By Jason Haskins
Peter Jackson was the dork behind the epic Lord of the Rings film trilogy, but little do people know that he was responsible for one of the most repulsive movies of all time: 1992's Dead Alive (AKA Braindead) set in 1950s-era small-town New Zealand.
Lionel (Timothy Balme) lives with his possessive and cruel mother at the top of a hill in a small town where he is at her every beck and call. When he meets a beautiful young woman at the local market, he can't be happier!
That's when his mother follows him on a date and gets bitten by a crazed imported Sumatran rat-monkey from Skull Island and gets infected with a deadly virus that slowly starts to turn her into a zombie!
Now he must keep her circumstances a secret from the town as more and more people become infected. Lionel must keep everyone in the dark, including his new love, but when his dastardly uncle comes to visit and throw a party at the house, Lionel finds it hard to contain the outbreak and thus where the movie splatters to new heights.
Dead Alive doesn't take itself too seriously. I'd classify it as a zombie movie, but one that's more comedic, in the vein of the Evil Dead series with a touch of Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead. Dead Alive has many noteworthy laughter-inducing and uncomfortable areas where it relies on gross-out humor coupled with outlandish camera work courtesy of Jackson.
The wackiness of plot mixed with the zany script and awesome visuals truly give the viewer a wonderful treat. The fifties-era setting is the perfect time period for the movie and provides a certain innocence of setting that gets shattered when the events take place.
The movie might look low-budget at first, but the money was used ridiculously well and once Dead Alive really starts rolling you can see how innovative and creative they were with the budget. Granted, it didn't make it back at the box office, but it definitely recouped when it became cult-classic status (need I mention the folk interested after Jackson's adaptation of the Tolkien trilogy?).
The romantic angle the movie takes with Lionel and Paquita isn't as stomach-inducing as you'd expect in a movie of this caliber and leads to some awkward, yet sweet moments that break up the craziness of the film.
And the film does get crazy--believe me. The last forty-five minutes or so of the movie where the party takes place at Lionel's house showcases some of the most original moments I've ever seen in a film. The gore alone in this movie was record breaking and when you see this movie you'll see why.
The special effects still hold up ridiculously well and will have you on your knees. Imagine heads exploding, the humongous and gross monster Lionel's mother turns into at the end, a mutant bastard of a baby, and Lionel running a lawnmower over--well, you'll have to see the movie for that little nugget of joy.
Dead Alive is a comfort movie and one that's entertaining from start to finish. The pacing is impeccable and presents many amazing situations that are hilarious yet engaging to the viewer even when they induce completely disgusting moments (need I mention the mother's ear in the pudding ordeal?).
The overall concept isn't cheap at all and I think it's safe to say this falls within the annals of the best the zombie/fright genre has to offer. Jackson's obvious enthusiasm in this film is infectious (pun intended) and it makes watching the movie a fantastic experience that still hasn't let up almost twenty years later. One of the best films ever made? Definitely! I'd go as far to say this is Jackson's best film.
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