Braindead (1992 film)
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Braindead (New Zealand 1992), released as Dead Alive in North America, is an extreme zombie horror-comedy directed by Peter Jackson. It is in the same vein as Jackson's earlier works Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles but Braindead is rather more polished, with a budget of around $3 million. Although it starts with the capture of a zombie-creating creature on the eerie Skull Island, the opening half of the film is a relatively low-key period piece. It isn't until the film's second half when it spirals into a blood filled zombie film - which many consider the goriest movie ever made.
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Plot
The first scene of the movie sets up the danger of the Sumatran Rat-Monkey: An explorer returning from the depths of the island with the monkey caged is stopped by his native guides. Seeing the mark of the monkey's bite on his hand, they immediately hold down the infected explorer and amputate the appendage. More bite marks lead to more limb removals until they see one in the man's scalp and finally kill him.
In 1950s Wellington, Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme) lives with his domineering mother (Elizabeth Moody) and is at her beck and call. To his mother's dismay, Lionel falls for a local shopkeeper, Paquita (Diana Peñalver), and while following the two on a visit to the zoo, his mother is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey. The animal's bite slowly turns her into a zombie. Lionel is horrified, but, ever the momma's boy, is determined to care for her.
He acts as her "nurse", even as she starts murdering other townspeople and, in turn, creating more zombies. Through it all, Lionel tries to keep his zombie mother placated with doses of veterinary anaesthetic, and also tries to maintain his relationship with the completely oblivious Paquita.
His mother escapes, however, and is run over by a tram. As the town assumes she is dead, Lionel tranquilises the still-kicking zombie for her funeral. After she is buried, he recovers his mother from the grave, but not before several more people are zombified, including a priest (Stuart Devenie) who attempts to fight his attackers off using kung fu (and in the process utters the immortal cult film line "I kick arse for the Lord!").
As the number of zombies grow, Lionel tries to keep them under wraps in his home. A nurse zombie (Brenda Kendall) gives birth to a dreadful zombie baby (dubbed "Selwyn"), which Lionel actually takes to the park on one surreal, violent occasion. Eventually, Lionels' uncle Les (Ian Watkin) discovers the "corpses" and threatens his nephew, forcing him to give up his mother's estate.
Sadly, Lionel acquires some poison and dispatches the zombies just before Uncle Les and a crowd of his friends invade Lionel's home for a housewarming party. The "poison" turns out to be an animal stimulant and the zombies burst from the ground, tearing away at the party guests in what many consider to be the goriest finale in film history.
The movie's climax has Lionel fighting hundreds of zombies, animated intestines, severed heads, and disembodied legs. Most memorable amongst gore fans is Lionel's charge into a room full of zombies with a lawn mower strapped to his chest. He then faces down his now-gargantuan mother, who traps him inside her abdomen as they duel on the house's rooftop. In an over-the-top Freudian "rebirth", he cuts his way out of her grotesquely changed form and she falls into the fiery home below.
Versions
This splatter film was released in a number of different versions. In some nations, such as Australia and Britain, the 104 minute film was shown in full. In countries where the censors balked at the extreme gore, the film was initially banned or left unrated before being heavily cut. In Germany a 94 minute version was seen with minor cuts to some of the film's grislier scenes.
In the U.S., where the film was released as Dead Alive, because of another film with rights to the title Braindead, the R-Rated version is only 85 minutes, while the unrated cut is 97 minutes. This, according to director Peter Jackson, is his preferred cut of the film.
Trivia
- It has been said that a total of 300 liters of fake blood were used in the lawnmower scene, making it the unofficial goriest scene in film history.
- The setting of the first scene in the film, Skull Island, is also in Jackson's later film King Kong.
Quotes
Priest: "I kick ass for the Lord!"
Lionel: "They're not dead, they're just sort of...rotting."
Paquita: Your mother ate my dog! Lionel: Not... all of it.
External links
- {{{2|{{{title|Braindead (1992 film)}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Dead Alive movie review with animated screenshots I-Mockery de:Braindead
es:Braindead (tu madre se ha comido a mi perro) fr:Braindead it:Splatters, gli schizzacervelli ja:ブレインデッド pl:Martwica mózgu pt:Braindead fi:Aivokuollut (elokuva) sv:Braindead