Dead Alive

'Dead Alive' or 'Brain Dead' is one of my favorite horror classics of all time. It's a cult zombie comedy splatstick horror film directed by Peter Jackson. The film is widely regarded as being one of the goriest films of all time. Although to you it might be just another 'old film', in this case; it's a 'must see' film. My favorite quotes out of this film would have to be "Your mother ate my dog!" and "I kick ass for the lord!"


This infamous film was made in the 90's. 1992 to be exact. It contains everything you could ever imagine, violence, comedy, gore. The list goes on. 

The rat monkey

It starts off in a little place called Skull Island. A keen explorer, Stewart, returning from the depths of the island with his guide and team, is carrying a rat-monkey in a cage and is stopped by fierce warrior natives that demand the return of the monkey. The guide begs Stewart in giving what these strange half naked natives what they want, but I guess the only thing Stewart cares about is the more pounds in his pockets. He carelessly carries the cage to the rest of his team and a waiting jeep, leaving his guide behind and the natives in hot pursuit. As the jeep takes off, Stewart's guide catches up and jumps on board. In the ensuing melee, Stewart gets bitten by the Rat-Monkey. Seeing the mark of the monkey's bite on his right hand, Stewart's men immediately hold down the infected explorer and amputate the appendage. As Stewart screams in agony ,another bite mark is then seen on his left arm, which swiftly results in the removal of that limb. Finally, they see a set of bloody scratches on Stewart's forehead and end up killing him. This monster is then shipped to Wellington Zoo in New Zealand.   

Wellington, 1957. Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme), a 'Mama's boy' has the unwanted honor of having to look after his overbearingly evil mother (Elizabeth Moody). He ends up falling in love with a local woman, Paquita (Diana Peñalver), who believes that they're destined together. In a moment of intentional sabotage of one of their dates, his mother is bitten by a mysterious creature that ends up zombifying her. Lionel is horrified, but is determined to care for his zombified mother.

It's only a matter of time before his transformed mother starts murdering other townspeople, turning them into zombies. He tries to keep them locked away in the basement, while simultaneously trying to maintain his relationship with the completely oblivious Paquita. His mother escapes and his hit by a tram.

As the townspeople assume she's dead, Lionel attempts to tranquilize his zombified mother for the funeral. After she is buried, he returns back to the graveyard to administer more anesthetic, but is companied by a gang of hooligans. As they pin Lionel down and throw punches, one of the gang members decides to piss on Lionel's mothers grave. Big mistake. Before you know it, the mother bursts out of her grave, resulting in more deaths and zombies. Who would have guessed!

The majority of the zombies begin to grow rapidly, Lionel somehow manages to keep them under control with repeated injections and concealing them in his home. Even more bad luck for Lionel, his Uncle Les (Ian Watkin) arrives to snoop over his Mother's estate. He soon discovers as what he thinks are 'corpses'. He blackmails his innocent nephew into giving up his inheritance in return for his silence. 

Lionel decides to administer as what he thinks is poison to the zombies and buries them, just as Uncle Les and a crowd of his friends arrive for a unexpected housewarming party. However, the "poison" turns out to be an animal stimulant, and since the zombies come from the bite of the animal (the Rat-Monkey), it only gives them even more energy. The zombies end up bursting from the ground to attack and infect the party guests in a gory finale.

I have to say, it's one of the best zombie films I've seen, and I can tell you there is a unexpected surprise as it gets closer to the ending. It certainly was a surprise for me. If you've seen this infamous movie, you'll know what scene I'm talking about. I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of guts and gore. This IS a 'must see' film without a doubt. Fact.