| Enter the LaNd of your nightmares! |
| Dead Alive |
Dead Alive
Reviewed by FreD
Directed by : Peter Jackson
year : 1992
Company : WingNut films/D-A productions/Viacom
Tagline : Some things won't stay down........even after they die!
Cast:
| Timothy Balme .... Lionel Cosgrove |
| Diana Peñalver .... Paquita Maria Sanchez |
| Elizabeth Moody .... Mum (Vera Cosgrove) |
| Ian Watkin .... Uncle Les |
| Brenda Kendall .... Nurse McTavish |
| Stuart Devenie .... Father McGruder |
| Jed Brophy .... Void |
| Stephen Papps .... Zombie McGruder |
| Murray Keane .... Scroat |
| Glenis Levesiam .... Mrs. Matheson |
Synopsis:
Opening in the jungle of New Zealand, we get to see an expedition for the fabled Rat Monkey of Sumatra (The offspring of little tree monkey's who were raped by giant ship-rats). Unfortunately, nobody ever informed the head of this excursion the price of "Zingia" (a bite from the rat monkey), so he has to learn it the hard way.
Flash forward a few days. We move from the jungle to the city, where we meet Paquita, a poor latin girl that works in a small family owned store. After some tarot card B.S, we're introduced to our hero, Lionell, a nice young man with a strange mother fixation (Think Norman Bates with a flair for physical comedy). Sadly, his mother isn't as good natured, as she rules their household with an iron fist. Now, and this is "important", the aforementioned tarot card reading pointed out that Lionell and Paquita are Destined to be together. (according to the "sign of the star and of the moon"). This being the case, Paquita esentialy tricks poor Lionell into taking her out on a date to the Zoo. Our over-bearing mother follows (of course), and, through one of the funniest scenes in cinema history, gets bitten by our friendly neighborhood rat monkey (see, it al comes together, folks)
Back at home, mother basically guilt-trips Lionell into agreeing not to see Paquita again. Our leading lady doesn't see things the same way, and she sneaks up to see her "destined love". After a night of steaming love-making and wound pulsating (just for you, Joe!), Lionell discovers that his mother is, well...decomposing, and it isn't in a good way.
From There, complete craziness ensues involving a dinner party (sure makes me hungry!), a Dog, Regurgitation, A nurse, decapitation, a twisted tranq-dealing veteranarian, and a no holds barred zombie fight. After all this fun, we get more tarot nonsense, where Lionell aquires an amulet in the shape of "the sign of the star and of the moon" that contains "the power of the white light"
Directly after that, Mother gets loose, stumbles into traffic, and proceeds to get hit by a trolley. Presumed dead by the public, a funeral is held for her. I won't go into details, but let's just say that it's quite a scene.
Knowing that his mother won't stay down for long, our hero goes to the graveyard to dig her up to stop her before she starts. Unfortunately, he is attacked by thugs that are hanging out in said graveyard. Don't worry, though, as mom won't let this go on for very long. Hearing all of the commotion outside, the priest from the funeral steps in, and he has a secret : He knows KUNG-FU ("I kick ass for the Lord!")!!!! He makes short work of some of the now-zombie thugs, but a misplaced dropkick leaves him a bit "held up", to say the least.
Lionell, feeling guilt, proceeds to take the whole zombie crew home, where they live together as a "happy family". So happy, in fact, that the priest and the nurse get "involved", so to speak, and have a baby. Yes, I do realize what I just said. Throw a greedy uncle that finds out about the zombies into the mix, and you get a taste of just how bad Lionell's life really is. The big trouble starts when the Uncle decides to throw a party at the house. The zombies are locked up and buried, right? Wrong! they get out (through a strange but semi-predictable twist), and what occurs is quite possibly the bloodiest scene(s) ever put onto celluoid. I won't ruin it for you, but i wil tell you that it involves a lawn-care instrument and about 50 zombies.
The final battle places Lionell against his Mother, one-on-one. Can he come out on top? Let's just say that it's a "bloody crazy" conclusion.
My Thoughts:
This is a great film for all of you gore-hounds out there. Who woulda thought that peter jackson would become one of the most respected names in hollywood only a decade later? Basically, it's got it all : zombies, blood, rat monkeys, blood, evil mother, blood, lawn mowers, blood, kung-fu priests, and, did I mention blood? The VHS copy that I own claims on the cover : "The goriest fright film of all time!" and they just may be right. It's an instant classic, and If you don't own it, go out and buy it! steal it if you have too! There's actually a sub-plot involving Lionel's father and his death/murder that i didn't mention in my review. The reason? I dunno, I just didn't think that it was that important. Sue me. If you want a gore-fest with the perfect blend of horror and comedy, i'd say go for this (or evil dead 2, whatever one you come across first).
Final thoughts :
Solid black comedy/horror film. There aren't really a lot of scares, but it's a fun ride and the special EF-X are a sight to behold. The rat monkey looks amazing, as do all of the zombies.
4 out of 5 stars
