Dead Alive
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Movie Reviews of Dead Alive
Movie Review: Leaving Mum is so hard to do...
Summary: 5 Stars
The first film I ever saw from the now famous Peter Jackson was "Dead Alive." What an experience! For rabid gorehounds, this movie about a nice New Zealand boy with a domineering mother was an absolute revelation. Jackson's frenetic energy, over the top gore, and truly tasteless behavior had me running out to look for some of his other films. "Bad Taste" and "Meet the Feebles," his other early efforts, are just as entertaining in uniquely sick ways but lack the visceral impact of this cult classic. We all know what director Jackson is doing now; he's turning into a cinematic legend with his phenomenal "Lord of the Rings" adaptation. It amuses me to no end that there are still people out there praising this amazing visionary without seeing his early work. I had the chance a few years ago to introduce one of these unknowing souls to "Dead Alive" and the look on their face was worth any amount of money. Hey, they wanted to see a Peter Jackson film, and so they did! "Dead Alive," I think, shows why the powers in Hollywood chose this director to helm the Tolkien trilogy: the sheer imaginative powers displayed in this gorefest work just as well in non-horror, big budget tour de force fantasy films."Dead Alive" opens with a scientific expedition's discovery of the ultra rare rat monkey; a repulsive, vicious creature whose bite is definitely worse than its bark. The expedition rapidly descends into anarchy when some local natives insist on keeping the monkey. The scientists manage to escape with the abomination, but not before the monkey bites one of the explorers. When two of the tour guides with him notice this wound, they promptly chop his hand off. Something, apparently, is seriously wrong about receiving any sort of attention from this nasty little beastie. Of course, that doesn't stop the expedition from tossing the monkey in a crate and shipping it off to a zoo in a major city.
Flash forward a number of years to the present, where we rapidly meet Lionel Cosgrove, his mother Vera, and Paquita Maria Sanchez, the three main characters of the movie. Lionel is one of those guys who caters to his mother's every whim. Ever since his father died-a subplot that eventually finds resolution towards the end of the movie-Lionel has doted on his overbearing, obnoxiously vocal mother. Vera Cosgrove knows that her behavior doesn't help her son achieve any sort of independence, but she simply doesn't care because by dominating her son she gives expression to her desire to control other people's lives. Lionel's life as a momma's boy would probably have gone on indefinitely if he had not suddenly met Paquita, a spicy little number who works at the local grocery store. Paquita is quite the spiritual person, and is absolutely elated after her grandmother sifts through some tarot cards and informs her granddaughter that she's about to meet the man of her dreams. Predictably, Paquita runs (literally) into Lionel and sees several signs that convince her this nervous nelly is the man of her dreams. When Paquita attempts to establish a relationship with Lionel, Vera Cosgrove feels threatened and does her best to quash the burgeoning romance. When Lionel and Paquita go to the zoo on a first date, mother Cosgrove follows to spy on the two. Regrettably, in her haste to see what her son is doing, Vera accidentally receives the toothy attentions of the little rat monkey. From this point forward, "Dead Alive" descends into a gross out gorefest.
Vera begins to literally melt to death from the monkey bite while a panicked Lionel has no idea what to do. After a scene that will give you a life long phobia about eating pudding, along with another unpleasant situation involving a dog and Vera's suddenly voracious appetite, Lionel and Paquita decide to call for medical assistance. Things get very icky from this point on, as various characters including a nurse, the local priest, Lionel's uncle, and a bunch of townspeople fall victim to the nightmare unfolding at the Cosgrove residence. It seems that the bite of the rat monkey not only causes problems for the initial victim (in this case, Vera Cosgrove), but can also spread when that victim attacks other people. What you get are dozens of shambling zombies looking to turn the living into jigsaw puzzles. The last twenty odd minutes of the film are a marathon of bloodshed, as Lionel and Paquita attempt to destroy the hungry creatures roaming through the halls of Castle Cosgrove. You've never seen oceans of gore this deep in any film, rest assured, or the inventive techniques Jackson developed to make his film a memorable experience. Lawnmowers used to kill zombies, heads spinning in blenders, a pile of murderous organs, and a transmogrified Vera Cosgrove are just a few of the mind blasting things you will see in "Dead Alive." This is jaw dropping stuff, made slightly more palatable by the significant doses of humor injected into the whole thing. If Jackson made this just to be cruel, it would be unwatchable. Instead, the movie allows you to laugh even as it turns your stomach.
