Random Movie: Dead Alive (1992)

Written by: PBF

The movie Dead Alive is called Braindead in every country but the United States. So, you know, if you find yourself in another land, and want to rent this, call it that.



There is a creature called a rat monkey that is native to Skull Island. This creature is captured, and brought to a zoo in New Zealand. A young man Lionel lives with his mother in New Zealand. She is rather overbearing and doesn’t care for the fact that Lionel is interested in this girl Paquita. One day Lionel and Paquita go to the zoo and Lionel’s mother follows. The kids happen to stroll by the monkey cage and actually see the rat monkey kill and eat part of another monkey. Eventually, Lionel’s mother makes her way to the cage also, and gets bitten by the monkey. She then becomes infected, and eventually becomes a zombie. Thus begins one of the most bloody and hilarious movies I have ever witnessed.

There is no point to examine the “craft” of this film. It’s not that kind of movie. It’s not bad by any means, don’t get me wrong. It’s actually quite well done. You might say that this is a much gorier, better acted Evil Dead. In fact this movie is similar in look and pace to Evil Dead. It’s really fast, and much like Ash, Lionel is always on the move, going about 100 miles an hour. Also, both films are an excellent combination of horror and comedy. Dead Alive is just as much bloody as it is absurd. You’ll see a face being pulled of a skull, a preacher zombie and a nurse zombie having sex and have a baby (and the baby is just awesome). You will even see a zombie’s intestines chase Lionel and repeatedly grab him. Peter Jackson has crafted a superb film. His humor is intelligent and it forces you to not take the violence and blood too seriously. And, it is fantastic that the acting is somewhat decent. This movie is far better than Shaun of the Dead in my opinion. The two are completely different films, but I just found this to be much more enjoyable. I liked Shaun of the Dead, but I just preferred the outlandish violence and gore of Dead Alive to the more dry humor of Shaun of the Dead. Another thing that I liked, is that the zombie apocalypse is entirely contained in and around Lionel’s house. Even when the zombies are outside, he sedates them and brings them home. I just cannot say enough good things about this film.

See this. Go in to it knowing that you will see some really gross, fucked up shit. Rest assured, though, you will laugh almost the entire time.