Dead Alive
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Movie Reviews of Dead Alive
Movie Review: Ignore these other reviews; THIS is all you need to know
Summary: 5 Stars
There are something like 230 or so reviews of this film already entered here, the basic plot and best lines of dialog spoiled for all who haven't seen the film yet, and it seems every other would-be Ebert has made the comment (as if they were the first to say so) that the movie was made by the same guy who made "Lord of the Rings." If you've gone through the trouble of looking up "Dead/Alive," we'll just assume you already know that A)it was made by Peter Jackson, Uber-Kiwi; B)it is heavily laden with blood and gore; and C)there are a half-dozen different versions of varying length. This is a good place to start. Now, for what you need to know.1. As aforementioned, this is NOT a movie for sensitive viewers. Keep in mind, my delicate friend, the active descriptive terms used in relation to this movie, particularly "gore" and "splatter." The very fact that it is well-nigh impossible (or at least exceedingly difficult) to acquire a totally-uncut version of this film in America (land of the brave & free, indeed!) ought to be a tipoff, especially when there's no nudity or spoken obscenity in the film.
2. Also as aforementioned, there are a few alternate cut versions of the film. At this writing, the best available version in America is the 97 minute, Unrated version. Be a good American & insist on this version, unless you can be a better one & travel to NZ to find the complete version.....
3.In regards to the 97 min. DVD, ignore all the descriptive terms used on the package. You'll notice words like "fright" and "horror," but nowhere on the box will you find "comic" or "absurd," which more accurately describe the film; similarly, you'll see the phrase "state-of-the-art special effects." Sure, they're state-of-the-art, for a bargain-basement budget, but don't go into this thing expecting blue screen and CGI or anything remotely on the level of Industrial Light & Magic quality. You will be disappointed on that score.
4. Lastly, just remember this is at its core a good-natured, fun-loving movie, obviously made by folks of the same temperament who felt that "Evil Dead 2" needed a love story & "The Re-Animator" needed to be sillier. People who can't lighten up and enjoy this film for what it is are lacking something in their soul, and ought to be avoided...
Movie Review: A Boy, His Mother, And A Rat Monkey (?)
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, let me state that this film was probably the last hurrah for the gore-filled late 80's films & whatta way to go! Released in 1992, Dead Alive is one of the most goriest films ever to come out of New Zealand (or anywhere else really!). Taking place in 1957, a rare and dangerous animal, offically known as Simian Raticus (the Rat Monkey Sumatra) is taken from it's home at Skull Island and brought to a local zoo. What the visitors don't know is that this monkey has an infectious bite, one that turns anyone into a bloodthirsty zombie! When Lionel, a young man with a smothering Mother who watches his every move, takes his newly found girlfriend Paquita to that zoo, he gets more than he ever bargined for! You see, while he & Paquita enjoys the zoo, Mother is spying on them, only to accidently get bitten by that monkey (Uh, oh!). After Mother gives the animal the boot (watch & see), Lionel takes her home to get well, but as we all know in these movies, that ain't going to happen! Soon Mother gets ill.......really ill! And the zombie-ness begins! When Zombie-Mom gets loose, she takes a nurse with her, and it ain't to the hospital either! After mom's "funeral", she meets a few more of the town locals, including Father McGruder, who appearently "Kicks (...)For The Lord", and soon we have quite a little Zombie-party going on here. That is until Lionel's house becomes host to an actual party by his money-hungry Uncle Les. But no one tells the party-goers that the Zombie's are the real guests of honor! So what do you do when you have a party with eventually a hundred or so uninvited zombies? You break out the lawnmower and get to "weeding" them out, of course! I think I've told you enough to get your interest in this movie, but if that didn't do it, consider this: I personally own about 75 horror DVD's & Dead Alive is the most goriest, sickest, disturbing, and funniest of my bunch (it's even more of these things than "Evil Dead II:Dead By Dawn"!). The DVD has a nice, crisp picture that's letterboxed, and has a very nice stereo mix too. So, if you want a horror movie that you'll be finding yourself showing everybody you know again & again, then get Dead Alive! You won't be sorry........oh, I almost forgot about the Zombie-Baby! Well, I'll let you get the movie and see for yourself.Movie Review: For Those Who Just Haven't Seen Enough Blood...
Summary: 5 Stars
I read last year in Entertainment Weekly that Freddy Vs. Jason (great film, see my review) was supposed to be one of the bloodiest horror movies ever (this was before it came out, mind you). Even before that I heard that Braveheart was one of the goriest movies to ever be released. Unfortunately it seems that everyone was ignoring the glorious director of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Peter Jackson's older movies, because if they had seen them, every other film (horror or not) would have been SLAMMED by Dead/Alive!
This is the kind of movie that makes your mother leave the room, your girlfriend (or boyfriend) question your mental status, and your friends not answer the door when the pizza arrives. True gore fans (like me, who eats sloppy bean burritos from Taco Bell while watching Faces Of Death), will absolutely love some of the choice scenes that make this film so great. I remember talking to a friend and they said that a large portion of the budget (it was in the 10's of thousands of dollars) went to fake blood alone! You little hobbit-loving director also has a thing for blood and gore!