Avoid the 'R' rated version! All of the sauce is missing from that edition! Watch the unrated version, or better yet find the uncut print under the title of "Braindead," which contains seven minutes of additional footage. We really need to see a disc with all the trimmings, though, such as a commentary from Jackson and any other extras that might exist. I hope the director finds time to revisit this territory again, but with the fame he has garnered from "Lord of the Rings" and his remake of "King Kong" due sometime in 2005, I fear that Jackson's will never return to his groundbreaking early days. Hopefully, I am wrong.
Movie Review: That is one angry zombie baby!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Film: Dead Alive
Year Made: 1993
Overview: A man keeps watch over his dominating mother who wants her son's complete attention. When Lionel (her son) meets his love of his life, mother is not happy for him. Things great really ugly after mother is bit by the Sumatran Rat Monkey! Mother begins to get ill and lose more than just her temper, dinner will never be the same again!
The Package: 2 Stars. The cover is ok, but I thought it should have been a bit more gory much like the film itself. The inside has no inlay at all, the disc itself is very easy to pop out and holds itself in the holder which is great. The disc is pretty plain though with only a white look to it, no zombies or anything spooky or gory on the disc graphics. Included is the trailer for the film which is great, not much else to say for the package though, thought it could be better.
Spook Meter: 2 Stars. Dead alive is not very spooky at all. There are a few parts that will make you jump a little, but overall it's not super spooky. Ok, now it's time to highlight why this film is still a 5 star film. Gory, funny, violent, cheesy acting that is beyond words is what makes this extremely unique and oh so fun to watch. Dead alive will not keep you awake for the night in fear, it's not that kind of film. It will however give you a huge smile and think to yourself at the end of it `this was one of the best moments in horror for a film of its kind that I just seen' I loved the pace of how everything built up. I won't give much away; I never like to do that in my reviews. It starts out kind of tame and builds to a knock your socks off horror event that must be seen to be believed. Another extreme strong point is the sounds of the zombies. In some films the demons or zombies just don't sound that great. Here we get some really excellent sounds. When one zombie's head gets chopped nearly off, the gargle ling sounds that it makes is so gory and gross and so funny at the same time it's worth it just to hear that sound! The other standout and one of my favorite things of the whole film is the zombie baby! I won't give out details of it, just watch for a baby zombie and I thought that is so cool I can't even put it into words! Oh and the lawn mower scene, ok, enough, you have to see this film for yourself, it's indescribable and something that you needs to be seen for yourself.
Gore/Violence Meter: 5 Stars. This is where Dead Alive truly makes it's own special mark in horror history. The gore IS truly the most bloody horror film that I have personally ever had the chance to see as of this writing. In fact, I really don't think there is or will be another that could top this as far as gore. Before I bought this, I read other reviews and admit I thought, nah these reviews are probably not really true and it won't be all that gory. I didn't want to get my hopes up and be let down after all. I admit, it really was that gory, my guess is a good part of the films budget just went for fake blood alone! As for the violence, it's extremely violent. Before someone reads this and thinks, no way will they watch Dead Alive because of the gore/violence, I must point out that it's not the same type of extreme violence that can be found in films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. This is not a torture real feeling type violence that makes you cringe as you watch it. It does have a different feel to it, with that said though; no doubt it's 5 stars on the gore/violence meter and then some. If spewing ooooze offends you or makes you sick, DO NOT watch Dead Alive.
Profanity Meter: 3 Strikes. There is a fair amount of bad language throughout Dead Alive, it is closed captioned though so you can filter out the bad language if you have a DVD language filter like I do.
