Dead-Alive/Brain dead Retro Review
I finally saw this and knew I had to do a retro horror movie review. This is a pretty old movie, one which i actually couldn't watch when i was a kid. One because the beginning of the movie scared me pretty bad, the tribes men really freaked me out as a kid and not many things in horror movies did even at that time. Two this movie was just too damn gory for me to handle, so this and redneck zombies remained on my unwatched list(now only redneck zombies remains which i refuse to watch because it's just too damn gory for me). This film came out in 1992 in New Zealand and was named brain dead, it was released in America under the title Dead Alive. It was directed by Peter Jackson who went on to do Frightners, King Kong, and finally hit the big time with the Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit movies. The movie starts out at a island named Skull Island(where I think King Kong is from). We have a explorer trying to take a creature from the island back to New Zealand. It's a rat monkey which has a curse. Who ever it bites becomes a zombie, but they don't tell you that right away, just that the monkey's bite has a curse. The tribesman then attack trying to prevent the monkey from leaving. They get away and the explorer is then bitten and then is helper then kills him. We cut forwards to a small town where mommies boy Lionel is buying something from the store. We are then introduced to the love interest. They go on a date to the zoo where the over bearing mother follows, and wouldn't you know it the monkey is at the zoo. It attacks the mom and she's bitten, not before she kills the little monkey, Eventually the mother turns and this is where the comedy starts in. You watch this bitch of a mom slowly decompose right in front of her company. Her puss leaks into puddle which the guest then eats, ewww. For some reason he never turns and that's the last we see of him. Eventually the mom starts to attack people and creates more zombies. A priest then enters the picture when Lionel's mom has her funeral, even though she is alive only sedated so Lionel can hold on to her. He then start to get into a fight scene with the zombies and the greatest corny line comes out "I kick ass for the lord" He then bites it and becomes a zombie. Then in pure craziness he screws a zombie nurse and she gets pregnant and we're introduced to the zombie baby. Pure pandemonium occurs when Lionel's uncle finds out and blackmails Lionel. He throws a party and everyone gets attacked and there's now tons of zombies. Lionel starts to fight back, with a upside down lawnmower mind you and nails almost everyone except mother. The final confrontation is between Lionel and his now mutant mother because of some animal poison that actually turns the zombies into super zombies. I thought the directing of this movie was great even though it really shows it's age and location where it was filmed a lot. The acting I think was pretty standard and better then some current movies. All the blood and gore was way too realistic since there was no cgi and the time. This is a must watch movie with your buddies that's for sure, or your girlfriends if your a lady. You can find the movie on DVD and blu ray now. I found my copy and goodwill brand new.
Score 4 out of 5 skulls
Score 4 out of 5 skulls