The plot is pretty simple, a rat monkey from some foreign cave is captured and brought back to a zoo in England. It's already clear from the first scene that you DO NOT want to get bitten by this creature. Of course, some little twitty guy and his overbearing abusive mother go to the zoo and wench gets bitten. Over the course of the next few weeks, she slowly decomposes and eventually dies. Of course the son now knows that she's not dead and that she's undead and everyone she bites ends up becoming a zombie as well. This stays relatively low key with only a few zombies in the basement until a large party is thrown in his house and before you know it everything is swarming with bloodthirsty zombies and it's up to the son to take care of business.
This movie is for any cult horror fan and anyone who can stomach it! This Unrated edition is also the only cut worth seeing (the R-rated version is useless) and although there aren't really special features, the movie still makes up for it. I bought this at $24.99 and felt like I definitely got my money's worth, at this price it's a steal!
Movie Review: A Must-Have Horror Camp Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I had the pleasure of experiencing Peter Jackson before Lord of the Rings made him a huge, mainstream director. Before Heavenly Creatures garnered him critical acclaim and before he was nominated as Best Director for Fellowship of the Ring, ol' Pete was most well known for his gory horror classics Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead) and Bad Taste. It's nice to know that rising from these humble beginnings, Peter Jackson is on track to become the most popular director of the 21st century.Dead Alive has been called "the goriest movie ever", and it earns this reputation beautifully. The most is not just gory; it's HYSTERICALLY gory. We're talking buckets of blood, zombies dispatched by a lawnmower, rampaging intestines, and also (for the ladies) some zombie sex thrown into the mix. I can't stress how gory this movie is; you must see it to believe it. In case you're worried this may turn off some of your buddies, none of the gore is very realistic, so it's easy to not take the carnage seriously.
After poor Lionel's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey, she begins to act in progressively more bizarre ways. In one scene, she eats Lionel's girlfriend's dog.
"Your mother ate my dog!" his girlfriend cries. Lionel pulls the dog's tail out of his mother's mouth and replies, "Not all of it."
His mother's disease begins to spread, and later in the film, Lionel is accosted by some zombies in a graveyard. A priest appears, sees the zombies, and cries, "This calls for some divine intervention!" He then leaps at the zombies and proceeds to kickbox them. He proclaims, "I kick arse for the Lord!"
If you're laughing now, then this movie is for you. If not, you can probably pass. The movie is in no way scary, but it's not really meant to be. It's light humor and zany zombie antics are infectious. Peter Jackson's so-bad-its-hilariously-good taste and sense of humor is on full display in this movie. I love it!
This movie is perfect for a late-night horror or gore movie marathon with your friends. If you're looking for some crazy fun and gross-out humor, Dead Alive is a movie you cannot pass up. You'll be talking about it for years.
Look for an appearance by Peter Jackson in the funeral home as the inept embalmer.
Movie Review: The Director of Lord of the Rings Made This? Oh Yeah!
Summary: 5 Stars
Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Braindead(or Dead-Alive in US) are Peter Jackson's splatstick comedies that gave him a cult status before Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson directed movies with comedy and extreme gore at first then later fantasy including Lord of the Rings. Peter is known for both his gory past and award-winning present times. People who only know Peter for Lord of the Rings and King Kong would be shocked seeing his earlier splat films.
Braindead(UK) is Dead-Alive in the US due to conflicts with another film called Braindead(US). Some segments were also removed, even unrated Dead-Alive is not fully uncut.
Dead-Alive is about a guy caring for his cruel mother that he still loves. At a zoo, the mother gets bitten by a cursed monkey while trying to scold her caring son for dating a woman because the guy's mother is misogynistic. The guy's mother deteriates over time and dies. The mother zombifies and starts the zombie chain reaction.
Dead-Alive is full of unforgettable gore, characters, laughs, and quotes.
The gore is excessive in a comical fashion. Dead-Alive is known as the goriest movie by bloodcount by the gallon. The gore left me laughing in a exhausted manner. The characters are like if they came from a comic book. The main character is similar to Bruce Campbell's Ash character and there's also martial artist priest. Dead-Alive does have it's funny moments like a evil zombie baby that laughs deviously. The quotes are comic book like. The priest sees zombies creating havoc and says "I kick arse for the Lord!" The priest then beats up the zombies.
Peter's Dead-Alive is certainly a cool movie. The acting is cheesy but it's for comic reasons. The scenery looks like the scenery from Peter's later horror comedy The Frighteners. The story is very creative and even has a twist. The cheesiness of Dead-Alive doesn't interfere, it's all for the fun. It's for people who are into horror and comics. I like Peter old and new, he is a genius.
I ordered a copy from Amazon.com and it's unrated from Lion's Gate Entertainment. The special features barely exist but still a great buy.