Dead Alive (Braindead) (1992)
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86% of critics liked it
(29 reviews) -
83% of users liked it
(62,928 ratings)
Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet… More Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet Paquita (Diana Penalver) while concealing the fact that his overbearing mum (Elizabeth Moody, in an amazing good-sport performance) is a flesh-eating zombie. (She owes her condition to a bite from a "Sumatran Rat Monkey" at the local zoo.) Complicating matters even further is Les, a greedy uncle (Ian Watkin), who suspects that his sister has died and is eager to occupy her elegantly furnished Victorian mansion. The climax is a housewarming party Les throws to celebrate his "inheritance;" what he really gets is his comeuppance, thanks to his sister and her similarly afflicted zombie pals, who burst out of their basement prison to turn the guests into appetizers. Our hero finally cuts a wide swath through the zombie party crashers with the help of a rotary blade lawn mower, leaving the house awash in blood and body parts in order to save his romance. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- Directed By
- Peter Jackson
- Written By
- Stephen Sinclair, Frances Walsh, Peter Jackson
- Genres
- Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Feb 12, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- Trimark Pictures
Critic Reviews
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David Stratton, Variety
The best to date from Kiwi gore specialist Peter Jackson.
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, Time Out
The finale, in which Lionel reduces a horde of flesh-eaters to a mulch of blood, flesh and offal with the aid of a flymo, is probably the goriest scene ever.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
Because all of this looks blatantly unreal, and because the timing of the shock effects is so haphazard, Dead Alive isn't especially scary or repulsive. Nor is it very funny.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Horror films used to be primordial spook shows, tapping midnight-dark fears. Now they tap bodily goo: rivers of blood, dripping limbs, eyeballs that go pop in the night.
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R. L. Shaffer, IGN DVD
Takes a few views to really appreciate, but Peter Jackson's blood-splattered horror masterpiece is a gory good time.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Timothy Balme
as Lionel
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Diana Peņalver
as Paquita Maria Sanchez
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Elizabeth Moody
as Mum (Vera Cosgrove)
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Ian Watkin
as Uncle Les
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Brenda Kendall
as Nurse McTavish
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Stuart Devenie
as Father McGruder/Zombie McGruder
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Davina Whitehouse
as Paquita's Grandmother
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Forrest J Ackerman
as Forry
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James Grant
as Tram Driver
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Ken Hammon
as Featured Party Zombie
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Tony Hiles
as Zoo Keeper
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Peter Jackson
as Undertaker's Assistant
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Jamie Selkirk
as Father at Zoo
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Duncan Smith
as Drunk
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Angela Louise Robinson
as Courtney
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Peter Vere-Jones
as Undertaker
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Sarah Scott Davis
as Featured Party Zombie
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Jim Booth
as Lionel's Father
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George Port
as Lawrence
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Chris Short
as Customs Official
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Frances Walsh
as Mother at Park
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Nick Ward
as Spud
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Brian Sergent
as Vet


