Dead Alive [Import]

This movie has it all. It has to be one of the funniest, bloodiest, most enjoyable horror movies I've ever seen. Don't go into it expecting to be scared...it won't frighten you in the least. But it works wonderfully as a campy, blood-splattered ode to zombie movies.

The actors completely nail their quirky characters, and the entire movie is peppered with hilarious, memorable lines such as "I kick ass for the Lord!" and "Your mother just ate my dog!" Not to mention the all-out gorefest which includes an unfortunate bowl of pus pudding, two love-struck zombies getting it on, and an all-out finale involving a roomful of partying zombies, one remaining human, and a lawnmower.

If you only like straight horror movies, and like to be frightened by what you watch, this movie is not for you. If you can handle buckets of gore and manage to laugh while watching it, DEFINITELY give Dead Alive a chance.

Many of you will assume I often found myself saying the words spoken above because of the often painful depictions of bodily dismemberment that have saturated Peter Jackson's ambitious zombie massacre movie. And to some extent, you would be correct. But I say this also because of the aweful DVD release from trimark, who have yet to prove themselves as an even halfway decent DVD studio. For those of you who don't know me, you are probably unaware that I grade based on the movie and the DVD. the movie gets *** out of *** for being the greatest movie ever made (I know, I say that a lot), but the DVD merits only * out of ** for being so pathetic (although it could be worse). The audio and video is bearable, mind you (no more, no less), but the features include a trailer and...a trailer. For a movie this adored by fans of the genre, I find this a great disturbance in the force. Even so, I must recommend this DVD for the film itself, which is so great that it deserves a special award for "Best gore-fest that redefines modern horror cinema and is so bold and creative that it should merit a deluxe DVD treatment so that we can make it's ardent fans vomitous with pleasure." The movie really is that good, and If you can stomach the last twenty minutes (not to mention the fist seventy) you should be "peffectly arwightt."

Currently Peter Jackson is reknowned for his fantasy movies and exceptional cult remakes. But once upon a time, he was better known for splatter-gore horror movies, like the "Dead Alive," a bizarrely hilarious movie full of zombies, rat-monkeys and messy death. Glorious!

Lionel (Timothy Balme) is a downtrodden young man, who has the unpleasant honor of caring for his nasty mum (Elizabeth Moody). Then he meets store clerk Paquita (Diana Peñalver), and the two young people fall in love. Unfortunately, during a date to the zoo, his mom follows them so she can wreck his date.

She succeeds, sort of -- she gets bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey from Skull Island (the same one where Kong came from?) and dies. But poor Lionel can't get off that easily -- because of the bite, his mom comes back to life as a flesh-eating zombie. Soon zombies are running amok, and Lionel and Paquita must find a way to get rid of them. Can true love triumph over the undead?

Be forewarned: this movie is gross. Very disgusting. Lots of fluids and body parts, and zombies eating people in detail. And the whole movie climaxes with hundreds of zombies crashing a party, and a spectacularly gory sequence involving a, uh, lawnmower and chainsaw.

But gore alone doesn't make a movie a cult hit -- any idiot can make a zombie movie. This one is special because of Jackson's twisted sense of humor; "Shaun of the Dead" definitely owes a stylistic debt to him. How many movies do you see where a character tries to clean up the blood after Zombie Mom has lunch?

Jackson sprinkles his 1950s setting with all sorts of weird characters -- a kung-fu reverend and a Nazi vet among them. He takes every weird zombie scenario and runs with it, whether it's Lionel babysitting a hyper zombie baby or the Reverend McGruder announcing, "I kick ass for the Lord!" or "Stand back boy! This calls for some divine intervention!"

But the movie is also notable for a very touching love story, between Lionel and Paquita -- and like any good hero, Lionel has to overcome obstacles (the zombies and Mum) before they can live happily ever after. Both actors do very solid jobs, and Balme really makes us like his downtrodden mama's boy, especially once Lionel picks up that lawnmower.

"Dead Alive" is a delightfully stomach-turning ride through a town full of zombies, body parts, and those ugly little buggers from Skull Island. Although it's not for the faint of stomach.