Braindead

DEAD ALIVE (1993) ***1/2 New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson made his mark in horror cinema (and for himself as a talent to be reckoned with) in this incredibly gory, funny and altogether sickfest zombie flick about a young man's shrew mother getting bit by a Sumatran Rat Monkey rabid with a truly nasty disease that turns her (and all that she infects with a bite) into a crazed/ravenous thing that can't be stopped in its rapacious wake of terror. The scattershot breakneck pace makes fellow monster maven Sam Raimi look like Busby Berkeley! Classic cult film that will have you laughing at the putridness of it all. Look for Jackson's homage to "King Kong" with Skull Island reference at film's precredit sequence.

Dead Alive (1992)

**** (out of 4)

Terrific horror/comedy about a mama's boy (Timothy Balme) who finally gets a shot with a beautiful young lady (Diana Penalver) but his mommy ends up getting bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey, which turns her into a blood-thirsty zombie.

I remember first seeing this thing in its cut, R-rated version but catching it again, this time uncut at a theater that specialized in midnight movies. I caught a lot of cult films at this theater but I think this one here went over best with the large crowd and the film ended up playing at least once a month with people lining up each time. Jackson has certainly gone on to do bigger pictures but in my opinion this one here contains more originality, imagination and heart than any of the three LORD OF THE RINGS films.

I think the overwhelming majority of this picture is a bizarre love story mixed in with outrageous gore that leads to some incredibly funny sequences. The over-the-top humor starts early on when, after already being bitten, the mother has some society people over but soon starts to fall apart in her food with the poor man sitting next to her ending up drinking down some of her fluids in his pudding. We even get more crazy stuff in terms of a mutant baby that our lead must take for a walk in the park only to have to end up beating in front of other outraged parents.

The gore level in this film was incredibly high for 1992 standards and it's still pretty out there. I'm not sure how many gallons of blood was used for this film but the red stuff is constantly flowing and pouring all over the place. We've got countless body parts being ripped, torn and shredded but we also have an uncountable amount of ooze constantly going all over the place. Horror fans who love gore will certainly find plenty here as this film contains enough for pretty much the entire genre that was out there during this era. Not only do we get some disgusting goo but we also get some pretty big laughs with the various situations that we find out hero in.

Jackson even throws us a decent little love story between the two leads and how on Earth doesn't want to see Lionel finally destroy his mother and get with the girl? The one negative thing is that the film runs a tad bit too long but there's no denying that this thing is a pure masterpiece in terms of midnight movies and gore flicks. The thing has some nice performances, an insane atmosphere and it's just an all around great little gem from someone who really does love the genre. Not only do we get all of this but there are some nice homages to films like KING KONG and THE WOLF MAN.

Lionel Cosgrove is a good guy having a tough time with things. Ever since his father died saving him during a swimming accident Lionel has been taking care of his mother. But unfortunately his mother must have come from the same parenting class as Norman Bates' mother since she is as manipulative and smothering. But things seem to be on the up and up for him when he starts a romance with a local shop owner's daughter. But a date to the zoo takes a turn for the worse when Lionel's overprotective mum follows him and manages to get bitten by a "rat monkey", a particularly nasty creature whose bite is killer…literally. The bite turns his mum into a zombie and each one she bites turns as well. Pretty soon poor Lionel is living in the house of the dead and fighting off a lecherous uncle scheming to grab the estate.

Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) once again proves he is more than able to give us the gory goods and make us laugh the entire time. This insanely entertaining flick has buckets and buckets of blood and gore, probably one of the (if not THE) bloodiest around. For a film with a miniscule budget (approximately $3 million) he makes every penny count and turns out a very nice looking film. The comedy is pure slapstick and at times dark as pitch. The actors attack their various roles with a solid energy that gives the film a maniac pace. "Brain Dead" (aka "Dead Alive") is the best splatter comedy money can buy.

This is by far the best horror film I have ever seen in my life. This movie has everything - a horrifying rat monkey, a baby zombie, zombies having sex, gratuitous violence, extreme gore, a super fighting ninja priest, an evil annoying mom that turns into a zombie, a womanizing relative that is a pathetic loser, an old psychic that predicts the future, and lastly someone who takes care of them all. Oh, I can't forget to mention an inspirational scene with a lawnmower too. Overall I give this cinematic masterpiece the highest review, me throwing up in the bathroom afterwards from absolute disgust.

Peter Jackson's gore-fest "Dead Alive" - AKA Braindead- is a very funny, very bloody film. The story is pretty simple, but includes some ingenious plot elements - such as a budding romance between two very likable characters (Balme and Penalver), a psychologically distressing relationship between Balme and his mother and well scripted dialog.

Balme plays Lionel - a troubled, more or less housebound young man who has been forced to spend most of his time taking care of a domineering and psychologically damaging elderly mother. Penalver plays Paquita - his romantic destiny. Paquita is a charming young woman for whom English is (perhaps) a second language. Soon after they meet, Paquita notices some odd quirks in Lionel's behavior, and slowly begins to realize that there is something besides the usual male fear of commitment. Perhaps Lionel's cannibalistic zombie mother is to blame? Soon enough Balme is babysitting a whole family of living dead who he has to constantly inject with animal tranquilizers, and trying to fend off a despicable uncle who is trying to muscle in on his inheritance. Then the fun really starts. It's the Dead Alive Series with extra gore, infused with brilliant slapstick and just a pinch of Monty Python.

Balme is amazing! - an excellent physical actor with great slapstick pacing and manic anxiety. And Penalver is delightfully pretty and sincere yet gives a nice campy performance. Dead Alive is one of the films in which Jackson began to blend detailed ecstatic and fantastic elements into his plots and cinematography - later culminating in the disturbing Heavenly Creatures and the spectacular LOTR trilogy. In Dead Alive, he finds his formula and makes it work without a tremendous budget. The film is well shot and grotesque, but remarkably amusing.