Sexual Meter: 2 Strikes. The sexual meter was a bit more difficult to determine for this particular film, but I'll describe here what you can expect as a potential viewer so you can decide for yourself if you wish to view this. Ok, there is nearly nothing sexual as far as normal people are concerned in Dead Alive. There are a few kissing scenes and that is it. What is shown are a couple of zombies and ones wants to get a bit "fresh" with the other one. Nothing is really shown however lots of sounds can be herd as two people stand outside of a door and can hear zombies having sex. One other scene is of the another female zombie and her breasts are shown, however what you see is, well, rotted zombie decaying flesh for breasts so it's not exactly anything to be offended by as a viewer. That is it on the sexual meter; I'll let you decide as a viewer what you feel.
Final Thoughts: Dead Alive is truly a one of a kind film. It gets a few ideas from something like The Evil Dead, yet it has it's own charm that makes it unique and fresh enough that make it a well deserved 5 star film by itself. If you LOVE GORE, (my hand goes way up, I LOVE gore) you will watch this in absolute sheer delight and have a grin from ear to ear all the way through just as I did. No other film is as gory as this, it's a must have to your horror collection.
Movie Review: Rich and Creamy
Summary: 5 Stars
Everyone's got a favorite movie-monster type. Some folks go for the gothic sexuality of the vampire; some are drawn to the Jeykll-n-Hyde torment of the werewolf. Some, perhaps, are in the spirit to love ghosts, and some are compulsively attracted to the exploits of the serial killer (where Freddy and Jason should be included).
Not me. I dig zombies.
Zombie movie-fans, and you know who you are, should be living high on the hog these days. Spurred perhaps by the high-profile (but dreadfully lame) success of Resident Evil, recent offerings range from the gripping 28 Days Later, the energetic remake of George Romero's classic zombie flick Dawn of the Dead, and the smart and snarky Shaun of the Dead. Hell, Romero's even getting back in the act with Land of the Dead mid-2005. Times are good for the undead.
As any good zombie-movie fan knows, there is no zombie film quite like Dead Alive. Dead Alive's formula, for many reasons, has not been attempted before or since. At heart, it's a light-hearted action-comedy-horror film (is there such a thing as an action-comedy-horror film? Did I just make that up?!) with buckets and buckets of gore. Perhaps `tubs' or even `vats' might be a better metaphor - I'm not sure even dedicated film horror fans have ever seen, or wanted to see, this much blood `n' guts before. If you think you can handle it, I highly recommend this one-of-a-kind zombie film.
Simply stated, the gore is what makes Dead Alive great - just when you think director Peter Jackson's cinematography and his FX department couldn't possibly top the last gross-out, over-the-edge gory gag, they do it. And, although there is a copious amount of it, the blood and gore is more cartoony than anything (I'd like to see that offered as an excuse to a network censor). Much of it doesn't seem real, because I can't remember the last time I saw someone eat their own ear, or have the skin on their face pulled completely off, or lose the lower half of their body and still try to attack others. To make matters worse for the squeamish, the gross-out factor is exponentially raised by the sound effects. You don't just see blood spurt, but hear it spurt in audible detail. It's unsettling and viscerally amazing.
As for the nuts and bolts of the film, such as characters, plot and what-not, Dead Alive is like no zombie flick I've ever seen. As such, I won't give away too much. Set in late 40's or early 50's New Zealand, the setting evokes a simpler, far-off time, though this pleasantness eventually comes crashing down as the chaos erupts. The dead-raising affliction comes to town via a vicious rat-monkey, who bites the overbearing society-matron-mother of indecisive homebody Nigel. Mother becomes infected and zombified. Nigel, unsure of what to do, locks her in the basement after she tries to kill him, and events quickly spiral out of control as Nigel wages a one-man-war to suppress the zombies, lest somebody find out about them. But the zombies take care of "promoting" themselves, and it's not long before all-out zombie mayhem breaks out.
