Dead alive movie review
Dead alive movie credits:
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Written by: Stephen Sinclair, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson
Cast:
Timothy Balme (Lionel Cosgrove)
Diana Penalver (Paquita)
Elizabeth Moody (the mother)
Ian Watkin (Uncle Les)
Release date: 1992
Spoiler alert: some crucial elements of the movie are commented in the following review. Be warned!
My bloody rating:
Dead alive movie review:
Forget about the Hobbits. Forget about the Middle earth and the fairy creatures. Forget about "King Kong". You can even forget about "Bad taste"!
Originally release under the name "Braindead", Dead alive, from Peter Jacson, is without a doubt the goriest movie I have ever seen so far.
It's hard to tell how many gallons of blood Jackson did actually used in this film. One thing is sure: What a mess!!!!!!
First, let's talk about the characters. The star of the movie is a nerd named Lionel (played by Timothy Balme) who's in love with Paquita, a nice girl that he meets secretly at the zoo.
But that doesn't stop Lionel's mother from interfering with their plans! From there, a series of incident will happen, leading to some pretty amusing situations!
The fun part begins when Lionel has to stop her zombie mother from escaping the house to do more damage! That's refreshing to see a zombie movie where the dead character wants to get out of a house, not go in!
Other outrageous characters will also make their apparitions throughout the movie. From a kung-fu priest to the ugly, evil baby, you can expect pretty much anything!
And if you think that the first half of the movie was fun and bloody, wait until the real party begins! The mother's funerals in the house turns into a carnage in a matter of minutes! Almost every possible way to Disembowe or decapitate a human body is shown here! You can do a lot of damage with a mower!
Yes, we are still talking about a Peter Jackson movie here!
Another fun element is the numerous references to other great horror movies you can observe here! I could count at least three or four to Evil dead alone!
My only complain would be that at some point, these references are so obvious (and numerous) that I wondered if it wasn't just there to fill a hole in the script (if script there is at that point).
This movie is probably the first one in Peter Jackson's career that really shows the potential of the filmmaker. The pace of the movie is great and some scenes are visually very interesting. And even if most (if not all) actors are unknown to the public, they do a pretty good job in the circumstances.
To create so many special effects with such a tiny budget is quite an accomplishment. And even if no CGI is involved here (the movie was made in the beginning of the 90s), the special effects are still interesting enough to make you laugh hard (or make you want to vomit, depending on your degree of tolerance!).
Overall, this movie is a great comedy filled with gallons and gallons of blood. If you cannot stand the view of a single drop of blood, forget this one.
If you want a movie that will scare the hell out of you, forget it too. But if you would like to see a nice comedy with many home made special effects, then this one is for you!
The "Saw" franchise should really forget this line, it's not even close: "Oh yes... there will be blood!!!"
Dead alive movie review written by: Martin Berube
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