1992 (New Zealand)Contains spoilers.
Dead Alive, or
Braindead as it's known outside the US is the brainchild of Peter Jackson and
comes with, now I've seen it, a quite justifiable reputation of being one of the goriest films
ever made. I've had a few days mull it over now too, and I'm happy to add: daftest, most ludicrous and outrageously brilliant to this.
It's the 1950's and
the film starts with explorer Stewart (Bill Ralston) and his team trying to
retrieve a Sumatran Rat-Monkey from Skull Island, very much against the wishes
of the indigenous tribes' folk. During the desperate chase out of the country he
gets bit and well aware of the danger this puts them all in, his companions
take it on themselves to swiftly cut off the offending bitten appendages which
ultimately includes his head. Jackson fully embraces the brutality and comedy
of the scene with hacks, slashes and a lot of blood on show; if we didn't know
what we were getting into we do now.
Anxious socially
inept Lionel Cosgrove played brilliantly by star of the show Timothy Balme
lives in the prominent house on the hill with his cantankerous totally
domineering old mother (Elizabeth Moody). When Lionel attracts the attentions
of local shopkeeper's daughter, Paquita (Diana Peñalver), who believes him to
be the man of her destiny (as proclaimed by her fortune telling old granny), his disapproving mother take it on herself to follow
them on their date to Wellington Zoo where said revolting rabid hairless vicious
rat-monkey has been freshly put out for display.
While spying on the
young couple the old dear gets attacked and bitten by the monkey but gets free crushing it's head under her boot. As the bite festers she deteriorates quickly and before you know it she's a hideous undead zombie and a sign of things to come. Lionel, the ever doting son, manages to suppress her with the constant
administering of veterinary sedative but his efforts are futile and she
escapes, kills a few townsfolk, gets hit by a tram and is buried with a funeral.
Still believing he can keep things under wraps Lionel is set upon by some local
ruffians whilst attempting to dig her up before the last sedative runs out; before we know it she's popped out the grave and the ruffians and the local
priest, alerted to the commotion are all dead or undead too.
I normally try and
critique how the films creatures fit into zombie myth and canon but I'm going
to take a pass this time. The zombies can be sedated, they'll eat food just as
much as people, sometimes their separated body parts, including their intestines
can reanimate to the point of seeming to have awareness, they can have sex and
babies; I could go on and there's not much rhyme and reason to any of it. But
that's the point, each new obscenely shocking over the top sequence merely acts
to drive laughs and disturb the viewer. Everything about this film is
ludicrously over the top; the characterisation, the acting, the narrative, the
special effects and puppetry, the music and sound effects, even the directing
and production. It constantly ramps up, each scene trumping the one that came before
for gore, blood and imagination. It's juvenile, vulgar and deviant; it's like
they stuck a white board up in at a drunken frat party asking people to write
down their most shocking ideas then decided to include them all.
It all works though.
Each scene meticulously slots into place expanding upon what has come before.
The narrative never gets lost behind the daftness and you genuinely find
yourself wondering what they'll come up with next, and you're never
disappointed. It's brilliantly crafted cinema with believable fantastically
acted characters and it oozes atmosphere. I bought the US Blu-ray import and
despite having a region A only on the sleeve and disc I can confirm it is
region free. There aren't any extras on the disc which was disappointing but
the picture and sound are clean and for an 80s b-movie it looks great.
With Lionel fighting
a losing battle to keep the increasing number of zombies, now including a
hilarious zombie baby, under wraps while simultaneously trying to maintain his
relationship with Paquita, his obnoxious and self-serving uncle Les (Ian Watkin)
uncovers what Lionel has been up to and blackmails him into handing over the house. When Les's friends take it
upon themselves to celebrate his good fortune and arrive to party
before Lionel can dispose of the zombies in the basement Jackson puts everything in place for probably the goriest, sickest and over the top cinematic finale ever.
Dead Alive knows
what its trying to do and goes for it. It holds no punches, nothing is off the
table despite how vulgar, obscene or crazy. It doesn't matter if it doesn't
make sense or contradicts something else that has happened before; if it
works and gets a laugh, it's in. Dead Alive holds the notion that very idea of zombies is
absurd anyway; so why not run with this as far as you can. What
Jackson has achieved is a remarkable piece of cinema full of imagination and
energy; full of memorable scenes and ideas and it's a joy to watch. It is the
goriest film I think I've ever seen and I'm not sure I'd show this to my mother
but for all this, its lack of seriousness means that it's never really that
intense and you'll remember it more for its laughs than the carnage. It's a true farce and I loved it, 8/10.
Steven@WTD.
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