Dead Alive (1992)

There are certain movies I wish that I could experience again for the first time.  Sometimes it feels like I am after the years stretch out and I forget about much of what happens, but then there are those movies like Dead Alive that, although it has been at least a decade or so since I last viewed it, I still remember in vivid detail.  

Originally released in New Zealand as Braindead, the title was changed when it was released in the U.S. and Canada because there had just been a movie called Brain Dead released in 1990 and, as Dead Alive was only getting a limited release before heading to video stores, there was some concern the two would get confused.  While waiting to get the movie into the North American festival circuit director Peter Jackson had some time to reconsider the 104 minute cut that was released to the rest of the world, shortening the film to 97 minutes for the unrated version released in the U.S.  This is the version everyone here has seen and, as luck would have it, the version Jackson prefers. 

Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme) is the only son of domineering Vera (Elizabeth Moody).  She is not happy when he starts to fall for Paquita (Diana Peñalver), a Spanish girl who works at a local shop.  While at the zoo they see the newest exhibit, the Sumatran Rat Monkey.  Horrified by its appearance and viciousness the couple go off to find some peace, only to find out that Vera has followed them.  She gets bitten by the monkey and kills it but manages to ruin the day for Lionel and Paquita.

The next day Vera wakes up with the bite pulsing and her skin starting to fall off.  It soon becomes apparent that she's rotting, and it isn't long before she gets a taste for human flesh, attacking her nurse (Brenda Kendall).  Lionel is now stuck taking care of the two of them with the help of tranquilizers, but Vera breaks out.  Everyone else thinks she's dead after being hit by a bus, but soon the zombie menagerie is added to once she escapes her grave.  Things get complicated when Lionel's Uncle Les (Ian Watkin) discovers the corpses and forces his nephew to give over his inheritance in trade for silence.  Problem is, Les decides to celebrate his new-found fortune with a party in the house, which only provides fresh meat for Vera and her zombie friends.

Dead Alive is considered one of, if not the bloodiest horror films ever made.  I have seen some try to top it, but they always miss the humor that Jackson and his cowriters Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair add and which is integral to the film.  It's the same twisted humor displayed in his previous two films, Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles, but this time with a focus that comes from having the budget to do what Jackson wants as well as the desire to do something more than shock.  That doesn't mean it won't shock some people, but despite all the blood and gore this is played like a comedy, much like its direct influence, Evil Dead II.  

It is that rare situation where great writing and great special effects combine to create something unique.  It doesn't hurt that Timothy Balme and Diana Peñalver have great chemistry and that Elizabeth Moody plays one of the most despicable overbearing mothers in film history.  Then there are the bit parts, such as Father Magruder (Stuart Devenie), a priest who will literally defend his faith in any way possible, and the slimy Les.  Add in leather-clad hoods, stuffy high society members, a questionable veterinarian and a zombie baby, and things just get better. 

This was the movie that introduced me to Peter Jackson, resulting in me renting Bad Taste and going on a search of seedy video stores for Meet the Feebles, as well as keeping an eye out for what he would do next.  He followed this up with Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners before bringing his adaptation of The Lord of the Rings to the big screen.  Pretty much everything he has done is worth checking out, but even with the huge budgets and critical acclaim of his later films this one remains special to me.  It still thrills me, I still laugh even though I know the jokes are coming, and I have some great memories of sharing this film with a friend who is no longer around.  It's bloody, it's disgusting and hilarious and, best of all, made with a lot of heart, which is something that was missing in as the Hobbit movies went along.  I think Jackson knew it as well. 

Dead Alive (1992)

Time: 97 minutes

Starring: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin

Director: Peter Jackson