For those that care about such things, these zombies are loosely based on the Romero-style zombie - they're slow, and jerky, but are very strong and determined to eat you (but not necessarily your brains, a la Return of the Living Dead). When they bite you, you become a zombie. Shots or hits to the head will "kill" them, but not always. In some extreme cases, even complete bodily dismemberment won't slow these guys (or gals) down, and their entrails have been known to cause mayhem. And (possibly copied by the Dawn of the Dead remake) zombies can have zombie babies. All in all, a tough, stupid bunch of undead characters.
This is a great zombie film; quaint and inventive at times, flat out disgusting at others, funny and touching in between. If you're even remotely a fan of the zombie genre, the final battle sequence between Nigel and the zombie hordes is worth whatever you paid to sit through two Resident Evil "films." As one character puts it, "Rich and creamy - just the way I like it." He was talking about custard, but he could have been just as easily talking about this gem of cinematic zombification.
Movie Review: My Favorite Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This may seem like a really weird or immature selection for a favorite movie, but I would rather sit through a glorious, multiple scene heavy, gory, twisted comedy more than any other movie out there. Dead Alive may not be for everybody, but besides Dead Alive showing me that movies can be more twisted than music can (though can't be as personal and more intertwined with life). Besides that, it's a movie that has never been dethroned, thanks to glorious, juicy, gore, a tender, realistic love story (that really doesn't drift into sappiness), bizarre, twisted sense of humor, impressive setting, interesting dialogue that doesn't dwindle, it has it all. Sure, it's nothing arty, groundbreaking, but ________ critics, anyway. Dead Alive isn't for everybody, and if you are not part of the taste, you most definitely won't like it.
Dead Alive is a brilliant mix of B-humor and slapstick comedy, presented as a funny spin on zombie tales (though I'm not quite sure where the inspiration of the premise is). The movie really isn't about the plot, though I feel that the plot is fine. The tightly written script is another strong factor, as Peter Jackson does not waste time with being talky or boring. Of course, beyond the gore, there's some twisted humor to carry everything along. Baby zombies, some references to necrophilia, zombie $#% ("It's the pipes!"), kung-fu priests, head banging zombies, all twist their way into one man's determination to care for his zombie mother.
The highly much lauded gore is the real treat here, of course. None of it is painful to watch, which makes it perfectly comfortable. Just like watching slapstick, where none of the pain is really felt. "Splatstick", the word that is used to describe a movie like this (as well as Peter Jackson's own Bad Taste, Re-animator, and Evil Dead 2), is exactly what this movie is. But what also makes it perfectly great is also, just how fun the gore is. Anybody can make unrealistic over the top gore, it takes a real master to make the gore fun and creative. Peter Jackson has rib-cages ripped out, genitals ripped off, entrails of a body. It's really just the gores content and what's being ripped out, smashed, mashed, and shed is what makes it as entertaining as it is. You wont' be disappointed with the gore if your looking for top notch over the top gore that bends reality (which is something that Hostel bores with, there's only so much you can do with realism, gore and special effects to show everything directly).
Other than that, another high point is the look of it. Sure, it's not stylized, but Peter Jackson's native New Zealand is really a pretty place. The places and sides of the town are a place you like to go, which makes the movie even better. It's The acting isn't the best I've seen, but I thought the performances were good, good enough to make the story good (which is what acting should do, on a level, anyway). They really make you like the characters, and Lionel really is such a mama's boy you want nothing but for him to succeed in the. It ends pretty happy, but with annoyingly, bleak, calculated, pseudo-cynic popcorn bad endings floating around, I couldn't have asked for a better ending.
Dead Alive is not for all tastes (which is why most criticisms of this movie are pretty moot and unimportant), but those who know what makes this movie great know what they are talking about. For those who know why though, this movie rules. By the way, ignore every one star review that merely complains about this being pointless gore, or other such nonsense (pretty much every review on here that didn't give it four or five stars) there opinions are not worth getting respect. Why? Because they miss the point completely. Total _______ morons. I hope someday that Peter Jackson either remakes this (with his expertise in special effects, there is no telling how jaw-dropping the effects can be), or releases a special edition with all kinds of interesting bonus features. Totally, totally _______ recommended.
