch more than a few DVD buyers who will angrily admit defeat.

The DVD release of Dungeon Girl includes a widescreen version of the film with a stereo audio track. The DVD also includes a photo stills gallery, Spanish subtitles and a feature length director’s commentary.

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Dungeon Girl (2008) DVD review written by: Andrew Mattson

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