DEAD ALIVE (1992) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Peter Jackson Writers: Peter Jackson, Stephen Sinclair, and Frances Walsh (story by Stephen Sinclair) Starring: Timothy Balme, Diana Peņalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Brenda Kendall, Stuart Devenie
New Zealand director Peter Jackson's film "Dead Alive" (a.k.a. "Braindead") gets major plus points for what may be the greatest single piece of gorefest ever put on celluloid. And he even gets plus points for making a great film even before it reaches its big climax with the aforementioned fest o' gore. After re-watching this after seeing his American debut, "The Frighteners," I could hardly believe it was the same director, and it wasn't just because there was a significant lack of gore, but because this film is so darkly comical and wild that it's just widly entertaining.
"Dead Alive" takes place in 50s New Zealand, and deals with the arrival of a Rat Monkey to the zoo there. After a trek there, and some good old limb-hacking, this dangerous Monkey, which turns whoever it bites into a flesh-hungry zombie, is put in a zoo cage, and after biting one woman, the film takes off on its surreal, and hysterical path, obviously leading to a giant climax (ahem, the gorefest).
Timothy Balme plays Lionel, the inept, wimpish son of a rich New Zealand bitch of a mother, who orders him around, and is more attached to him than that mother in "Spanking the Monkey." When he gains a love interest in the form of a hispanic general store clerk named Pequita (Diana Peņalver), she becomes insanely jealous, and is bitten by the rat monkey during her bit of eavesdropping on their zoo date.
Lionel does all he can to help his mother, who is decomposing every second, and is soon trying to eat the nurse. When he finds out what's going on, he tries to stop it, but, being the wimp he is, doesn't have the guts to ask anyone for help. Soon, he's keeping four zombies in his basement, trying to watch over them, even as he's loosing Pequita, and his obnoxious, oafish, John Goodman-looking Uncle Les (Ian Watkin) is making stakes on the mansion, which Lionel has accidentally given to him in the rush of things.
This, of course, brings us to the afore-afore-aforementioned gorefest.
And what a sight it is to behold. For over 30 minutes, we witness a large party being crashed by zombies, eventually turing everyone but an elite few into zombies, who have to fight together. We see decapitations, appendages being ripped apart, a man being cut in half by a rake, a zombie-chick's head being engulfed by a lightbulb, a zombie baby running around, and a man using a lawn-mower as a deadly weapon. It's one of the most enjoyable 30 minutes in a film...if you have the stomach for it.
"Dead Alive" features non-stop, no holds barred black humor, which makes this film totally bizarre, and nothing to take seriously at all. The film seems to mock old zombie flicks through the entire film. The zombies are always presented with a lot of comedy, including two of them having zombie-sex, and procreating a zombie baby. And the romantic subplot between Lionel and Pequita is handled with the utmost campiness. There are even some great one-liners - the best being a zombie-fighting, karate/tai-chi fighting priest's declaration, "I kick ass for the Lord!"
The acting is also done with huge campiness. Timothy Balme has a great knack for the kind of quiet, shy hero who is too meek to let anyone know he has a group of zombies living in his basement, too attached to do away with his zombie mother, and too shy to let Pequita know why he has been ignoring her, as well as too weak to not let his Uncle Les take over the household. And Ian Watkin as Les steals the entire movie with his absolutely hysterical performance.
"Dead Alive" might not be a masterpiece, but it is one of the few frequently funny and wonderfully concously-campy horror films, and of course, it just elevates the gorefest to a work of art. And if you try to rent it, settle for nothing less than the unrated version.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***1/2
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