For those of us who love gory and extreme films, there's always that one that finally does it for you. After watching this film, nothing ever seems quite as extreme as it would have, otherwise. Watch enouugh of these movies, and eventually, you will come across one which will desensitize you. Not everyone can put their finger on exactly which movie finally did it for them. But Me? I'm certain I was officially desensitized after viewing Peter Jackson's Dead Alive for the first time in 1997. Since that day, seeing violence on film at any level doesn't bother me one bit, and I honestly can't see why it would ever bother anyone. That's kind of fucked up.
Like most of the world, I had no clue who Peter Jackson was at the time. I believe I had already seen his previous film, the vulgar puppet Epic, Meet The Feebles, but wasn't aware it was connected to the guy who made this. Jackson would of course go on to become rich and legendary and all that good shit, less than a decade later. But in 1992, Peter Jackson set out to make the ultimate masterpiece in gore/splatter cinema. And that's exactly what he did. He made what is still the undisputed goriest film ever made. A film I wished I would have held off seeing for a few more years, because ever since witnessing this amazing, entertaining film, nothing else I've seen since has seemed like that big of a deal. Hell yes! It's THAT gory!
Set in 1957, New Zealand. This film involves a young man named Lionel, his controlling old mum who keeps him under her thumb, and his new love interest, Paquita, who falls for Lionel at first sight, which ends up creating quite the shit storm. Paquita practically pushes herself on Lionel right off the bat, and practically tricks him into asking her on a day date to the Zoo. Mum is not pleased by the news of her son's first date, and in what would prove to be a very stupid move, the old bitch follows them in order to spy on their happiness. Blind with anger, mum doesn't look where she's going, and gets too close to a cage containing a very dangerous creature. A vicious little bastard rat-Monkey. A species supposedly conceived by rat on monkey rape. Mum, of course, gets bit. Lionel immediately recognizes her screams and ditches his date to take his poor mum home, where she milks this "tragedy" for all it's worth. She gets waited on, hand and foot. Mum once again has her son's undivided attention.
One problem (aside from the obvious). Mum isn't getting any better. In fact she's getting worse. Much worse. Lionel's mum is starting to look almost like a dead person. And she's starting to act like someone else. Or something else. Mum now seems downright monstrous by this point. She does eventually die. But returns from the grave a full fledged member of the living dead, courtesy of rat-monkey. Not sure where to go from here, Lionel does all he can do to hide this from everyone they know. Even Paquita, whom he coldly blows off. Instead of putting his undead mum down, Lionel continues doing what he does best. Look after the old bitch at all costs. Mum kills a few people, Lionel takes them in, and looks after them all, which leads to some truly ridiculous situations, as well as one hell of a blood bath like you've never seen. All leading towards Lionel finally gaining his independence.
More widely known as Brain Dead, Dead Alive is not only the goriest film you'll ever see, but also one of the most fun zombie flicks out there, that could easily rival that of Return Of The Living Dead. A little slapstick here and there, but not enough to make it dumb. While Dead Alive is a gore film, a zombie film, and a Horror-Comedy, it's also the inspirational story of a man who has been forced to stay a boy for far too long by a repressive parent, and somehow, finds the inner strength to finally make some major decisions, grow up, and break away to find happiness. It's just all buried underneath some rather unusual circumstances. Considering that, and the fact that all of this is set in the 1950's, makes Dead Alive one very unique gore-fest. I've seen many gory movies and plenty of films far more disturbing than this, but seeing Dead Alive as a teenager more or less ruined the shock value of the August Undergrounds and the Slaughtered Vomit Dolls of the next decade. Unfortunate, but that's life if you're a gorehound.I really do wish someone would finally break this movie's long-running record of goriness. It is about time, I'd say. I know it's possible, and it seems like a few low-budget filmmakers have even made half assed attempts over the years, but it's just never happened. 23 years later, and Dead Alive is still king. I have no doubt that someday, it will happen. But when it does, this will never take away from the impact this film has made, or the influence it has had on slpatter-comedies and the zombie sub genre. Dead Alive is one of the few true gems to come out of the 90's, with staying power that will always keep people talking about it, despite those Lord Of The Rings films never bringing Jackson's older stuff the notoriety many thought they would. Any glory this amazing film has gotten, it got on it's own. Because Dead Alive is pure greatness. Great comedy, great story, great gore. This is Peter Jackson's masterpiece! 10/10
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