Dead Alive

Peter Jackson's third feature-length film is a bizarre black comedy--sort of a screwball NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with plenty of graphic violence thrown in for good measure. While spying on her son and his date on a trip to the zoo, Lionel's domineering mother (Elizabeth Moody) is bitten by a vicious Sumatran rat monkey and consequently starts manifesting some rather peculiar behavior, attacking all those unfortunate enough to get in her way and turning them into zombies. Poor Lionel (Timothy Balme) is forced to hide her victims in his basement in order to conceal his mother's grotesque affliction from his love interest, Paquita (Diana Peñalver). But soon his mom's zombified entourage starts to rebel and becomes too much for Lionel to handle. In the raucous finale, Lionel takes on a whole army of the undead (plus the occasional unruly bodily organ) with his trusty lawnmower and finally confronts his mother in an all-out Oedipal extravaganza. Though so over the top that it's often classified as a comedy rather than a fright film, DEAD ALIVE has also been touted as one of the goriest horror movies ever made--so be warned: It's not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Peter Jackson, master of subversive comedy, presents the story of a hapless young man whose overbearing mother gets him into a heap of trouble when she catches a bizarre zombie virus and starts turning innocent passersby into walking corpses. This grandiose splatterfest features loads of unforgettable, stomach-turning effects. Highlights include a ghoulish, bloodthirsty baby, zombie mutilation, progressive putrefaction, and an off-the-wall undead mating scene. Sick, twisted, and hilarious, DEAD ALIVE is unlike anything you have ever seen before--and is definitely not for the squeamish.

Filmed in New Zealand. The film was released as BRAINDEAD outside the United States. It was renamed DEAD ALIVE here because another movie with the original title--BRAIN DEAD (1990), directed by Adam Simon--already existed. Creature and gore effects were created by Richard Taylor. To achieve the most disgusting look possible, pork fat, latex, polyfoam, human hair, and hundreds of gallons of maple syrup were among the materials used. Director Peter Jackson has a cameo appearance as an undertaker's assistant