Oh, and I can't stress this enough. DO NOT BUY THE R-RATED VERSION! IT'S A PIECE OF PRIME _____.
A+
Movie Review: Proof that "Rings" director Jackson isn't "Braindead"
Summary: 5 Stars
Look up the word "disgusting" in the unwritten Book Of The Cinema and you'll find that the definition is "Peter Jackson's 'Braindead'". I don't know how else to introduce the picture other than to say that it is believed to be the goriest film ever made, and that it is considered by many to be the best zombie (and even horror in general) film ever made.
The film revolves around Lionel (Timothy Balme), a kind-hearted and loyal young man forced to take care of his wicked old mother (Elizabeth Moody). When Lionel meets Paquita (Diana Penalver), a girl working at a local shop (who has been foretold that Lionel is her destined love), a romance blooms - angering Lionel's mum, who proceeds to follow the couple on a trip to the zoo. The story goes from sunny romance to pitch-black horror in an instant when Lionel and Paquita stumble across a bizarre creature in the zoo: the rare Sumatran rat monkey, a vicious little beast with taste for flesh. In the film's first bloody scene - enough to get the film an "R" rating already - Lionel's mum is bitten by the rat monkey.
Naturally, being the very loving son he is, Lionel takes his sick mother home and gives her his undivided attention. That night Lionel is visited by Paquita, and for a while Lionel forgets about his mum or anything else.
From then on Lionel's life becomes a living hell. First, his mother dies. Then, she is resurrected as a zombie and begins losing clumps of skin and an ear. This doesn't seem good, especially when a respected couple arrive for dinner. Soon, friends of the family are bitten, or just nibbled on by Lionel's mum - and so they find themselves brainless, undead creatures as well. Then some of the kind local citizens - including a priest who "kicks ass for the Lord" - are zombied. Finally, most of the town has become zombies. Things aren't looking good for Lionel, who's trying to keep the whole thing under wraps - pretty much literally.
How much gore could a horror film have if a horror film could have gore? I don't know, but I'd say "Braindead" is about the limit. People whose stomachs aren't made of rock should steer clear of this film, or any of Jackson's earlier pieces for that matter. Luckily, I was prepared for the gory festivites after watching "Bad Taste", but even then I was surprised when - three minutes into the film - a man finds both his arms and, ultimately, his head cut off in an unflinching scene which gives you no time to blink. If there ever has been a more gory, disgusting, sick film that "Braindead" (or "Dead Alive", whichever you prefer), I've yet to see it.
For example, in one scene, Paquita and Lionel hear Paquita's dog bark and attack Lionel's mum. Rushing upstairs, they find Lionel's mum looking sick. Lionel goes to her and removes one of the dog's legs from her throat. (In case you haven't noticed, this is one of the most disturbing scenes in the film) "Your mother ate my dog!" Paquita screams. "There's still some left," Lionel replies. We pull back and find the room splattered in blood, with hairy remains on the bed.
Ugh.
"Braindead" is rated highly most everywhere I've seen it reviewed, hailed by horror fans as a masterpiece. It is constantly competing with films like "Evil Dead II", "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" for superiority in the "Best Zombie Movie Ever" category. I'd say it comes pretty close too. The film's nightmarish, unflinching atmosphere is something entirely unique to Peter Jackson. The acting is terrific - you feel exactly what you're supposed to feel when you're supposed to feel it. The score, by Peter Dasent, is also very fine, and gives the film a mischievous, comedic mood.
"Braindead" is Peter Jackson's pre-"Rings" masterpiece, and one of the greatest horror films ever made. If you, a) have a very endurant stomach, b) call yourself a horror fan, and c) haven't a fear of rat monkeys, then this is the film for you. No horror moviegoer should go without seeing it at least once.
Sometimes eerie, frequently funny, and always gory as hell, "Braindead" is one sick film.