Braindead (Dead Alive) - (1992)
Jun 30, 2022 16:38:25 GMT
politicidal, Captain Spencer, and 3 more like this
Post by ck100 on Jun 30, 2022 16:38:25 GMT
Peter Jackson's "Braindead (Dead Alive)" has a reputation of being of one of the goriest movies ever made even though it's a cult favorite horror comedy. In honor of it turning 30 this year, I took it upon myself to test my limits and see if it lives up to its reputation by watching the uncut version of this movie. I had to see how astonishing it is that the man who gave us the Battle of Helm's Deep could be responsible for a movie in which a guy gruesomely chops up zombies with a lawn mower.
So what did I think of it? Well, I found it to be entertaining even though it's definitely not for the squeamish. You'd be hard-pressed to find another movie with such a large amount of bloodshed and carnage throughout and especially towards the end. The tongue-in-cheek tone though helps offset the scares and enhances the humor of all the gory shenanigans that happen in the movie. I'll give the movie credit for the inventive ways you see zombies get killed in this movie, and for Jackson's use of the practical effects. Surprisingly, this movie is really a simple love story about a mama's boy who becomes his own man and falls in love with a cute Latina lady.
So should you watch this movie? That definitely depends on your tolerance for violence/gore, but I can picture a wild crowd having fun with this in a theater because of its tongue-in-cheek tone. I think Jackson shot his whole horror wad with this film and can't see how he could even top himself. At least this movie showed how audacious and inventive Peter Jackson can be with simple material. His next movie marked a much-needed change of pace that made use of his skills and helped create a movie that first let him achieve greatness. It also started to put him on his fateful course toward Middle Earth.
Leonard Maltin Movie Guide Review:
Dead Alive (1992) - 3 out of 4 stars
"Pity poor Balme; not only is he in the thrall of his domineering mother, but when the bite of a rat monkey from Skull Island turns her into a hungry zombie, he still has to look after her--and all the other zombies that soon proliferate. Audacious, vigorous, inventively gruesome comedy is--one hopes--the pinnacle of its kind. Warning: the rating above is strictly for those with a tolerance for extreme violence and gore. Original title: BRAINDEAD. Released in unrated version and 85m. R-rated video version."
(Braindead is the title in New Zealand and Dead Alive is the title in the U.S.)
