About:
Lionel Cosgrove lives with his domineering mother in a small town in New Zealand. When she dies after being bitten by a rare monkey, she comes back to life as a voracious zombie, infecting other townsfolk as Lionel frantically tries to clean up her mess.
Review:
Do you know what Peter Jackson was doing before he cashed in on the Lord of the Rings movies? He was making ultra gory B horror movies like Dead Alive. Released as Braindead in New Zealand, the title was changed for the US release because we already a movie called Brain Dead (which had Bill Paxton AND Bill Pullman in it!)
Dead Alive is a horror-comedy, the purpose of which is not so much to tell a story or inspire fear, but to showcase a flood of home-made special effects and over-the-top, never-ending gore. I tried eating a plate of spaghetti while watching this, and trust me – that was a big mistake. But the while the movie is visceral, it is also very well-done and extremely creative. If there had merely been a high body count with buckets of blood then that’d be one thing. Yet Dead Alive puts so much detail into every death, inventing new ways to shock, sicken, and delight us with its quirky special effects as the movie goes on.
The movie opens in 1957 on Skull Island, where a New Zealand explorer has captured a Sumatran rat monkey, which according to legend was bred when plagued rats scurried off of slaves ships and raped all the native tree monkeys. In an homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark he is pursued by angry natives and finally bests the savages by jumping into the back of a vehicle to leave them hopping up and down, angrily shaking sticks.
The Sumatran rat monkey ends up in a zoo and is a real piece of shit. First this little rat bastard is beating up on all the other fun-loving monkeys, then it finally passes its zombifying plague onto Lionel’s mother.
He got what was coming to him
The absurd grossness begins there and doesn’t stop until the ending credits. After Lionel’s mom is bitten she dies and comes back to life a flesh-craving zombie. Being the loving and oedipal son that he is, he can’t bring himself to bury her reanimated corpse in the cold ground, so instead keeps her locked up in the basement with the rest of her zombie buddies, sedating them every so often with massive amounts of animal tranquilizer. Occasionally one of them would wander off, but overall Lionel has the situation pretty much under control.
Shit really hits the fan once Lionel’s slimeball Uncle Les discovers all the tranquilized stiffs in the basement and threatens to call the police unless Lionel gives him his mother’s inheritance, including the house. And what better way is there to celebrate inheriting a buttload of cash and a mansion from your dead sister than inviting the whole town over for a giant party? Of course the zomboners in the basement get loose and the next 45 minutes or so is a fantastic expose of blood and guts.
There are really far too many great scenes from the movie to post here so I just encourage you to find a copy and watch it. If nothing else, Dead Alive is 100% pure entertainment.
Overall: 8.5
HOT HOT HOT
Dead Alive is a must see. Billed as the goriest movie ever made, it does not disappoint. And unlike setting all this disgusting gore to a serious and disturbing plot that might actually make you lose sleep and question your moral principles, the movie is hilarious so it’s all in great fun. Plus, who doesn’t love New Zealanders?
CAMP GORE 