RELEASE DATE: 1992
RATED: Unrated and R Versions
REVIEWED BY: The DarkSider - A Milestone Review #50
My friend gave me this VHS tape and said here watch this movie. Didn't really tell me much about it but he gave me a hint it was over the top. So home I went to check out this video. I recall popping a few pizza rolls in the oven and pressing play on the VCR.
I have to admit, the first part of the film led me to think that it had nothing major to offer. Theres a lead character named Lionel who has a female lady friend name Paquita. Lionel has a mother named Vera who is way over protective. However, things were brought to a new repulsive level when Lionel's mother gets bit on the arm by a rat monkey. One Catholic Kung Fu priest and tons of bodies later, I knew I had to thank my friend for what he had given me. Now let me say again, thanx friend! Dead Alive is the most repulsive and disgusting film ever made. That is why I chose it as my 50th review.
Before there was the magic of The Lord Of The Rings, Peter Jackson brought us the art of "splatstick". Aka, horror so gross and over the top you couldn't help but laugh at it. He did a great job of disgusting audiences in 1987 with human eating aliens in Bad Taste. He gave us his brilliant version of the Muppets on acid in Meet The Feebles. Then years later, Dead Alive (aka Braindead) turned out to be his Sergeant Pepper in the art of shock horror.
The tale is simple; Boy has an over bearing mother...boy meets girl...mother hates girl...mother gets bitten by rat monkey...mother dies but returns as a rotten zombie with an attitude...mother's tirade cause many other to follow suit...boy and girl kill zombies and fall in love. Pretty basic love story with a twist I would say. This film isn't about plot though, its about over the top attitude.
The grossness really kicks in when Lionel's mother (after receiving the bite from the mysterious monkey) turns into a disgusting form of her former self. Her wound oozes and when a few guests come over for dinner, the sickness really starts to kick in. Personally, I have never been so disgusted by something in movies that it made me want to puke. This film took the bull by the horns and did just that to me. During the dinner scene, Vera squirts a load of puss into one her guest's bowel of custard. He slurps it up not even noticing the vile body fluids in his desert. Truly this disgusted me but nothing prepared me for when Vera's ear fell off into her custard. Does she eat it...yes! Watching this scene is one of the few times something made me squeamish in movies.
Oh but it gets better from here. As Vera changes, things go down hill quick for Lionel. She eats Paquita's dog in another revolting scene. Then after she is officially pronounced "dead", the fun really kicks up a notch. She kills the nurse taking care of her turning her into a Pez dispenser. Lionel quickly has two undead people to care for. During the funeral, we meet Lionel's Uncle Les who is a fat perverted slob with a kidney stone problem. We also get our first glimpse of Father McGruder. He is an eccentric preacher with a secret. He is a Kung Fu expert who can tear apart zombies!
When Vera rises from the grave (again), she assaults a gang of thugs turning two of them into zombies. The good Father literally rips them apart while spouting out one of the greatest lines in movie history, "I Kick Ass For The Lord"...f*cking awesome! While one of them is reduced to a stump, the father loses the battle turning into a zombie too.
Now what could this film honestly be missing? Can you believe a zombie baby! Thats right, Father McGruder and Vera's nurse get it on and the mutated baby is born. In one of the most hilarious and simple scenes ever, Lionel takes the baby to the park. He battles the baby who falls out of it's barb wired baby stroller. Basically, the actor playing Lionel is throwing around a doll but it makes the scene so much more beautiful.
So how does one wrap up such an awesome collection of blood and guts? How about a zombie party? Uncle Les takes control of Lionel's house through blackmail and this leads to a massacre. People are ripped apart, punched through and Uncle Les steps up as a sadistic antihero. However, Uncle Les doesn't hold a candle to Lionel who uses one of the most awesome improvised weapons in movie history...a lawnmower. Thats right folks, he hacks all the zombies appart until all thats left are a pile of body parts. Vera makes a return as a huge gangly creature with 100 DD boobs. Lionel faces his evil mother who was responsible for his father's death and takes her down once and for all.
Words can not say enough of how much seeing is needed to believe this movie. I can describe all day about the scenes but nothing will cover how wonderfully grotesque this movie is.
This being my first milestone review, I toyed with the idea of doing the reviews like I normally would. However, I truly wanted to make these reviews more to honor the ground breakers (or in my opinion at least) in our little counter film culture. They are also films that are truly a part of who I am.
As for this flick, mark my words there will never be another film like Dead Alive. Just when you think the film can't push another envelope it always goes another mile. Everything from the sound to the special effects and even some of the characters are icky. Peter Jackson gave us wonderful characters as well as a story that will last the ages. Seeing him win the Oscar for best director made me smile. If he ever reads this review, allow me to say thanx Peter. Although you may be done with "splatstick" for now, you have nothing to left to prove. You gave us many of masterpieces and if there was one person who deserved to bring Tolkien's work to life it was you. May you continue to do awesome work in film. I know I'll be watching.
