- Actors: Timothy Balme, Diana Pealver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Brenda Kendall
- Directors: Peter Jackson
- Writers: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair
- Format: NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Lions Gate
- Release Date: Sep 9 1998
- Run Time: 104 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (269 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 157362408X
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Product Description
From Amazon.com
Peter Jackson proves that if gory is funny, then excessive gory is downright hysterical. As our hapless hero wades through an ankle-deep puddle of blood and entrails, brandishing a lawnmower like a portable Cuisinart at the climax of this zombie-fest, you'll either be screaming with laughter or fleeing in disgust. Timothy Balme stars as the shy mama's boy Lionel, whose controlling shrew of a mother (Elizabeth Moody) starts rotting away, literally, with a vague supernatural disease. Mother dies but refuses to stay down, rising as a flesh-eating zombie infecting everyone she bites. Lionel tries to hide her in the basement, but the victims keep piling up and finally break out when Lionel's blackmailing uncle (a grotesque, leering Ian Watkin) throws a party in the house. It's snack time as the guests become undead hors d'oeuvres and rise again as hungry soldiers of the new zombie army marching on Lionel and his girl Pacquita (the lovely Diana Penalver). New Zealand goremeister Jackson pulls out all stops in this truly outrageous sanguinary comedy, from gross-out gags of oozing puss and rotting body parts at a formal dinner to slapstick antics as Lionel tries to keep his flesh-hungry mother sedated during the funeral to the final Freudian showdown between a now-monstrous mother and the newly liberated Lionel. If you like your horror with a sense of humor or your comedy with gristle, then wade through this taboo-busting bucket of blood. --Sean Axmaker
Amazon.com Essential Video
If you're not a connoisseur of graphic horror and gruesome gore, you'd better steer clear of this wicked 1992 horror-comedy from the demented mind and delirious camera of New Zealand-born writer-director Peter Jackson. However, if nonstop mayhem and extreme violence are your idea of great entertainment, you're sure to appreciate Jackson's gleefully inventive approach to a story that can judiciously be described as sick, twisted, and totally outrageous. The movie's central character is a poor schmuck named Lionel who's practically enslaved to his domineering mother. But when ol' Mum gets bitten by a rare and poisonous rat monkey from Skull Island and is turned into a flesh-eating zombie, Lionel has the unfortunate task of keeping Mama happy while fending off all the other zombies that result from her voracious feeding frenzies. If you've read this far, you'll either be crying out for censorship or eagerly awaiting your first viewing (or second, or third...) of this wildly clever and audaciously uninhibited movie. And while director Jackson would later achieve critical success with his fact-based drama Heavenly Creatures, his talent is readily evident in this earlier effort. If you find this kind of thing even remotely appealing, consider Dead Alive a must-see movie. --Jeff Shannon
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
*staring at television screen*,
By Squid Fizzy (Planet X) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dead Alive (DVD)
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."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dead and/or alive,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Dead Alive (DVD)
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.
1.0 out of 5 stars
WRONG! edition,
By
This review is from: Dead Alive (DVD)
I ordered the specific version of DEAD-ALIVE 104 MIN and recived the 97 MIN version.
Here is a copy of what I ordered: Les détails du produit Acteurs : Timothy Balme, Diana Pealver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Brenda Kendall Réalisateurs : Peter Jackson Écrivains : Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen SinclairFormat : NTSC, ImportLangue: EnglishSubtitles: English, Spanish, FrenchRégion: (É.-U. et Canada Il NE sera probablement pas possible de voir ce DVD dans d'autres pays. Lisez davantage à ce sujet Formats DVD.)Rapport hauteur/largeur : 1.66:1Nombre de DVDs: 1MPAA Rating: Société de production: Lions GateDate de sortie: Sep 9 1998Durée : 104 minutes Évaluation du client type : 4.4étoiles sur 5 Voir tous les commentaires (268 évaluations de client) ASIN: 157362408X Therefore I am Not satisfied AT ALL. You did not sell me what you were selling on the site. I will wait for your reply
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